KuCoin vs Bitget: Fees, Rebates, Switching Referral Codes, Safety and Taiwan Access Compared (2026)

Updated 2026-10-22・Rules checked 2026-10-13

For regular users (VIP 0) on KuCoin and Bitget, futures fees are maker 0.02% and taker 0.06% on both, spot is 0.1% on both, and the platform tokens KCS and BGB each take 20% off spot fees only, not futures. The fee tables make the two look identical, but the differences are in the details: KuCoin sorts spot fees into classes A, B and C by coin, and nearly half of its trading pairs charge 0.2% or 0.3%; on Bitget, 50,000 USDT in account assets is enough to reach VIP 2, which lowers the futures taker fee to 0.04%, while on KuCoin upgrading through assets only starts at VIP 5, with 1,000,000 USDT. On referral codes, Bitget accepts the code only at sign-up and has no official way to add or switch it afterward; on KuCoin, you can submit a Link Referrer or Unlink Referrer request after sign-up, but KuCoin reviews it and doesn’t publish the conditions (checked 2026-10-22).

On security: on 2026-09-24, about 388 million USD was stolen from Bitget’s hot and warm wallets; Bitget says its Protection Fund is covering the loss and user balances are unaffected, and withdrawals were fully restored on 2026-10-02. On 2020-09-25, about 281 million USD was stolen from KuCoin’s hot wallets; 84% was recovered and the insurance fund covered the rest. On 2025-01-27, KuCoin’s operating entity pleaded guilty in the United States, with fines and forfeiture totaling more than 297 million USD.

Choose Bitget if you often buy small-cap coins, keep 50,000 USDT or more in your account, want to copy trade spot, or often move USDT back to MAX. Choose KuCoin if the coin you want to trade is only listed on KuCoin, or if you care more about how recently a platform was last hacked. If you only trade major coins like BTC and ETH and have less than 50,000 USDT in assets, the fees on the two are exactly the same. Neither is on the anti-money-laundering registration list of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金融監督管理委員會), and neither offers a direct way to deposit New Taiwan dollars (TWD).

Sign up to KuCoin with the referral code KEVINWU and the exchange automatically refunds 60%, on both spot (including margin) and futures.

Sign up to Bitget with the referral code KEVINWU and the exchange automatically refunds 20%, on both spot and futures.

The information below was checked against both exchanges’ official pages on 2026-10-13 and is provided for reference.

What’s the difference between KuCoin and Bitget?

Item	KuCoin	Bitget
Spot maker / taker (VIP 0)	Class A 0.1% / 0.1%; class B 0.2%, class C 0.3%	0.1% / 0.1%
Futures maker / taker (VIP 0)	0.02% / 0.06%	0.02% / 0.06%
Platform token discount	KCS: 20% off spot and margin (class A 0.08%); not available for futures	BGB: 20% off spot (0.08%); not available for futures
Referral code rebate	60%	20%
Adding a referral code after sign-up	You can submit a Link Referrer request, which KuCoin reviews; the conditions aren’t published	No way to add one found in official sources
Switching	You can request Unlink Referrer, which KuCoin reviews; it doesn’t say whether you can then link a different referrer. Old accounts registered before 2023-08-31 and never verified may also be able to open a new account instead (subject to KuCoin’s review)	No official way; after deleting your account, you have to wait 30 days to register again with the same details
Identity verification requirements	Since 2023-08-31, all new users must verify; one person can verify only one account	Since 2024-01-01, deposits and trading require verification first
Withdrawal limits without verification	Old unverified accounts can’t deposit but can sell coins, close positions and redeem, and withdrawals are unaffected; the limit shown on the withdrawal page applies	Only withdrawals, canceling orders, redemptions and closing positions; no limit listed officially
Taiwan FSC registration	Not on the FSC anti-money-laundering registration list (2026-09-29 list)	Not on the FSC anti-money-laundering registration list (2026-09-29 list)
TWD deposits	No TWD listings on P2P; buy USDT on a Taiwanese platform first, then transfer it in	TWD isn’t in the P2P fiat menu; buy USDT on a Taiwanese platform first, then transfer it in
Copy trading / grid	Futures copy trading only; spot grid, infinity grid, DCA, martingale, smart rebalance, futures grid and DualFutures AI	Both futures and spot copy trading; grid, martingale, recurring buy, funding rate arbitrage, trend following and other bots
Copy trading profit share	10%–32% depending on trader level (from 2026-09-06); calculated after fees and funding fees, settled daily	Set by the trader; a 2026-01-26 announcement says the current cap is 10%, up to 30% after review; high-water mark, settled daily
Cheapest USDT withdrawal network and fee	Plasma 0.4 USDT (minimum 5); BEP20 1, TRC20 1.99, ERC20 5.5 (minimum 30)	BEP20 0.01 USDT (minimum 10); TRC20 1.5, ERC20 2
Proof of reserves (latest snapshot)	2026-09-30: BTC 109%, ETH 117%, USDT 110%	2026-09-29: total reserve ratio 131%, BTC 142%, ETH 110%, USDT 107%
Major security incident	2020-09-25: about 281 million USD stolen from hot wallets, 84% recovered, the rest covered by the insurance fund	2026-09-24: about 388 million USD stolen from hot and warm wallets, covered by the Protection Fund; withdrawals fully restored on 2026-10-02

