Uphold Review: Should You Choose This Crypto Broker for Your Trades?

If asset diversification is on your mind as a trader, you might want to consider onboarding Uphold. From cryptocurrencies to stablecoins and forex to metals, Uphold unveils a smorgasbord of trading options for interested folks. Besides being a forex and crypto broker, Uphold even makes a statement in regard to user experience, fee structure, and other parameters.

But you shouldn’t simply take my word for it? Instead, I advise you to read through this detailed 360-degree Uphold review, which I have put together upon analyzing almost every operational aspect of this broker. By the end of this piece, you should be able to take a call regarding Uphold.

Uphold identifies as a multi-asset platform and has been around since 2015.

Uphold Review: Pros and Cons

Way too busy to read through the entire review! Well, here is a detailed list of Uphold’s pros and cons, which should be a good start to helping you take the onboarding call:

Pros

• Offers access to over 200+ assets
• Operates in over 184 countries
• Supports cross-asset trading
• Offers a decent educational repository
• Has the lowest possible deposit limit, starting at $1
• Known for listing new tokens earlier than most

Cons

• Features like crypto staking aren’t available to U.S. users
• Not the most transparent fee structure
• Doesn’t operate in New York

Uphold’s cross-asset trading functionality allows traders to convert one asset type into another — say, BTC to Gold — without going through extensive transaction steps.

Uphold Background: Key Elements and Regulatory Posture

Uphold is headquartered in Larkspur, USA. It is also registered in Lithuania — Vilnius, to be exact. As for the current leadership team, Simon McLoughlin serves as the CEO, followed by Josh Greenwald as the CTO and Cem Miralay as the Chief Product Officer.

Some of the other team members are listed here:

Since 2015, a wide range of entities has gradually regulated Uphold — Money Services Business and FinCEN in the United States, operating as an EMD Agent per FCA regulations in Europe and the standard internationally accepted KYC and AML standards.

It was in early 2023 — January 27, to be exact — when Uphold discontinued equities trading, which was one of its primary offerings before that.

“Our partnership with Ripple illustrates how the unique capabilities of our platform can be used by enterprises to make efficient crypto-to-fiat transfers and bank payouts.”

Simon McLoughlin, CEO of Uphold: Press Release

Uphold Features and Offerings

The best way to determine the quality of a crypto or even a forex broker is to look at the features on offer. These include the following:

Diverse Assets

As of October 2023, Uphold allows access to diverse assets. For crypto traders, there are over 250 cryptocurrencies to choose from. Uphold supports 250+ assets, which includes the OG crypto BTC, XRP, ETH, and several other assets.

Apart from standard cryptos, you can even trade stablecoins on Uphold.

As a crypto broker, Uphold lets you purchase assets via cards, bank transfers, and even crypto wallets. Plus, you can even initiate crypto-to-crypto trades.

Besides cryptocurrencies, Uphold lets you trade precious metals, including silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. Similar payment methods are valid even for metals, followed by support for metal-to-metal trades.

Uphold also doubles down as a forex broker, letting you convert dollars to euros to pounds to dollars and more at will and competitive rates. As of now, Uphold supports 45+ fiat currencies, helping you better diversify your portfolio.

Crypto Staking

If you aren’t a U.S.-specific user, you can even experience Uphold’s staking feature to keep earning passive income and industry-leading APYs on your crypto holdings. As for assets that support staking,

Uphold lets you work with 30+ cryptocurrencies, including FTM, ATOM, DOT, and more. You can earn between 0.35% to 16% as the estimated APY, depending on the crypto you choose to stake.

Crypto Card

As a U.K.-based user, you can even enjoy the perks of the Uphold Card, known for the lowest possible exchange rates, the ability to spend crypto directly, zero annual fees, and other notable perks. The Uphold card even lets you withdraw crypto as ATM cash, track spending, and get timely notifications.

DCA Calculator

As a professional holder, you can use Uphold’s DCA calculator well. This resource is simple to use. You must assign the crypto you want to purchase periodically, set the amount in the fiat currency of choice, and set frequency at monthly, daily, or as per your preferred timeframe.

You can even set a start date and end date for DCA or dollar cost averaging your holdings. Do note that the DCA calculator sources funds from your Uphold wallet.

Uphold Wallet

Like more popular exchanges, including Binance, even Uphold lets you in on a wallet with multi-asset support, advanced security standards via multi-factor authentication, Brave browser integration to keep earning BAT as rewards, and seamless deposits and withdrawals.

