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Uphold Review 2023: Staking, Fees and Benefits
Luis Clark
- URL: https://uphold.com/en-us
- Headquarter: New York, USA
- Year Founded: 2013
- Platform App: Mobile APP (iOS and Android)
- No. of Cryptos: 250+
- Fiats Available: 37
- Withdraw Method: Bank account and Private wallet address
- Payment Method: Bank transfer, Credit/Debit card, Uphold card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
If you’re an investor keen to diversify and trade multiple assets such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, stocks, foreign exchange (forex), and precious metals, all in one place, Uphold may seem to be the most ideal place to start. Uphold is a versatile platform that enables traders to access, trade a variety of assets more efficiently, and control their portfolios, deposits, withdrawals, with ease.
This Uphold review takes a deep dive into Uphold unique features, fees, supported assets, and security. Keep reading
Uphold Review: Our Opinion
Our Uphold review delves into the crypto exchange as a multi-asset platform. The unique “Anything-to-Anything” trading experience offered by Uphold makes it a standout desktop and mobile trading platform. With Uphold, users may trade crypto directly using a bank account, cryptocurrency, or debit or credit card with 0% trading commissions.
The platform has a well-designed interface and provides access to multiple currencies including 250+ crypto assets, 37 fiat currencies, and commodities or precious metals like gold and silver. Anyone can start their trading journey with a minimum deposit as low as $10. This is a perfect fit for investors and traders seeking to access various markets like stocks, precious metals, forex trading, and cryptocurrency.
Customers have a lot of perks to look forward to including an Uphold Mastercard with up to 4% cashback crypto rewards, staking rewards up to 13%, and zero deposit and withdrawal fees.
Although Uphold integrates stock trading, it is only available in selected jurisdictions outside the United States. For example, the Uphold Europe Limited entity takes care of customers within the EEA. It is also worth mentioning that this broker features high spread fees, which may not be appealing for active traders and investors. There have also been complaints about the platform’s unstable security.
An Overview of Uphold
Uphold was founded by Halsey Minor in 2014. It is a multi-asset digital money platform that provides financial services to international markets. Uphold HQ is located in New York, it is built on a foundation of proprietary technology and e-money apps, envisions a future in which individuals and organizations globally have access to secure, open, equitable, and cost-effective financial services.
The platform enables customers to instantly trade between asset classes with embedded payments — thanks to its innovative “Anything-to-Anything” trading experience, supporting a world in which everyone has access to financial services.
Uphold was originally known as Bitreserve and only offered cryptocurrency trading. However, it was rebranded to “Uphold” in 2015. Since then, Uphold has influenced more than US$4 billion in transactions. Uphold offers frictionless foreign exchange and cross-border remittances for users worldwide, spanning 184+ countries, 250+ currencies (traditional and crypto), and commodities.
Uphold clients get to enjoy features like the Uphold card, cashback rewards, crypto rewards for answering surveys and watching videos, staking incentives, and an intuitive mobile app (iOS or Android). Aside from this, the Uphold website asserts that the platform enables its users to access up to seven blockchain networks.
Uphold best serves bitcoin investors who wish to have access to a wide selection of cryptocurrencies and other trading coins with its expanded list of supported digital currencies. Currently, Uphold Exchange has a financial reserve of over $2.5 billion and caters to over 1.7 million users — with the promise to become the one-stop shop for all digital financial services.
Compared to major crypto exchanges, Uphold also features key strengths that contribute to its core functionality, as well as downtrends that should be improved:
Pros
- Fast account set up
- Multi assets financial services
- Wide range of cryptocurrencies
- Comprehensive educational content
- Uphold debit card integration
- Cross-asset trading
- Crypto rewards
- Compatible with private external crypto wallets
Cons
- High spread fees for low liquidity cryptocurrencies
- Security concerns
- No advanced trading features
- Sudden account closures without providing reasons for the closure
Key Features of Uphold
In this Uphold review 2023, we’ll examine some perks and features that make this financial service platform stand out:
Multi-asset Trading Platform
Uphold is a multi-asset trading platform that gives users access to over 37 fiat currencies, commodities like gold and silver, and stocks. The platform supports over 250 crypto assets, including major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Users can also get access to meme coins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and DeFi coins such as CRV and COMP. For investors seeking stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and DAI, Uphold also offers those.
Apart from these, the platform enables users to buy and trade a large number of the more well-known US stocks, such as Tesla, Apple, Amazon, and Google. Users of Uphold fractional equities service are able to purchase stocks for as little as $1 and even receive a portion of the dividends.
Automatic Currency Conversion
The Automatic Currency Conversion feature allows customers on the Uphold platform to transfer fiat to anyone in their preferred national currencies. The recipient will automatically receive what they need. For instance, if investor A sends Ethereum to investor B, and investor B needs USD, the Ethereum will be automatically converted into USD in the process and credited to investor B’s wallet as USD.