Fee sources: KuCoin VIP fee structure, KuCoin guide to paying fees with KCS, Bitget trading fee FAQ, Bitget fee page and Bitget guide to the BGB fee discount. Identity verification comes from the KuCoin identity verification guide (updated 2026-08-14) and the Bitget individual verification FAQ; USDT withdrawal fees are the figures read on 2026-10-12 from KuCoin’s official currency API and Bitget’s official coin API, and they change with network conditions. Sources for the other rows are given in the matching sections below.

How much do KuCoin and Bitget fees differ?

Say someone trades 200,000 USDT of USDT-margined futures and 20,000 USDT of spot each month, all at the official VIP 0 rates. KuCoin is shown two ways: spot trades only in class A major coins, and spot trades all in class C small-cap coins.

Monthly fees (USDT)	KuCoin (class A)	KuCoin (class C)	Bitget	Bitget (BGB discount on)
Futures 200,000, all taker	120	120	120	120
Spot 20,000, all taker	20	60	20	16
Total (all taker)	140	180	140	136
Total (all as maker instead)	60	100	60	56

The math is trading volume times the fee rate: futures 200,000 × 0.06% = 120 USDT, the same on both; with all maker orders, futures are 0.02% on both, 40 USDT each. The whole difference is in spot. For class A coins, both charge 20,000 × 0.1% = 20 USDT, and both come to 16 USDT with the platform token discount on (KuCoin’s class A total with KCS is also 136 USDT). For class C coins, KuCoin charges 20,000 × 0.3% = 60 USDT, and still 48 USDT with KCS.

Class C isn’t a rare exception. KuCoin classifies each trading pair by its base coin, and by our count from the official trading pair data on 2026-10-11, of 968 trading pairs, 488 are class A, 230 class B and 250 class C. Bitget’s fee page also says a small number of coins don’t use the standard rates during certain periods, but the standard VIP 0 spot fee is a single 0.1%. So if you often buy small-cap coins, trading a coin that’s listed on both is usually cheaper on Bitget; before placing an order, you can check which class the coin belongs to on KuCoin’s trading page.

Both offer a way to place maker-only orders: on KuCoin it’s the Post Only futures order type, on Bitget futures it’s “Maker only (Post Only)”, and an order that would fill immediately is canceled by the system (KuCoin futures order types). For details, see the difference between maker and taker fees. Futures fees are charged on position value, not margin; leverage magnifies the position, and if the price moves against you, the position may be liquidated and you can lose your margin.

