MEXC
GateSame niche, different foundations
Both are among the leaders on coin count and comfortably ahead of the top three. But they got there by different routes, and that decides the choice.
MEXC deliberately chose an early-listing strategy: a coin appears here before anywhere else. Gate has run since 2013 and accumulated breadth over twelve years — by the standards of this industry that is an argument in itself.
Fees: the decisive MEXC advantage
The MEXC spot maker fee is zero. This is a standing condition rather than a promotion, and for limit strategies it outweighs almost everything else.
Triangular arbitrage shows how much it matters: three trades at the usual 0.1% cost 0.3% and eat most routes. At a zero maker fee those same three trades cost nothing. Working triangles today are found almost only on MEXC.
Twenty-four networks: the decisive Gate advantage
Gate publishes twenty-four networks for USDT withdrawals — more than any other venue in our review. If you need to send a coin into an unusual network, this is most likely where you can, and the choice lets you pick whichever is cheapest today.
Gate was also among the first to publish regular Merkle-tree proof of reserves: any user can check that their balance is counted in the exchange liabilities and that those liabilities are covered by assets. Voluntary, regular publication says something about how a venue treats transparency.
What MEXC gives you
Spot
Fifteen hundred pairs, zero maker fee.
Futures
Over a thousand perpetual contracts.
P2P
Hryvnia, tenge, lira and dozens of other currencies.
Earn
Savings and staking on fresh coins.
Kickstarter and Launchpad
New project launches.
Copy trading
Mirror other traders.
What Gate gives you
Spot
Two thousand pairs, including a great many small projects.
Futures
A thousand perpetual contracts.
P2P
Buy crypto for ordinary money.
Earn
Savings, staking, structured products and lending.
Startup
New token launches.
Copy trading and bots
Mirrored trades and automated strategies.
Proof of reserves
Published regularly on a Merkle tree.
One rule for any wide listing
Two thousand pairs does not mean two thousand liquid markets. Alongside the large coins, both venues list very thin ones where a single order moves the price by whole percent. The rule is the same for both: check volume and depth before you check the price.
Who each one suits
MEXC — if you count fees and trade with limit orders, or catch new listings in their first hours.
Gate — if a long track record, openness about reserves and the widest choice of withdrawal networks matter to you.
What the numbers say
Where MEXC and Gate diverge the most
Gate opens 26 chains for USDT against 8 on MEXC — more routes mean more chances to move funds cheaply. Counting spot pairs, Gate comes out ahead by 1.4×: 2,004 USDT pairs against 1,413. In derivatives there is no gap — around 1,097 contracts on both. P2P coverage is wider on Gate: 72 currencies against 60 on MEXC. USDT leaves cheaper from MEXC: 0.0100 over BSC, against 0.0500 ARBITRUM on Gate.
Where these numbers come from
Pair counts, withdrawal chains, fee tiers and P2P currencies are taken from the venues own public references, not from our judgement. Where a venue does not publish a field, we say so plainly instead of filling in a number.
Date of the last recalculation
Snapshot from 12 November 2026; on the page the figures refresh on every visit.