Debit Card
Uphold offers a debit card that can be used to withdraw funds, spend cryptocurrencies, and purchase precious metals, or any other assets in traders’ accounts. The Uphold card comes in virtual and physical form. The virtual card is completely free and can be acquired instantly from the Uphold app, enabling users to spend crypto from their Uphold wallet. The physical card, on the other hand, can be acquired for a one-time fee of $10.69.
Even better, the Uphold card offers investors several perks, like:
- Card holders can convert any asset held with Uphold into fiat currency to spend on their card
- 4% cashback on every purchase paid in XRP
- No foreign transaction fees are charged when using the card — regardless of location or currency spent
- Security features which enables users to freeze their remotely in case of loss
- Real-time alerts and analytics that enables users to track their spending more efficiently
- Industry-leading FX rates as high as 10% when cardholders travel
Cryptocurrencies Available on Uphold
Users on Uphold are sure to never run short of cryptocurrency investing options. Currently, this broker allows trading of over 250+ cryptocurrencies, including most of the biggest ones on the market with instant liquidity, low volume assets, and stable coins that follow the U.S. dollar. Some of these options include:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Cardano (ADA)
- XRP
- Dash (DASH)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Solana (SOL)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Chainlink (LINK)
Uphold Fees
Even though Uphold does not charge deposit fees, withdrawal fees, or trading commissions, it does charge a bid ask spread, which varies depending on the asset type and account. Here is a brief summary of the spread range for various assets.
Personal Account
Business Account
Web Wallet
Convert and Buy
- USD, EUR, GBP, UPUSD, UPEUR, TUSD, USDT, USDC, DAI – 0.65%
- AUD, CAD, DKK, HKD, JPY, MXN, NZD, NOK, SGD, SEK, CHF – 0.95%
- BTC, UPBTC – 1.05%
- ARS, BRL, ILS, KES, PHP, PLN, AED, CZK, HUF, RON, HRK – 1.15%
- DASH – 1.25%
- Cryptocurrencies, Environmental Assets & Equities – 1.4% – 1.95%
- XAU, UPXAU – 2.05%
- XPD – 3.05%
- XAG – 3.65%
- XPT – 3.95%
In our Uphold review, we found that Uphold does not currently support the trading of U.S. equities for U.S. and European investors.
Uphold Payment Methods
Payment methods are essential functionalities that determine smooth transactions on every exchange. Uphold supports an array of payment methods, including bank account transfers, crypto deposits, and credit/debit cards. Users may also make use of payment processors like Apple Pay and Google Pay to make deposits on the platform and proceed to trade crypto.
Uphold Security
Is Uphold safe? The financial service company claims to provide the best security measures, including Know Your Customer (KYC) verification and two factor authentication (2FA). This company stores customers’ funds online in hot wallets and also provides users with security measures and steps to recognize and mitigate substantial risk and scams.
In addition, Uphold features a third-party industry-standard bug bounty program powered by a security company called “Intigriti.” With the bug program integration, customers can report bugs they encountered when using uphold.
Although Uphold’s security measures are more than average, customers have kicked against its hot wallet integration, which is used to store customer assets (funds). This is because it can be viable to hacking and fraud due to its online feature — which causes a major security concern.
Uphold Staking Rewards
Uphold Exchange provides a crypto staking program as a means for investors to earn passively. When a cryptocurrency is staked, it is used to validate transactions and secure the network of the crypto asset. In return, users who stake earn rewards based on the exact amount staked.
The amount earned also depends on the type of cryptocurrency, as well as the annual percentage yields (APYs), which can be as high as 25%. Cryptocurrencies that offer higher APYs tend to be more volatile (less stable). For instance, customers can earn up to 7% on Ethereum.
Currently, Uphold supports the staking of over 10+ popular cryptocurrencies, including market movers like:
- Ethereum
- Solana
- Cardano
- Tezos
Each cryptocurrency often requires a different minimum amount to start staking.
Opening a Uphold Account
Ready to start trading on Uphold? Here are a few steps to open an Uphold account and get started:
Register
Uphold offers a personal or a business account creation – investors must navigate to the Uphold homepage and click on the ‘Sign up to move to a registration page. Like top platforms, Uphold exchange collects personal information from traders including a valid email address, input a strong password, select country of residence, and citizenship. Once done, users must accept the Terms and conditions, and tap on ‘Next’.
Verify
The next step is verification. Just like major exchanges, Uphold investors are required to go through an ID verification process. Users who only provide the information above will be limited to lifetime transactions ceiling of $1,000 only. To remove this limit and gain access to Uphold platform’s additional featureslike funding, investors must submit additional verification documents such as a national identity card, driver’s license, or passport, take a live selfie, and click “‘Done.”
These documents will be verified in a few minutes. Once completed, crypto investors may fund their trading account and begin trading multiple asset classes (cryptocurrency, foreign exchange, U.S. equities, and precious metals) on the platform.
We recommend that traders set up two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security. To do this, investors can go to the security section on the platform for core details.