If you keep a lot in your account: Bitget’s VIP threshold is much lower

Bitget’s VIP 2 takes 50,000 USDT in assets or 10,000,000 USDT in 30-day futures volume, and brings futures to 0.016% / 0.04% and spot to 0.065% / 0.07% (Bitget fee page). KuCoin’s asset path only starts at VIP 5, which requires 1,000,000 USDT; VIP 1 can be reached by holding 1,000 KCS, but VIP 1 and VIP 2 only lower the maker fee, and the futures taker fee doesn’t drop from 0.06% to 0.053% until VIP 4 (How to become a KuCoin VIP).

Using the same example, someone with 50,000 USDT in their account pays 200,000 × 0.04% + 20,000 × 0.07% = 94 USDT a month on Bitget, but still 140 USDT on KuCoin, a difference of 46 USDT a month. Keep in mind, though, that upgrading through assets means keeping the money on the exchange, and Bitget was hacked as recently as 2026-09-24. That’s a risk you have to weigh for yourself.

Other costs: for liquidation fees, KuCoin says the system freezes part of the liquidation fee in advance based on position direction and size, without stating a rate (KuCoin futures fee guide), and Bitget’s futures fee guide doesn’t state a liquidation fee rate either. The funding rate is paid between longs and shorts and isn’t a fee. Reading the official APIs on 2026-10-12, KuCoin had 686 live USDT perpetual contracts, 63% of them settling every 4 hours, and Bitget had 839, 46% of them settling every 4 hours; for BTC contracts, the funding rate cap and floor are ±0.3% on both (KuCoin funding fee guide, Bitget funding rate guide). If you hold positions through settlement times, you’re more likely to run into 4-hour settlement on KuCoin, which means paying or receiving funding 6 times a day. For the full fee rates, VIP tables and withdrawal fees, see the KuCoin fees guide and the Bitget fees guide; for how futures costs add up, see how futures fees are calculated and how the funding rate is calculated, and you can try your own numbers in the perpetual futures cost calculator.

A referral rebate returns part of the fees you actually paid. The futures taker fee is 0.06% on both, so the two calculators below use the same rate, and the rebate percentages update along with the exchanges.

Calculator: KuCoin futures (taker 0.06%)

Example at a futures fee rate of 0.06% and the current 60% automatic rebate (rate updated 2026-10-24). Your exchange statement prevails.

Sign up with this site’s KuCoin referral code and the exchange’s automatic rebate is 60%, calculated on the trading fees you actually pay. Class B and class C coins carry 2x and 3x the fee, and the rebate grows in proportion to what you actually pay; KuCoin doesn’t state officially how the rebate is calculated on fees after the KCS discount.

Calculator: Bitget futures (taker 0.06%)

Example at a futures fee rate of 0.06% and the current 20% automatic rebate (rate updated 2026-10-24). Your exchange statement prevails.

Sign up with this site’s Bitget referral code and the exchange’s automatic rebate is 20%, calculated on net fees, on both spot and futures. Bitget doesn’t state officially whether the rebate on spot fees after the BGB discount is based on the discounted amount.

With the same official fee rates, which one is cheaper after the rebate comes down to each exchange’s rebate percentage. You can enter the 200,000 USDT from the example above into each calculator, or see actual fees after referral rebates.

How do KuCoin and Bitget referral code rebate rules differ?

On both, the exchange pays the rebate directly to the invited user; Bitget links the code only at sign-up, and KuCoin adds one later only through a request it reviews. The differences are in duration, VIP limits and which trades don’t earn a rebate:

Rule	KuCoin	Bitget
Basis	Trading fees actually paid	Net fees (fees minus any discount)
Duration	Affiliate program: lifetime for invitees who registered after 2022-09-22; the regular referral program says referrers earn for 365 days	Long-term, with no end date
VIP limits	Referral program: invitees at VIP 3 or above don’t generate commission; the affiliate program page gives two versions, Level 3 and LV4	Regular invitation campaign: invitees at VIP 3 or above don’t count; the partner program states no VIP limit
Trades that don’t earn a rebate	API trading, zero-fee trading	Zero-fee trading pairs; trades using rebate vouchers are paid in vouchers instead; trades at special fee rates
Can you check your own link?	No official lookup for invitees	No official lookup for invitees
Adding a referral code later	You can submit a Link Referrer request under Self-Service in the Help Center, which KuCoin reviews; the time limit and conditions aren’t published	No process for adding one found in official sources; inviting users who are already registered isn’t recognized
Changing referrer	You can request Unlink Referrer, which KuCoin reviews; it doesn’t say whether you can then link a different referrer. Old accounts that were never verified can open a new account after asking customer support first	No official rules for switching, identity transfer or reassigning inactive accounts
Deleting your account and registering again	Deletion is permanent and data is kept for 7 years; KuCoin doesn’t say whether the same identity can be verified again	You have to wait 30 days after deleting your account to register again with the same details, and there’s no official guarantee you’ll be linked to a new referrer
Violations	Registering accounts in bulk to earn commissions or rebates is prohibited, and KuCoin can revoke commissions	Referrals from the same IP address or device count as self-referral, and rebates already paid can be clawed back

KuCoin’s rules come from the KuCoin referral program, the KuCoin affiliate program announcement, the KuCoin affiliate program 2025 guide, the KuCoin sign-up guidelines and the KuCoin account deletion guide; Bitget’s rules come from the Bitget affiliates FAQ, the Bitget top referrer announcement, the Bitget referral program announcement and the Bitget referral policy.

If you already have an account, there’s almost nothing you can do on Bitget. On KuCoin, you can submit a Link Referrer or Unlink Referrer request under Self-Service in the Help Center, but both go through review, and KuCoin doesn’t publish the time limit, conditions or review time (checked 2026-10-22). Separately, an account registered before 2023-08-31 and never verified hasn’t used up the “one verified account per person” allowance, so you can ask customer support first and then register with a new email address through a new referral link; if you’ve already verified, this route isn’t open to you. On Bitget, it’s settled the moment you sign up. Neither has a page where invitees can look up their own referrer; the only point at which you can confirm it is whether the referral code field was filled in at sign-up, and after that, whether rebates arrive. For details, see the guide to switching your KuCoin referral code, the guide to switching your Bitget referral code and how to check whether you’re linked to a referral code.

Fee vouchers issued by the exchanges also affect rebates: on Bitget, trades that use futures fee rebate vouchers don’t earn commission and are paid in vouchers instead (Bitget rebate voucher guide); KuCoin’s futures trial fund guide doesn’t mention rebates, and only one trial fund can be active at a time, so activating a new one takes back the old one and settles its positions (KuCoin trial fund guide). For how to weigh the two, see fee vouchers vs referral rebates.

Do KuCoin and Bitget both require identity verification? What should users in Taiwan know?

Identity verification: both require verification before you can use them normally. Since 2023-08-31, KuCoin has required new users to complete verification, and one person can verify only one account; old accounts registered before then and never verified can’t deposit and can only sell coins, close futures and margin positions and redeem Earn products, but withdrawals are unaffected, and the 24-hour limit is whatever the withdrawal page shows (KuCoin identity verification guide, KuCoin web identity verification tutorial). KuCoin also announced on 2026-05-11 that it charges a dormancy fee on unverified accounts that have been inactive for a long time and received a notice (KuCoin dormancy fee announcement), so if you still hold assets in an old account, keep this in mind. Since 2024-01-01, Bitget has required verification before deposits and trading, and once verified, VIP 0 users can withdraw 3,000,000 USDT every 24 hours; according to Bitget’s 2023 mandatory KYC announcement, unverified accounts can only withdraw, cancel orders, redeem and close positions. For the documents each exchange requires, the verification steps and review times, see the KuCoin KYC guide and the Bitget KYC guide.

