How to Start a Crypto Exchange in 7 Steps: A Comprehensive Guide

The phenomenal valuation of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum, has presented an excellent opportunity for companies. Online brokerages and exchanges have been generating significant profits from the rising number of crypto owners and those who are willing to invest in digital currencies.

That being said, building a lucrative crypto firm can be complicated. There are numerous details to account for, ranging from legal matters and technical assistance to security requirements and interfaces for platforms.

We simplify the process with an all-in-one resource that lays out everything you need to know about creating a crypto exchange and how to succeed with this lucrative opportunity.

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Crypto Exchange?

Beginning with crypto exchanges requires a massive initial and ongoing investment, and the costs vary depending on whether you choose to develop your own customised version, acquire a white-label solution, or adopt a hybrid approach.

Both of them have their cost structure and benefits, and you need to measure them accurately so that you can become competitive in a very fluid space.

Custom development means building a crypto exchange from scratch. This approach offers maximum flexibility but comes with high costs. Basic development expenses can range from $500,000 to over a million, including high-tech infrastructure and security, as well as in-house developers, compliance experts, and system maintenance.

A white-label exchange is a pre-built platform that you can customise and rebrand as your own. This approach significantly reduces time-to-market and costs, with typical expenses starting from $50,000 with flexible recurring charges.

The hybrid approach combines white labelling with custom-built features. It balances speed, control, and costs, with typical expenses ranging from $150,000 to $500,000, depending on how much customisation is required.

Moreover, you need to consider additional costs, such as liquidity partnerships and ongoing server maintenance, which can incur additional $100,000 - $200,000 annual expenses.

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Legal Requirements for Starting a Cryptocurrency Exchange

The legality of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and digital assets is under discussion in many markets. The US has only recently considered Bitcoin not securities, meaning they are not subject to strict financial regulations, while in Europe, the creation and transaction of stablecoins are fairly monitored.

The legal requirements in other regions, like Southeast Asia, Australia, or LATAM, are still evolving, with reforms and frameworks driving growth and economic stability.

Such tendencies attract more users to join the crypto space. According to a Crypto.com report, the total number of global crypto holders rose from 65 million in May 2020 to 700 million in April 2025, marking a massive 163% CAGR. As such, newcomers prefer to get some proof that their assets are secure and their rights are protected. 

This makes obtaining a crypto exchange license key in attracting new clients to your platform and a crucial tool to ensure full compliance with legal norms and standards.

For example, if you are operating in Europe, you need to comply with the MiCA financial frameworks to gain unified access to EU markets. Moreover, if you are looking to onboard UK investors, you must get an FCA license and adhere to strict KYC and AML protocols that boost user confidence and enhance platform credibility.

Licensing and Registration

Before launching a crypto exchange, you need to obtain proper licenses or permits to operate legally. Requirements vary by jurisdiction but generally include registration with local financial regulators, a detailed compliance guideline, and sufficient capital to ensure liquidity.

Top jurisdictions, such as Japan, the UK, or the USA, are recognised for their robust frameworks, which boost trust among users, ensure smoother operations, and attract new investors.

Jurisdictional Considerations

Crypto regulations differ significantly worldwide. For example, Malta and Japan have clear legal structures and encourage exchange operations, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia have restrictive policies regarding owning and trading digital assets.

Therefore, you need to carefully select your jurisdiction, which affects licensing costs, tax obligations, banking access, and compliance feasibility.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) Requirements

Anti-money laundering and know your customer are popular protocols that aim to protect investors’ rights and combat illicit activities. With AML and KYC policies, exchanges must verify customer identities, monitor suspicious transactions, and report certain activities to regulators.

Some jurisdictions require AML and KYC procedures to be part of your onboarding and registration process to mitigate fraud risks and enhance overall market integrity.

Security and Consumer Protection Standards

Licenses often require strict security protocols. Key measures include fund segregation, cold digital storage, multi-signature wallets, regular security audits, and robust cybersecurity systems.

Additionally, consumer protection regulations include clearly defined terms of service, fair pricing plans, and transparent asset safeguards. These capabilities offer strong security mechanisms and boost user trust.

