How we score — in the open.
Every rating is a number we compute, not one we assign. Each service is graded 0–10 on a fixed set of weighted criteria for its category, and the overall score is the weighted average. No provider sees its score before publication, and none can pay to change it.
How the score is calculated
Each category below has its own rubric of criteria, and each criterion carries a fixed weight that sums to 100%. Our desk scores every service from 0 to 10 on each criterion from public information, and the headline score you see is the weighted average of those criterion scores. Because the rubric is fixed and identical for every service in a category, the ranking reflects merit — not who paid.
Exchanges & Trading
Track record, proof of reserves, cold storage, insurance.
Maker/taker, spreads, deposit & withdrawal costs.
Order-book depth and slippage on major pairs.
Breadth of listed assets and markets.
App quality, tooling, and responsiveness of support.
Audit history, exploit record, contract maturity.
Depth and stable pricing on major pairs.
Swap fees and effective cost including slippage.
Networks supported and breadth of markets.
Interface, routing, and wallet integration.
Contract audits, solvency, exploit history.
Depth, open interest and execution quality.
Trading fees and funding-rate competitiveness.
Markets, leverage and order types offered.
Uptime, latency and interface quality.
Competitiveness of the effective exchange rate.
How clearly total costs are disclosed upfront.
Time from order to settlement.
Reputation, custody exposure and KYC thresholds.
Range of supported coins and networks.
Accuracy, breadth and freshness of data.
Depth of analytics, alerts and automation.
Pricing relative to what you get.
Usability and learning curve.
Exchange, wallet and API connectivity.
Wallets & Custody
Secure element, isolation, track record.
Coins and chains the device handles.
Open-source firmware and auditability.
Companion app quality and everyday usability.
Price relative to protection and features.
Key handling, audits, and exploit history.
Networks and tokens supported.
Recovery options and control of keys.
Ease of use across mobile and desktop.
Connectivity to on-chain apps.
Staking, Lending & Yield
Key handling, slashing protection, track record.
Net yield after fees vs. the network baseline.
Uptime, disclosures and history.
Range of stakeable assets.
Commission taken from rewards.
Contract audits and exploit record.
Operator-set spread and governance.
How tightly the LST tracks the underlying.
Net staking return.
TVL, integrations and market acceptance.
Contract and operator risk, audits.
Clarity on slashing and layered risk.
Return net of added risk.
Depth and exit liquidity of the token.
TVL and integration breadth.
Strategy and contract audits, exploit record.
Whether returns are real vs. incentives.
Clarity on where yield comes from.
Performance and management fees.
History across market conditions.
Contract audits and exploit history.
Liquidation design and parameters.
Competitiveness of borrow/supply rates.
Market depth and withdrawal reliability.
Disclosures and history.
DeFi & Stablecoins
Audit depth and exploit record.
Usage, liquidity and integrations.
Resilience across cycles.
How value accrues and is governed.
Documentation and on-chain openness.
Trust model, audits — bridges are top exploit targets.
History of incidents (or lack of them).
Networks and assets supported.
Time to finality across chains.
Cost of a transfer.
How tightly and reliably it holds its peg.
Backing quality and attestation/disclosure.
Depth and how widely it is used.
Regulatory standing of the issuer.
Reliance on a single issuer vs. on-chain design.
NFTs & Creative
Active buyers and trading volume.
Custody model and scam protection.
Trading fees and creator-royalty handling.
Networks supported.
Minting and management features.
Quality and usefulness of what it produces.
Breadth of tooling.
Pricing relative to capability.
Ease of use.
Wallet, chain and marketplace links.
Cards & Payments
Issuance, spending and foreign-exchange costs.
Cashback/rewards and how sustainable they are.
Countries and networks supported.
Controls, custody and fraud protection.
Funding options and app experience.
Scoring & independence
Criterion scores are set by our research desk from public information — documentation, audits, proof-of-reserves, regulatory filings, fee schedules and incident history. Where a specific figure is uncertain, we grade conservatively rather than guess. The weighted average is computed mechanically, so the same inputs always produce the same score.
Re-review cadence
Ratings are revisited at least twice a year, and immediately after any material event — a security incident, a change of ownership, a regulatory action or a depeg. Each rating shows the date it was last reviewed.
Conflicts of interest
We do not accept payment, equity or tokens from any service in exchange for a review, a score or a position. Some outbound links may be affiliate links that support our work; they never influence a score or where a service ranks. Reviewers disclose relevant holdings and recuse themselves where a conflict is material.