FSC registration: the list in the Securities and Futures Bureau’s “virtual asset service providers” section, updated 2026-09-29, shows 11 businesses that have completed anti-money-laundering registration, and neither KuCoin nor Bitget is on the FSC’s anti-money-laundering registration list. In practice, this means that if a dispute arises with either exchange, Taiwan’s Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center and Financial Ombudsman Institution don’t apply (FSC statement of 2022-11-23), and a frozen account or restricted withdrawals can only be handled under the platform’s terms.

TWD deposits and withdrawals: neither offers direct TWD bank deposits. On 2026-10-13, the public listings on KuCoin P2P showed 0 ads to buy or sell USDT for TWD, and the KuCoin fiat deposit and withdrawal fee table only lists the euro and the Brazilian real; the fiat menu on Bitget P2P didn’t include TWD when checked on 2026-10-11. The workable route is the same for both: buy USDT with TWD on a registered Taiwanese platform (such as MAX or BitoPro), then transfer it to the exchange, and reverse the steps to cash out. The cost of transferring out differs a lot: from Bitget to MAX or BitoPro you can use BEP20 for 0.01 USDT; from KuCoin, the cheapest option to MAX is Aptos at 0.5 USDT, and to BitoPro it’s Polygon at 0.8 USDT. KuCoin’s ERC20 fee is 5.5 USDT, with a 30 USDT minimum withdrawal; for fees on every network, see the USDT withdrawal fee comparison. The FSC’s plan of 2026-08-04 says the Travel Rule is expected to be extended to transfers between Taiwanese and offshore providers by the end of 2027, after which the process for moving crypto between Taiwanese platforms and offshore exchanges may change.

Regions and apps: Taiwan isn’t among the restricted regions listed in the KuCoin terms of use (updated 2026-09-29) or the Bitget terms of use (updated 2026-09-15). When checked on 2026-10-13, both apps were available in the Taiwan App Store: the KuCoin app and the Bitget app. Both exchanges’ terms prohibit using a VPN to hide your location, and if you’re in a restricted region you may be unable to manage your positions. For which countries each exchange restricts, see exchange restricted countries.

What are KuCoin and Bitget each best at?

Bitget‘s strengths are copy trading and the range of futures. You can copy trade both futures and spot, so if you want to copy trade without touching leverage, you can copy spot only. Reading the official APIs on 2026-10-12, Bitget had 839 live USDT perpetual contracts, more than KuCoin’s 686.

• Copy trading: profit share uses a high-water mark and is charged only on new profit that hasn’t been shared yet, settled daily at 00:00 (Taiwan time); the minimum to copy is 50 USDT, and default slippage is 0.5% (Bitget high-water mark profit share guide, Bitget copy trading upgrade announcement). A product fee FAQ dated 2026-08-20 says profit share is generally 10% to 20%, which doesn’t match the cap in the announcement; go by the rate shown on the trader’s page.
• Trading bots: grid (up to 1,000 grids), martingale, recurring buy, funding rate arbitrage and trend following (Bitget trading bots), plus a futures signal bot that connects to TradingView (Bitget strategy trading guide).
• Earn and more: USDT flexible savings pay 7.50% APR on the first 300 USDT and 2.84% on the rest, about 2.98% overall on 10,000 USDT (Bitget Earn, 2026-10-13 snapshot); there are also tokenized stocks and ETFs, PoolX and the separate Bitget Wallet.

KuCoin‘s strength is the variety of bots, and it also has many spot trading pairs (968 in the official data), though nearly half fall into the class B and C fee rates. Lead traders can take a higher profit share than on Bitget, which is a cost for copy traders.

