How Blockhorizon will rate crypto platforms

By the Blockhorizon Editorial Team · Updated 2 October 2026 · How we check facts

Has Blockhorizon rated any crypto platform yet?

No. As of 2 October 2026 we have not rated, reviewed or recommended any crypto exchange or platform, and this site carries no links that pay us. We are publishing the method first, so that you can judge our ratings against it when they appear and see if we change the rules later.

Until then, our checklist for choosing a crypto exchange lets you run the same checks yourself.

Is this an industry standard?

No. This is Blockhorizon’s own method. We do not follow any official or industry scoring system, and no regulator has approved or endorsed this method. The criteria are our choice, and so are the grades and the weights. What we have tried to do is anchor every criterion to a risk that a financial regulator has described in its own words. We link those sources below, so you can decide whether we picked the right things to measure.

What is the first check, before any grading?

A register check. It is a gate, not a score: a platform either passes it or is not rated for your country at all.

1. We look the platform up ourselves on the official register for each country we cover. We type the register’s address ourselves; we never follow a link from the platform. For example: the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) register of providers authorised under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), or the list of money services businesses kept by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
2. We confirm the legal name, reference number, status, website and contact details match.
3. We publish the register’s address and the date we checked it next to the rating.
4. We re-check at least every 90 days and before any rating changes. The 90-day interval is our own rule.

Why it is only a gate: regulators say a listing is not an endorsement. The FCA tells crypto firms that registration “is not a recommendation or endorsement of your business.” FinCEN says “FinCEN does not verify information submitted by the MSB.” ESMA, for its part, reminds clients of unauthorised providers that “they do not benefit from MiCA safeguards, including protections for client assets.” So passing the gate tells you the platform is allowed to operate. The grades tell you more.

What five criteria will each platform be graded on?

Each criterion targets a risk that a regulator has named:

What exactly will we look for under each criterion?

• Custody. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warns: “If the third-party custodian is hacked, shuts down, or goes bankrupt, you may lose access to your crypto assets.” It also names lending deposited assets (rehypothecation) and pooling them (commingling) as risks. We read the terms of service for whether customer assets are kept separate, whether they can be lent out, and whether you can withdraw to a wallet you control. See wallets and private keys.
• Withdrawals and failure. The SEC has reported firms “suspending customers’ ability to withdraw their assets”. We look for public records of suspended withdrawals and regulator warnings. Both the FCA Warning List and ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities are checked.
• Cost transparency. The SEC notes the ask price “will almost always be higher than the bid price”. We check whether the spread and every fee are shown before you trade, and we record them on a stated date.
• Marketing conduct. Since 8 October 2023 crypto promotions to UK consumers need a prescribed risk warning and may not offer joining or refer-a-friend bonuses. We check the platform’s UK-facing marketing against those rules, and whether it uses unlabelled influencer promotion.
• Conflicts of interest. The SEC says “The commingling of these functions, exchange, broker-dealer and custodial functions, for example, creates conflicts of interest and risks for investors”. We record which roles the platform plays and what it discloses about handling the conflicts.

How will grades be given?

Each of the five criteria gets one of four grades: Strong, Adequate, Weak or Could not verify. “Could not verify” counts as Weak: if a platform does not publish the information, you cannot rely on it either. We will not add the grades up into a single star score, because a platform that is strong on fees but weak on custody is not “average”. Each grade will come with the evidence and the date it was checked.

The thresholds between grades are our judgement, written down in advance. If we change the method, we will date the change on this page and re-grade every platform under the new version.

Can a commission change a rating?

No. In future we may earn a commission when someone signs up to a platform through a link in our exchanges section. Our commitments:

• Platforms are graded on the same criteria whether or not they pay us.
• Whether we have a commercial deal with a platform is shown next to its rating.
• A platform cannot pay to be rated, re-rated or removed.
• No affiliate link is shown in a country where promoting that platform is restricted, or where it fails the register check.

More detail is on how we make money and in our editorial policy.

What will a rating not tell you?

A rating describes the platform, not the crypto you buy on it. The FCA says that if you invest in crypto “you should be prepared to lose all your money, for any one of a variety of reasons, including sudden market moves, the failure of a firm, poor segregation of client funds or cyberattacks.” A Strong grade cannot protect you from a price fall. It also cannot promise that a platform will stay sound after the date we checked it. Ratings are not personal advice. Read our risk disclosure and the risks of crypto before you decide anything.