About the Exchange Benchmark

The highest-weighted category. Assesses real trading efficiency through composite liquidity, volume, reference rate deviation, market maker incentives, and flash crash resilience.

Evaluates technical and operational defences: certifications, cold storage ratios, key management, custody quality, off-exchange settlement, hack history, and bug bounty programmes.

Scores regulatory breadth and quality across licence types, VASP status, legal entity structure, industry memberships, insurance coverage, and sanctions compliance.

Measures identity verification rigour and transaction oversight: KYC/AML, withdrawal limits, transaction monitoring, market surveillance, and non-compliance penalties.

Evaluates public disclosure quality: Proof of Reserves, auditor attestations, financial audits, management transparency, asset listing procedures, and DDQ submissions.

Assesses market data infrastructure quality: API speed, rate limits, WebSocket or FIX connectivity, historical data depth, orderbook access, and documentation standards.

Reflects leadership depth and service breadth, scoring executive credentials across CEO, CTO, CCO, and CISO roles, plus institutional and retail client offerings.

A deduction applied where an exchange has incurred a major (–3%) or minor (–2%) negative event within the six-month review period.