Trading Experience on Uphold
Uphold Crypto Exchange incorporates a simple-layout and intuitive trading experience via its desktop platform and mobile apps to enable customers to make trades. Crypto beginners will find the Uphold interface easy to use, with easy navigation between features and the crypto market.
Users will get their own tile desktop platform after creating an account, which they can further tailor to meet their requirements. Simply click on an asset to reach the next menu and choose the preferred trading option.
Customers can then send money/fund their accounts and start trading from their personal desktops. They only have to click on the tile they wish to trade to fund each currency or asset directly from their linked bank account or credit card.
A distinguishing feature of Uphold is how it enables investors to trade within asset classes. Traders may opt to set up “recurring purchases” using Uphold’s AutoPilot feature; this feature uses dollar-cost average to mitigate volatility caused by the cryptocurrency market.
In our Uphold review, we discovered this broker does not integrate advanced trading features such as advanced charting. Rather, it only offers Limit order. Investors in need of additional or more advanced order types may need to try out other cryptocurrency exchange platforms like Gemini and Binance.US.
Uphold Customer Support
Uphold doesn’t offer a wide range of options for customers to solve their queries. There are only two ways users can contact Uphold customer service team:
To make general inquiries, investors can send an email to the Uphold customer service team via support@Uphold.com. For non-urgent inquiries about the platform, users can send an email to hello@Uphold.com.
Social Media
Investors can also contact the Uphold customer service team via Twitter: @UpholdInc. ‘through a private message or tweet. Apart from email and social media integration, this broker offers a FAQ section that contains relevant answers to the most commonly asked questions on the platforms.
In our Uphold review, we could not find a Live Chat or a phone number integration on the platform for users in need of immediate guidance. It is also unclear which customer service options are best for users needing very detailed assistance.
Customer Satisfaction
In this Uphold review research, we discovered that Uphold is rated 3.2 out of 5 stars across over 7,400+ reviews on Trustpilot (a reliable online review website). This is due to poor marks from customers on issues relating to account lockouts, poor customer service communication, slow account verification, sudden deposit fees, a steep interface, and profile authentication. In our own interactions with Uphold support, we also had numerous issues of poor and slow communication.
Despite over 60% to 70% of negative feedback, we read some reviews of Uphold that were positive. These positive reviews range from simplicity, to a versatile debit card, a great product offering, and staking rewards.
Education on Uphold
Education content enables both beginners and experienced traders to learn more about an asset or a market, and this is where Uphold thrives. Uphold provides valuable educational content that guides users through their chosen cryptocurrency. It explains basic and advanced terminologies and covers trendy cryptocurrency news, so important information is not missed.
In our Uphold review, we discovered that the brokerage has a page dedicated to providing information on all cryptos available. These pages contain sections on what the market trend is, arguments for or against a bullish or bearish run, and the core utility of the cryptocurrency.
Is Uphold Right For You?
Uphold compares to Binance and Coinbase in regards to providing both personal and business investors with a simple and straightforward setup. Once users register and fund their accounts, they can start trading right away. The platform allows for the trading of precious metals, cryptocurrencies, and stocks. Customers can also take advantage of features such as Mastercard, staking, and cashback rewards.
However, the high spread fees for low-liquidity crypto assets and lack of advanced trading features could be a drawback. Investors seeking a wide selection of tradable coins and tokens will find Uphold a suitable alternative.
Final Thoughts
Our Uphold review shows that, apart from Uphold’s “Anything-to-Anything” transactions, the platform provides more than just ease of trade. Anyone who frequently trades internationally may find its low fees and quick transactions enticing. It is one of the cryptocurrency exchanges that provides instant access to a diverse range of crypto and local currencies on a single platform.
However, it is worth pointing out that our Uphold disclaimer remains its spread fees which can scale quite high. Furthermore, Uphold’s poor customer service can be quite a drawback.
We reckon traders to make in-depth research before investing with Uphold in order to make informed and safe decisions in the crypto space.
If you want to know more about on Uphold Competitors and other Crypto Exchanges, you can check out our list of the Best Crypto Exchange USA. You can also read about our Sofi Invest Review as an alternative to Uphold.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
In the event of a security breach, hacking, employee theft, or fraudulent transfer, Uphold is covered by insurance. The value of every object kept in their offline storage will rise thanks to this insurance. Additionally, Uphold keeps the private keys of users wallets to further secure funds.
Uphold is among the first digital wallets to fully support interaction with the XRP Ledger. This means Uphold Members can now deposit and withdraw XRP to external XRP Ledger addresses. Besides, the cashback reward earned on using Uphold card is paid in XRP.
Uphold website claims not to charge for withdrawal fees. However, Uphold charges business account users a 2.99% crypto withdrawals and 3.99% for bank transfer withdrawals.
In our Uphold review research, we could not validate information that proves the financial service company has been hacked at any point in time. However, some third party sites have claimed there is a lawsuit against the firm due to compromise of customers’ accounts leading to loss of assets.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
If you want to know more about our Crypto Exchanges Review Methodology follow the link below
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