• Trading bots: spot grid, Infinity Grid, Smart Rebalance, DCA and martingale, plus futures grid and DualFutures AI. Spot bots get 20% off the VIP 0 rate for some coins; futures bots are charged a flat 0.06% whether maker or taker, more than the 0.02% for manual maker orders (KuCoin trading bot guide, updated 2025-07-30).
• Copy trading: futures copy trading only. Profit share is calculated on realized PnL after fees and funding fees, charged only on cumulative profit above what has already been shared, and settled daily at 00:00 (UTC, 08:00 Taiwan time), or postponed to the day positions are closed if any are open; you can set 10 to 10,000 USDT per trader (KuCoin lead trader guide, KuCoin copy trader guide). Under the Elite+ program from 2026-09-06, trader profit share ranges from 10% to 32% by level (KuCoin Elite+ announcement).
• Earn and more: USDT flexible savings (Simple Earn) pay a flat 1.30%, and fixed terms range from 1.80% for 7 days to 4.10% for 365 days (KuCoin Earn, 2026-10-13 snapshot); there are also spot margin and coin-margined futures, and Convert charges no fee but its quotes include a spread.

The cost of copy trading is more complicated than the profit share rate. The futures taker fee is 0.06% on both, so if you copy a trader who trades in and out often, the fees may exceed the profit share. KuCoin traders can take up to 32%, while Bitget’s currently announced cap is 10%: on the same 100 USDT profit, a 10% share is 10 USDT and a 32% share is 32 USDT. On both, profit share is charged only on new profit, so after a drawdown your account has to earn the loss back before the trader can take a profit share again. Neither exchange states officially whether fees from copy trading earn a referral rebate. For the full math and examples, see the cost of copy trading.

How do KuCoin and Bitget compare on proof of reserves and security record?

Both publish proof of reserves regularly, and both provide a Merkle tree so you can confirm your account is included:

• KuCoin: the latest is a snapshot taken at 2026-09-30 23:59:59 (Taiwan time): BTC 109%, ETH 117%, USDT 110%, with four assets listed on the page, BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC (KuCoin proof of reserves page). The page says it was verified by an independent third party but doesn’t name the firm.
• Bitget: the latest is the 2026-09-29 snapshot, taken after the hack: total reserve ratio 131%, all 19 assets above 100%, including BTC 142%, ETH 110% and USDT 107% (Bitget September reserves announcement, Bitget proof of reserves page). This announcement doesn’t name a third-party auditor.

As for major incidents, both have been hacked, and both have regulatory records:

• Bitget hack, 2026-09-24: at 18:31 (UTC), abnormal outflows were detected from some hot and warm wallets. The initial figure was about 351.6 million USD (CoinDesk), later confirmed at about 388 million USD. According to Bitget, the attacker used a zero-day vulnerability in a third-party security product to obtain internal credentials and then forged withdrawal instructions; no private keys were leaked, and cold wallets were unaffected (Bitget incident page, updated 2026-10-04). Bitget says user balances are unaffected and the Protection Fund is covering the loss; deposits and trading never stopped, withdrawals came back in stages, and other coins, fiat and P2P were restored on 10-02, about 7.5 days in total. The Protection Fund was topped back up with more than 300 million USD on 09-30 (Bitget announcement).
• Bitget VOXEL incident, 2025-04-20: abnormal trading hit the VOXEL/USDT perpetual contract for about 30 minutes; Bitget rolled back the abnormal trades and offered a compensation plan to affected users (The Block).
• KuCoin hack, 2020-09-25: the private keys to several hot wallets were obtained, and about 281 million USD was lost. On 2020-11-11, the CEO announced that 84% had been recovered (The Block), and the remaining 16% or so, about 45.55 million USD, was covered by the insurance fund (Decrypt). Deposits and withdrawals were suspended and then restored in stages.
• KuCoin guilty plea, 2025-01-27: the operating entity, Peken Global, admitted in the United States to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, paying a 112.9 million USD fine plus 184.5 million USD in forfeiture, more than 297 million USD in total, and agreed to exit the US market for at least two years (US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York). In 2025, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada imposed an administrative penalty of 19.552 million Canadian dollars on Peken Global, which KuCoin has appealed (FINTRAC).
• Regulators elsewhere: the unregistered platforms named by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2025 include KuCoin and Bitget (Cointelegraph); in February 2025, Japan’s Financial Services Agency asked Apple and Google to remove the KuCoin, Bitget and other apps in Japan (The Defiant); on 2023-12-28, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit issued non-registration notices to 9 offshore platforms, including KuCoin (The Statesman).

