Luno vs Gemini – Which Exchange Is Better?

Last updated on June 24th, 2021

2 of the crypto exchanges you may heard of include Luno and Gemini.

Since both of them are quite established, which one should you use to buy crypto?

Here’s what you need to know:

The difference between Luno and Gemini

Luno charges you lower trading fees in both their Instant Buy and Exchange platforms compared to Gemini. However, the number of cryptocurrencies you can purchase with Luno is much lower (6) than Gemini (38).

Here’s an in-depth comparison between these 2 exchanges:

Founder

Luno is based in London and was founded earlier in 2012. They are found in 40 countries, including Singapore, UK and Australia.

Meanwhile, Gemini was founded in New York in 2014.

Gemini is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange that is found in 50+ countries!

Both of them seem to be rather reputable companies with a strong background in the cryptocurrency scene.

Number of currencies

Luno allows you to trade in 6 currencies:

1. BTC
2. BCH
3. ETH
4. XRP
5. LTC
6. USDC

These currencies are the more well-known ones that have been around for quite a while!

Gemini allows you to trade 38 currencies

Gemini has larger offering of currencies too! You are able to trade 38 different currencies on their platform from Singapore.

Gemini allows you to trade GUSD, which is Gemini’s stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

If you wish to trade in GUSD, you can only do so using USD and not SGD.

Methods of funding your account

Both exchanges allow you to deposit SGD using your Xfers account.

Xfers is a payments solution that allow you to transfer your money securely into the crypto exchanges.

It sort of acts like the middleman between your bank accounts and the exchanges.

When you deposit your funds into Gemini via Xfers, it will be directly credited into your account.

You can read my guide on how to deposit and withdraw from Gemini to find out more.

For Luno, you’ll need to transfer you money to Xfers first. After that, you’ll need to transfer your funds from Xfers to Luno.

It is slightly more troublesome when you use Luno as you’ll have to make 2 separate transfers!

Methods of buying crypto

For both exchanges, you can use SGD to purchase your crypto.

Both Luno and Gemini provide you with an Instant Buy option.

In this way, you’ll be purchasing your crypto at the prevailing market rate.

You are also able to trade crypto on the Luno Exchange,

as well as Gemini’s Active Trader platform.

You are able to set the price that you want to buy the crypto at.

Moreover, Gemini also allows you to buy crypto directly using a debit card.

This is slightly more limited compared to other exchanges, which allows you to purchase using a credit card as well.

However, purchasing from a debit card can be really hefty!

Withdrawal of funds

Luno allows you to transfer your funds to your Xfers wallet.

Meanwhile, Gemini allows you to withdraw your funds directly to your bank account.

Again, transferring funds to and from Gemini seems to be much easier.

Sending and receiving crypto

Both Luno and Gemini allow you to send and receive crypto from external wallets.

This makes it easy for you to transfer your crypto to another exchange.

You can also send your crypto to a savings wallet that earns you high interest, such as:

1. Celsius
2. BlockFi
3. Hodlnaut
4. Youhodler
5. Nexo

Fees

The most important thing when it comes to trading crypto are the fees. You should try to minimise your fees as much as possible!

Here are some of the fees you may incur when using either platform:

#1 Depositing and withdrawing fees

There are no deposit or withdrawal fees for either platform.

This is better compared to Coinhako, which charges you:

1. 0.55% deposit fees (if you use Xfers)
2. $2 for every withdrawal

#2 Buying and selling crypto

Here are the fees that you’ll be charged for both exchanges:

Luno has lower fees if you use their Exchange

If you want to use Luno’s instant buy function, you will incur a 1% fee.

This is similar to the fee that Coinhako charges.

However, Luno has an Exchange platform as well.

Luno charges you the trading fee based on your 30-day trade volume:

Trade Volume	Fee
SGD 0.00 – SGD 349,999.99	0.10%
SGD 350,000.00 – SGD 699,999.99	0.09%
SGD 700,000.00 – SGD 1,399,999.99	0.08%

There are much higher trade volumes, but I do not think you will hit those amounts.

