Oldest Crypto Exchange

Over the past few years, crypto has become an increasingly important part of many lives, with more and more people all over the world becoming more interested in trading and buying bitcoins. There are several crypto exchanges in the world, and in this article, we’re going to look more closely at some of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world. 

Let’s dive right in. 

5 Oldest Crypto Exchanges

5. Coinbase

• Year founded: 2012
• Founders: Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam
• Location: United States

Coinbase is one of the oldest crypto exchange companies in the world. This company was founded in 2012. Although it was founded in San Francisco, Coinbase is one of the only companies in the world that operates entirely online. It does not have any physical offices in any part of the world. In fact, this company was one of the first tech companies that closed down its physical offices at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

It was founded by Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong. Armstrong was actually a former engineer for Airbnb, and he was later joined by Fred Ehrsam. Ehrsam was interested in being a part of this project after seeing Armstrong’s posts on Reddit.

Did you know? 

Coinbase does not trade Monero.

Discover the 9 Oldest Cryptocurrencies Ever Released and learn about the early digital coins that shaped the crypto world, from Bitcoin to lesser-known pioneers.

4. LocalBitcoins

Although this company is now defunct, LocalBitcoins was one of the oldest crypto exchange companies in the world! The service that this company offered was trading currency for bitcoins over the counter. Their customers were able to post advertisements on the LocalBitcoins website. They could provide information like payment methods to sell and buy bitcoins, and they could also list exchange rates.

Once other users were interested in an offer that was posted on the website, they could reply to the advertisement of their choice and pay for the crypto currency through their chosen payment method. 

Did you know? 

LocalBitcoins was known for offering crypto traders a lot more privacy than other crypto exchanges.

3. Bitfinex

Bitfinex is another of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world. Just like LocalBitcoins, this company started out as a peer-to-peer bitcoin and crypto exchange, though its developers later added support for other kinds of cryptocurrencies. It’s interesting to note that Bitfinex was actually one of the first professional platforms that was built specifically for crypto trading.

It’s also worth noting that this company originally started as a Bitcoin P2P lending platform. However, in later years, Bitfinex added additional support for other cryptocurrencies. The primary reason that this crypto exchange was created was because it was designed to offer users derivatives products, high-volume trading, and various other services. 

Did you know? 

Bitfinex is the second-largest crypto exchange in the world in terms of the number of bitcoins it has in its wallet. Researchers have estimated that in the present day, this company has around 43,000 bitcoins overall. 

Check out the 8 Youngest Bitcoin Millionaires and explore the inspiring stories of how they made their fortunes in the fast-growing world of cryptocurrency.

2. Kraken

Kraken is another of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world. It was founded back in 2011, and was known for being one of the first and only bitcoin exchanges to have been listed on the Bloomberg Terminal. The company was founded by a man named Jesse Powerll, who previously worked for the company Mt. Gox as a consultant. His work at Mt. Gox mainly involved working on a security problem. 

Since Powell saw Mt. Gox dying, he began working on and developing Kraken in his spare time. Powell was correct about the former company dying, and eventually launched Kraken in 2013 after developing it for two years. 

Did you know? 

Kraken has been facing regulatory investigations for over 6 years now.

1. Bitstamp

Bitstamp is the oldest crypto exchange in the world. This company was first founded in 2011, and it was founded to be the European-focused alternative to a bitcoin exchange that existed at the time called Mt. Gox. It’s interesting to note that this company accepts both fiat money and trades in US dollars. It’s also worth noting that the fiat money that this company accepts is through the European Union’s Single Euro Payments Area. 

Did you know?

Bitstamp had to temporarily suspend its service in 2015 due to a hack that occurred. This was because around 19,000 bitcoins were stolen. However, the company resumed their services a week later.  

Discover the 10 Oldest American Coins in History and learn about the rare coins that played a key role in shaping U.S. currency and its rich history.

Conclusion

In this article, we looked more closely at some of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world. We hope that you enjoyed reading this article, and that you learned something new from it today.