Ongoing Compliance and Auditing

Compliance is an ongoing procedure rather than a one-time task. You must perform regular internal audits, keep up with evolving laws, and submit reports to regulators in a timely manner.

Staying compliant with financial regulations prevents penalties, instils confidence, and enhances your business reputation.

Types of Cryptocurrency Exchanges

While serving the same purpose, there are various types of crypto exchange platforms that differ in user interaction, money handling, and the nature of the intermediary that connects both parties. Let’s explain.

Centralised Exchanges

CEXs are more commonly found because they are straightforward and more user-friendly. Buyers and sellers connect through an intermediary that matches coin sales and purchases.

Centralised crypto exchanges are custodian platforms that store users’ digital assets and perform transactions on a built-in wallet in the user’s account. Their services range from enabling users to purchase BTC using fiat currency to providing a crypto trading platform for investors.

Examples: Binance and Kraken.

Decentralised Exchanges

DEXs are the second-most popular exchange types, which are slightly technically challenging and require advanced knowledge. However, they do not involve third-party entities in the storing and handling of transactions — users buy and sell crypto by connecting their Web 3.0 wallets.

Decentralised crypto exchanges are also called non-custodial platforms because they do not hold the user’s digital assets and offer limited trading and liquidity options.

Examples: Pancake Swap and Uniswap.

Peer-to-Peer Exchanges 

P2P platforms allow users to connect and exchange currencies directly, similar to decentralised exchanges. However, the main difference is that operations are conducted using escrow services, ensuring one side’s order is fulfilled only after the other party delivers their offer.

In other words, they guarantee both parties to receive what they are looking for at the agreed price, promoting transparency and minimising fraud.

Examples: LocalBitcoins and Paxful.

Instant Exchanges

Instant exchanges serve a simple functionality, swapping one cryptocurrency for another for a commission fee. These platforms do not store users’ assets and do not require creating a new user account.

Instead, buyers and sellers can connect their wallets and trade their owned virtual coins and tokens for other assets supported by the platform.

Examples: Changelly and SwapZone.

Key Steps to Start a Crypto Exchange in 2025

The successful launch of a crypto exchange comes after a structured approach in planning, strategising, legal considerations, and technically building your platform from the bottom up. Here’s a step-by-step guide to starting your cryptocurrency exchange in 2025.

Step 1: Plan the Business Model and Target Market

Market research is the backbone of your crypto exchange strategy. Start by defining your geographic focus, target customer segments, and regulatory implications.

Then, conduct competitor analysis to determine gaps and opportunities in the market. Set realistic revenue projections to aid your profit strategy and plan your go-to-market timeline.

Finally, establish milestones from beta launch to scaling, ensuring all business aspects align with your long-term objectives and business goals.

Step 2: Review Local Regulations and Get a License

Crypto regulations vary widely between countries and jurisdictions. Therefore, before opening a crypto exchange business, you need to familiarise yourself with local rules about decentralised finance and digital assets.

This is also crucial in determining your target market. For example, just last year, South Africa started issuing crypto exchange licenses, while dealing with Bitcoin is banned in Qatar and China.

Then, you must register with the local regulatory agency and hire a compliance team to ensure ongoing adherence to applicable laws. Getting a crypto business license is crucial to spur confidence in your platform and attract more clients to use your services.

Step 3: Determine Your Crypto Exchange Features

Plan the range of services and features you want to offer your clients. This may include signup bonuses to lure clients or ongoing promotions that can boost your retention rate.

Then, you need to conduct market research on the most-demanded services, whether your target market wants to buy, sell, trade, swap, or invest with cryptocurrencies and other decentralised finance tools.

This strategy helps you understand what you require to create a crypto exchange platform and how to approach new clients in the best way.

Step 4: Start Developing Exchange Platform Architecture

The tech stack determines your exchange’s scalability, security, and performance across all components, from the trading engine and custody systems to KYC verification and API integrations.

Therefore, you need to evaluate your options between in-house platform development and a white-label crypto exchange that offers a faster, more cost-effective launch.