Bitget has a Protection Fund that is separate from its reserves, with public wallet addresses; the incident page updated on 2026-10-04 shows 3,705 BTC, worth more than 314 million USD. KuCoin used its insurance fund in 2020, but I couldn’t find its current size. Bitget was most recently hacked in September 2026 and KuCoin in September 2020; KuCoin also has a criminal guilty plea in the United States on its record. Proof of reserves only reflects assets at the moment of the snapshot and isn’t deposit insurance, so for coins you don’t plan to trade for a long time, consider moving them to a self-custody wallet. For the records of 13 exchanges side by side, see exchange safety records and the exchange proof of reserves comparison.

KuCoin or Bitget: which should you choose?

• Beginners who mainly buy major coins on spot: choose Bitget. The fees are the same as KuCoin’s, but moving USDT from Bitget back to MAX or BitoPro over BEP20 costs only 0.01 USDT, versus at least 0.5 USDT from KuCoin; and if you want to learn copy trading, you can start by copying spot, with no leverage.
• Frequent small-cap buyers: for coins listed on both, choose Bitget, since nearly half of KuCoin’s trading pairs charge 0.2% or 0.3%; if a coin is only listed on KuCoin, KuCoin is your only option, so check the fee class before you order.
• Futures traders who often use market orders (VIP 0): both charge the same 0.06% taker fee, so choose the one with the higher rebate percentage (see the table above); if you often hold positions through settlement times, choose Bitget, where 46% of USDT perpetual contracts settle every 4 hours, versus 63% on KuCoin.
• Futures traders with 50,000 USDT or more in their account: choose Bitget. Assets alone get you to VIP 2, with a 0.04% futures taker fee; on KuCoin, you need 1,000,000 USDT in assets to upgrade through assets. This assumes you’re comfortable keeping that money on the exchange long term.
• Copy traders: choose Bitget. You can copy both spot and futures, and the currently announced profit share cap is 10%; KuCoin only offers futures copy trading, and its traders take up to 32%.
• Those who prioritize Taiwanese compliance: neither is on the FSC registration list. Use a registered Taiwanese platform for TWD deposits and withdrawals and for long-term holdings, and use an offshore exchange only when you need futures, copy trading or more coins.

Many traders open accounts on both: major coins and futures on Bitget, and small-cap coins listed only on KuCoin traded on KuCoin, which also spreads the risk of a single platform suspending withdrawals. You’ll need to complete identity verification on each, and enter the referral code when you sign up for each.

Still weighing other exchanges? If futures copy trading matters to you, see BingX vs Bitget. Each exchange’s fees, rebates, proof of reserves and restricted regions are covered in full in the KuCoin review and the Bitget review.

How do you transfer from KuCoin to Bitget, and what does it cost?

There is no internal transfer between the two, so USDT has to go out as an on-chain withdrawal: first go to the deposit page on the receiving exchange, choose USDT and a network and copy the address, then go to the withdrawal page on the sending exchange, choose the same network and paste it. The sending exchange charges the withdrawal fee, a fixed amount per withdrawal no matter how much you send. According to the KuCoin official currency API and the Bitget official coin API as of 2026-10-12, the cheapest networks open on both sides are:

• KuCoin → Bitget: use Plasma, 0.4 USDT (minimum withdrawal 5 USDT); for less than 5 USDT, Aptos costs 0.5 USDT (minimum withdrawal 1 USDT).
• Bitget → KuCoin: use BEP20, 0.01 USDT (minimum withdrawal 10 USDT).

On the commonly used TRC20, KuCoin charges 1.99 USDT and Bitget 1.5 USDT. Fees can change at any time, so go by the amount shown on the withdrawal page before you confirm, and make sure the receiving exchange’s deposit page offers the same network; if you pick the wrong network, the funds may not be recoverable. For every network’s fee and minimum withdrawal at 13 exchanges, see USDT withdrawal fees compared.