Even at the lowest tier, the fee charged by Luno is really low.

At 0.10%, it is cheaper compared to most platforms!

The only drawback is that the Luno Exchange only has BTC/SGD as their SGD trading pair.

If you wish to buy other currencies, you will have to make at least 2 trades.

Gemini has 2 different fee structures too

Gemini also has 2 different fee structures when making trades on their platform.

The default platform is Gemini Exchange.

If you buy using this platform, the fees are really hefty!

Trade Amount (SGD)	Trading Fee (SGD)
≤ $15.00	$1.50
> $15.00 but ≤ $35.00	$2.00
> $35.00 but ≤ $70.00	$2.75
> $70.00 but ≤ $250.00	$4.00
> $250.00	1.49% of your Web Order value

If you are only trading a small amount, the fees are extremely high! As such, it is not recommended to use this method.

Instead, you should switch to Gemini Active Trader.

If you use this platform, you will incur 0.35% worth of trading fees!

However, you can only purchase either BTC or ETH directly from SGD.

This is more than a 4x reduction in fees if you use Active Trader, compared to their Exchange.

However, Luno Exchange offers an even lower fee of 0.1%, which is one of the cheapest.

Using Gemini Active Trader is one of the most cost effective ways of buying crypto in Singapore. It may be slightly confusing to use if you have not utilised a trading platform before.

You can check out my guide on Gemini’s Active Trader to find out more.

Gemini charges 3.49% fee for debit card purchases

If you purchase crypto using a debit card, you will incur an additional 3.49% fee. Even though buying through debit card is really convenient, the fees are really high!

It would be best if you use bank transfers instead.

#3 Sending and receiving fees

You may want to send or receive your crypto from an external wallet.

For Luno, the fees for most currencies that you send are dynamic. This depends on the network demand and traffic when you’re sending your crypto.

The only exception is the fixed fee for sending XRP (0.3%).

Gemini offers you free withdrawals each month

For Gemini, the first 10 withdrawals for each currency is free. However, you will be charged some fees when you make more than 10 withdrawals!

If you want to receive crypto from an external wallet, no fees are charged by either exchange.

However, you’ll need to consider the fees you incur when sending crypto from your external wallets!

Limits and minimum amounts

When you want to buy crypto on either exchange, you may be subject to certain limits and minimum amounts.

Luno has a minimum of $20 SGD per trade. However, for Gemini, their minimum trade amounts depends on the cryptocurrency you’re trading in.

Earning interest on your crypto

Luno has their Savings Wallet that allows you to earn interest on your crypto.

This is similar to a savings account. Instead of earning interest on your fiat currency, you will earn it with BTC, ETH or USDC!

Crypto.com has a similar programme with its Crypto Earn.

Luno projects that you can earn up to 4% p.a. on your Bitcoin. However, the interest rate may fluctuate!

If you intend to buy and hold your cryptocurrency, this is a great way for you to earn some interest!

Gemini has their Earn feature too

Gemini also has an ‘Earn’ feature.

Furthermore, you are able to earn interest on 38 different currencies!

However, Gemini offers a lower interest rate on BTC (2.05%) and ETH (3.05%).

If you want to earn interest on these 2 currencies, then the Luno Savings Wallet may be a better option for you!

Security

You may have heard of how crypto exchanges can be hacked, and these hackers can steal your cryptocurrencies!

So how do these exchanges try and combat this?

Luno stores the majority of your currencies in a cold storage

Luno also uses 2 places to store your crypto:

1. Deep freeze storage
2. Hot wallet

Most of your funds are stored in the cold wallet.

However, some of your funds are in their hot wallet, in case you want to quickly withdraw them.

In the hot wallet, another set of keys are held with BitGo. They are considered to be a secure custodian of your crypto.