In-House Development

Building your exchange platform using internal resources gives you more freedom over design and technical features, where you can enjoy maximum control over the process and user interfaces.

However, in-house crypto exchange development requires significant time and money to locate, hire, and train qualified employees.

Additionally, a prolonged testing and quality control phase will extend the entire process to months before launching your crypto exchange business, leading to missed opportunities and delayed market entry.

White Label Development

White-label companies are developers who provide pre-built templates that require customisation and branding before integration for ready business use.

They are powerful turnkey solutions that shorten your time to market, allowing you to open a crypto exchange quickly and start making money faster than months of development.

White-label (WL) providers offer technical support, client onboarding and server hosting, so that you can focus on core business operations and leave technical aspects to professionals. In exchange, the provider charges different costs to start a Bitcoin exchange, either a one-time payment or recurring annual fees.

Step 5: Implement Liquidity Solutions and Integrations

Sourcing liquidity is crucial to offer financial instruments at competitive prices and ideal conditions. Partner with reliable liquidity providers and ensure superior aggregation practices.

You can also set market-making incentives, such as fee rebates to makers who add liquidity, rewarding high-volume traders with lower fees, and distributing token rewards to those who keep spreads tight.

Then, manage integrations with payment gateways, banking partners, blockchain nodes, and real-time price feeds to maintain a smooth trading experience.

Step 6: Test and Launch Your Exchange Platform

The last and most important step is testing your platform. You need to ensure that features work as intended and the server runs smoothly without downtime or crashes.

You can start with limited access to stress-test all instances and capabilities in real time. This enables you to resolve any emerging issues without affecting the overall trading experience.

Then, you can release your cryptocurrency exchange only after thoroughly testing and conducting a solid marketing campaign to spread the word about your website and encourage investors and crypto communities to use your platform.

Step 7: Ongoing Technical Support and Monitoring

To ensure long-term operations, you must continuously monitor platform performance using real-time system checks, incident response protocols, and fraud-prevention software.

Additionally, offering technical support is crucial to resolving customer issues in a timely manner. This increases retention rates and ensures a satisfactory user experience.

Key Features of a Cryptocurrency Exchange

When launching your own crypto business, you must carefully plan the included features. A cryptocurrency exchange should be user-friendly, intuitive, and feature-rich to provide a frictionless user experience.

Core functionalities include secure authorisation and verification, crypto wallets for storing, depositing, and withdrawing funds, a real-time order book, and a user-friendly interface. Here’s a quick checklist that will help you find what features your crypto platform needs.

• Trading engine and order book: Handles order matching, trade execution speed, and overall system performance.
• User authentication and KYC/AML systems: Ensures regulatory compliance and protects against fraud.
• Wallet and custody management: Includes hot, warm, and cold storage options with security protocols like multi-signature approvals.
• Liquidity aggregation: Provides access to multiple liquidity sources for deeper order books and competitive spreads.
• Payment gateway and fiat integration: Supports deposits, withdrawals, and fiat on/off ramps for accessibility.
• Admin panel: Enables monitoring of user accounts, risk exposure, reporting, and platform health.
• User interface (UI/UX): Delivers an intuitive, responsive, and customisable trading experience across devices.
• Security infrastructure: Includes encryption, DDoS protection, penetration testing, and incident response planning.
• API access: Allows integration with third-party tools, algorithmic trading, and institutional systems.
• Analytics and reporting tools: Provide insights into trading activity, fees, and overall platform performance.

Accelerate Your Crypto Exchange Launch with B2BROKER

Launching a successful crypto exchange requires careful planning, robust compliance, strong technology, and secure liquidity solutions. While building an exchange internally is possible, it demands significant time, capital, and expertise. Therefore, many startups switch to white-label developers to get a ready-to-use crypto platform that can be customised.

Partnering with a provider like B2BROKER streamlines the process, offering turnkey solutions that cover core components such as matching engines, liquidity aggregation, custody systems, and KYC/AML integration.

Moreover, B2BROKER provides ongoing technical support, infrastructure monitoring, regulatory guidance, and more functionalities that equip you with key competitive advantages.