How the information in this article was checked

Fees, platform token discounts, identity verification, copy trading and bot rules, and the rules for adding and switching referral codes were all checked against both exchanges’ official help centers, announcements and fee pages on 2026-10-13 (KuCoin’s Link Referrer and Unlink Referrer requests were rechecked on 2026-10-22); USDT withdrawal fees and funding rate settlement intervals are figures read from official pages and public APIs on 2026-10-12, and KuCoin’s trading pair classes come from official data read on 2026-10-11; reserve figures are taken from each exchange’s most recently published report; hacks and regulatory events were cross-checked against official announcements, press releases from judicial authorities and news reports. How this site compiles its data is explained in how the rebate data is compiled, and referral link disclosure is in referral and rebate disclosure.

FAQ

Which has lower fees, KuCoin or Bitget?

For major coins at VIP 0 they’re the same; for small-cap coins, or if you keep a lot in your account, Bitget is lower. Futures are maker 0.02% and taker 0.06% on both, spot is 0.1%, and 0.08% with the platform token discount; KuCoin charges 0.2% and 0.3% on spot for class B and C coins. If you have 50,000 USDT or more in your account, Bitget’s asset path takes you to VIP 2, with a 0.04% futures taker fee.

Can I use KuCoin and Bitget at the same time?

Yes. They’re different companies, so you just register and verify your identity on each. The limits apply within each exchange: on KuCoin, one person can verify only one account, and on Bitget, one ID document is also tied to one account. Enter the referral code when you sign up for each: Bitget doesn’t let you add one after sign-up, and KuCoin only takes a request it has to review. To move USDT between them, you can use BEP20, which both support: 0.01 USDT out of Bitget and 1 USDT out of KuCoin.

KuCoin or Bitget for users in Taiwan?

The conditions for using them in Taiwan are about the same, and most people will save more with Bitget, because moving USDT back to a Taiwanese platform costs much less. Neither is on the FSC anti-money-laundering registration list (2026-09-29 list), neither offers TWD deposits, Taiwan isn’t a restricted region on either, and both apps are available in the Taiwan App Store.

Which is safer, KuCoin or Bitget?

Neither can be called absolutely safe; both have been hacked. On 2026-09-24, about 388 million USD was stolen from Bitget’s hot and warm wallets, covered by the Protection Fund, and withdrawals were fully restored after about 7.5 days; on 2020-09-25, about 281 million USD was stolen from KuCoin, 84% was recovered and the insurance fund covered the rest, and in 2025 its operating entity pleaded guilty in the United States. On reserves, KuCoin’s BTC ratio was 109% on 2026-09-30, and Bitget’s was 142% on 2026-09-29.

Which pays a bigger referral rebate?

For the current percentages, see the “at a glance” table and the calculators above, which stay in sync with the exchanges; since the official fee rates are the same, the rebate percentage decides which one is cheaper after the rebate. On the rules: KuCoin’s affiliate program states that invitees who registered after 2022-09-22 earn for life, calculated on the fees actually paid, with API trading excluded; Bitget states that its rebate is long-term and calculated on net fees. The VIP limits are similar: under KuCoin’s referral program and Bitget’s regular invitation campaign, invitees at VIP 3 or above no longer earn a rebate.

To sign up directly, see the KuCoin referral code and the Bitget referral code; fee details are in the KuCoin fees guide and the Bitget fees guide; if you already have an account, see the guide to switching your KuCoin referral code and the guide to switching your Bitget referral code for the switching rules. Each exchange’s actual fees after rebates are compiled in actual fees after referral rebates, and for the exchanges with the lowest fees, see the low-fee exchange comparison; for other exchanges’ referral codes and rebates, see the crypto exchange referral codes hub. To compare other pairings, see Bitget vs OKX, Bitget vs MEXC and Bybit vs Bitget.