Once again, your crypto stored with Luno should be rather secure.

Luno provides 2FA to either your email or mobile phone whenever you login to your account.

Gemini also stores the majority of your currencies in a cold storage

Gemini claims it is one of the most secure crypto exchanges.

Majority of the assets on the exchange are stored in an offline cold wallet.

Moreover, the remaining funds in the hot wallet is insured.

Our policy insures against the theft of Digital Assets from our Hot Wallet that results from a security breach or hack, a fraudulent transfer, or employee theft.

Gemini

It seems that Gemini’s owners are quite confident about the security of their platform!

Platforms

Luno has both a web platform,

as well as a mobile app.

Meanwhile, here is Gemini’s Exchange platform,

Active Trader platform,

and mobile app.

Both platforms are rather sleek and easy to use.

Verdict

Here is a comparison between Luno and Gemini:

	Luno	Gemini
Year Founded	2012	2014
HQ	London	New York
Number of Currencies	6	38
Funding Methods	Xfers	Xfers
Methods of Buying	SGD Wallet	SGD Wallet Debit Card
Withdrawal of Funds	Xfers	Bank Account
Deposit Fees	None	Free
Withdrawal Fees	None	Free
Instant Buy Fees	1%	From 1.49%
Exchange Fees	From 0.10%	From 0.35%
Sending Fees	Dynamic (Except for XRP: 0.30%)	Free for first 10 transactions (fee depends on currency)
Minimum Per Trade	SGD $20	Based on currency
Earning Interest	Savings Wallet (Up to 4%)	Gemini Earn (Up to 7.4%)
Security	Cold storage + hot wallet	Cold storage + hot wallet
Platform	Web + Mobile	Web + Mobile

So which platform should you choose?

Choose Luno for lower fees

Luno Exchange offers one of the lowest trading fees for any exchange out there. As such, you are able to trade crypto at the lowest costs.

Moreover, their Instant Buy fees (1%) are still cheaper compared to Gemini’s fees (from 1.49%).

The only disadvantage is the limited number of currencies that you can buy.

You are able to purchase 6 currencies directly from SGD with Instant Buy. If you choose to use the Exchange platform, you can only buy BTC from your SGD!

However if you are looking at just these currencies, Luno offers one of the best fees out there.

Choose Gemini if you want to invest in a wider variety of crypto

Gemini allows you to purchase more currencies via their Instant Buy feature. Moreover, you are also able to trade ETH from SGD on Active Trader.

If you are looking to diversify your crypto portfolio into different currencies, then Gemini may be the better platform.

However, the fees may eat into your returns!

Conclusion

Both Luno and Gemini have their advantages when it comes to purchasing crypto.

In the end, the exchange that you choose depends on:

1. The type of currencies you wish to invest in
2. The fees you wish to incur

👉🏻 Referral Deals

If you are interested in signing up for any of the products mentioned above, you can check them out below!

Luno Referral (Earn SGD $30 in Bitcoin)

If you are interested in signing up for a Luno account, you can use the referral code ‘T5N74J‘ or my referral link to sign up for an account.

You’ll be able to earn SGD $30 worth in Bitcoin!

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Sign up for a Luno Account
2. Deposit and buy ≥ SGD $200 of BTC via Instant Buy
3. Receive SGD $30 in Bitcoin

You will need to purchase BTC using the Instant Buy function. The fees that you incur will be 0.75%.

It would be best to buy only $200 SGD worth of BTC, which only incurs you a $1.50 fee. The $30 SGD bonus will be able to offset the fee!

Gemini Referral (Earn $10 USD in BTC)

If you are interested in signing up for a Gemini account, you can use my referral link.

You will be able to receive $10 USD in BTC!

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Register for a Gemini account
2. Trade ≥ USD $100 or equivalent on Gemini’s platform
3. Receive USD $10 worth of BTC in your account

Are you passionate about personal finance and want to earn some flexible income?