Gemini review: does compliance-first justify higher fees than Kraken or Coinbase Advanced?
Gemini is a NYDFS-licensed trust company with SOC 2 audits and insured custody, but its ActiveTrader fees start at 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker. We compared the fee ladder with rivals and checked who can still open an account.
6.4/10
Gemini is one of the safest-run US exchanges: a New York trust company, SOC 1 and SOC 2 audits and insured custody. You pay for that comfort, since ActiveTrader's entry tier of 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker is well above Kraken's starting rates. It only becomes competitive at real monthly volume, and it closed accounts in the UK, EEA and Australia. Take it for compliance, not for cost.
Best for
US traders who put regulation and custody above the cheapest fees
Licensed by the New York DFS as a limited-purpose trust company
SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 audits are published
Insurance of about $125 million covers hot and cold storage, per Coin Bureau
Stablecoin pairs such as USDC/GUSD trade at 0.00% maker and taker
Fees fall to 0.10% taker once 30-day volume passes $1 million
What does not
Entry ActiveTrader fees of 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker are very high
About 90 coins and 655 pairs, fewer than Coinbase or Kraken list
UK, EEA and Australian retail accounts closed on 6 April 2026
The 2022 Gemini Earn and Genesis collapse still weighs on trust
Specs
Account fee
Free to open
ActiveTrader entry tier
0.60% maker, 1.20% taker
$1 million monthly volume
0.050% maker, 0.100% taker
Stablecoin pairs
0.00% maker and taker
Supported assets
Over 90 coins, 655 trading pairs
Regulation
NYDFS limited-purpose trust company
Audits
SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2022
Wire withdrawal
$25
Gemini is the exchange you choose when your worst fear is losing the coins, not paying a fraction of a percent more per trade. That is a legitimate priority. It is also an expensive one, and the fee schedule is where the price is most visible.
Crypto is volatile and you can lose all of what you put in. This review is not personal advice.
The fee ladder, and where it hurts
ActiveTrader is Gemini's pro interface, and its published schedule is a ladder driven by 30-day volume. Read the low end first.
Below $10,000: 0.60% maker, 1.20% taker.
Around $10,000: 0.40% maker, 0.80% taker.
Around $25,000: 0.25% maker, 0.50% taker.
Around $75,000: 0.125% maker, 0.25% taker.
At $1 million: 0.050% maker, 0.100% taker.
At $250 million and up: 0.000% maker, 0.020% taker.
On a $2,000 market order at the entry tier you pay $24. The same order costs a fraction of that at a low-fee exchange. Stablecoin pairs (USDC/GUSD, GUSD/USD, RLUSD/USD) are free both ways, a useful exception if you move dollars in and out of crypto.
gemini.com
Gemini's ActiveTrader schedule. Tiers recalculate daily, at about 2am UTC.
Against Kraken and Coinbase Advanced
The fair comparison is the cheapest sensible mode of each rival. Coin Bureau puts Kraken's lowest tier at 0.25% maker and 0.40% taker, and other comparisons quote it lower still. Coinbase Advanced starts at 0.40% maker and 0.60% taker in the comparisons we read. Gemini's 0.60% and 1.20% are more than double either. Our Kraken review covers the cheaper alternative in detail.
Gemini only catches up when you bring volume. Cross about $1 million a month and 0.10% taker is respectable. Almost no retail trader does that.
What the premium buys
Compliance is Gemini's product, and the company's own security page is headed "Trust is our product." The claims are checkable. Gemini Trust Company is a limited-purpose trust company licensed by the New York DFS, and Coin Bureau lists SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 audits. It also reports about $125 million of digital-asset insurance: $25 million for hot wallets and $100 million for cold storage.
gemini.com
The security page. Its framing is compliance first, as the founders describe it.
That is real assurance, and it is why some users pay more. Check the caveat, though. Insurance has a fixed ceiling, so it is not a guarantee for every customer in every scenario, and the 2022 Gemini Earn and Genesis collapse is the reminder that custody promises differ from lending products. Users eventually received in-kind distributions, but only after a long wait.
Who can actually join
Coverage has narrowed. According to Coin Bureau, Gemini closed UK, EEA and Australian retail accounts on 6 April 2026, so this review is mostly for US clients. Stock trading is off in several states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. The catalogue is also modest, at over 90 coins and 655 pairs, against 550+ at Coinbase and 600+ at Kraken.
gemini.com
ActiveTrader is the advanced interface, separate from the simple buy screen.
Other charges add up. A wire withdrawal costs $25, crypto withdrawals use dynamic network fees, and staking for ETH, SOL and MON keeps up to 35% of rewards. Margin costs 0.003% an hour, about 26.3% annualised.
Maker orders are the only lever you control
The gap between maker and taker matters more here than at most exchanges. At the entry tier a maker order costs half of a taker order, so a limit order resting on the book saves 0.60% on the same trade. If you use Gemini at all, use limit orders by habit, watch the daily tier reset, and keep the simple buy screen for emergencies only. Gemini does not publish a single all-in figure for that screen on the ActiveTrader schedule, so check the quote shown at checkout before you confirm.
Our call
Take it if you are a US investor, trade infrequently, and value a NYDFS-licensed custodian more than a lower fee.
Take it if you move mostly stablecoins, where trading is free.
Skip it if you trade actively below $1 million a month. Kraken or a similarly priced exchange saves you money on every order.
Skip it if you live in the UK, EEA or Australia, where it no longer serves retail clients.
We rate Gemini in the middle of the pack. Its safety story is one of the best on the list, but a safe exchange that charges 1.20% to take a position is asking you to overpay for something you can get elsewhere at a lower price.
7.0
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