Business and Institutional Tools

Uphold also comes loaded with several institutional tools like on and off-ramp facilities, Brave rewards via browser connections, API integrations, and more.

It is worth noting that the accrued Brave or BAT rewards can be withdrawn from your bank account.

Uphold Review and the State of Customer Support

Uphold’s customer support setup is meant to offer quick responses. And the reasons for this have to be a dedicated FAQ and Help Center. If your issues are more descriptive, something that the FAQ-based articles cannot quell, you can raise a ticket by “Submitting a request.”

Uphold lacks live chart or phone-based support, which might be a deal breaker for certain users. However, there is a dedicated status page displaying the health status of respective platforms like the Uphold app, website, payment interfaces, and even the “submit a request” page.

You can choose the concern, detail the same, include attachments, and submit the same. Usually, it takes up to 24 hours for Uphold to answer user queries.

Uphold’s Security Posture: Are User Funds Safe at Uphold?

While I did discuss the regulatory posture of Uphold, it is time to check out the security-specific robustness of the same. Here are some of the key elements that stand out:

1. Advanced protocols related to encryption of user details and transaction records.
2. Storage of funds across cold storage modules, ensuring additional security.
3. Implementation of two-factor authentication and multi-party signature protocols for that added layer of security.
4. Availability of a bug bounty rewards program
5. Regular security audits.

Despite the top-notch security standards, Uphold only has a Trustpilot score of 3.3, which is average. While most users have rated the customer support setup positively, concerns have been raised regarding overcharging and holding onto funds for long.

Uphold Fees

Uphold has an extremely transparent approach towards fee declaration. Termed service fees depend on the mode of payment you choose, followed by the region you are operating from. Do note that there is a difference between the types of fees accrued by the platform.

The trading fee structure depends on the crypto you plan to buy or sell. As a crypto broker, Uphold charges a spread or rather fees of up to 1.8% for specific crypto assets. In addition to the trading fees, Uphold also charges fiat deposit fees, provided you plan on using cards. Debit card deposits are charged at 2.49%, and Credit card deposits are charged at 3.99%.

Bank account and ACH transfers are free of cost. And so are the crypto conversions.

Uphold levies a withdrawal fee — $0.99 flat — for specific crypto withdrawals. These include tokens like TRX, FLR, DAG, XDC, and a few more.

If you want to withdraw funds to your bank account, Uphold levies a 1.75% charge on the same. Besides crypto trading fees, Uphold also charges a 2% fee on bid-ask prices for trading metals. Additionally, if you wish to trade fiat currencies, the platform charges a flat 0.2% fee.

All Uphold Limits Explored

If you wish to use Uphold for trades and plan to work extensively with the deposit and withdrawal methods, knowing the limits is appropriate.

Here are the details you would be interested in:

1. The minimum deposit limit is $1, which is a low entry barrier for new traders.
2. There are no deposit and withdrawal limits in place for Bank wire transfers and crypto transactions.
3. The maximum daily deposit limit for bank transfers is set at $500, whereas for debit cards, the maximum daily withdrawal limit is set at $2500.

Also, if you are only interested in knowing about the deposit and withdrawal methods, here is a detailed list:

• Debit and credit cards
• Apple Pay/ Google Pay
• Bank or, ACH or SEPA transfers
• Wire transfers
• Crypto transfers

Regarding using Uphold in Canada, only three payment methods are supported — Credit cards, Debit cards, and crypto transactions. Regardless of the KYC, the Canadian transaction limit is set at $1750 monthly.

Uphold User Experience

Using Uphold is as easy as it gets. To get started, you must sign up by providing basic details like name, email ID, country of residence, and citizenship. Once you are logged in, you need to verify the KYC details by confirming the credentials. Once done, you can immediately start trading assets.

It is worth mentioning that Uphold doesn’t only come as a web interface. Instead, you can even use Uphold as an iOS or Android mobile application. While all the options are equally usable, with the web version being mobile optimized, the Uphold mobile app (s) offer the smoothest possible trading experience, led by smaller screens and touch-based integrations.

The Uphold blog happens to be another element of the enriching user experience, offering a host of article categories for you to choose from. These include articles related to trading strategy, airdrops, staking, crypto news, and more.

Also, Uphold accepts country-specific IDs, bank statements, Passports, driver’s licenses, and other government-authorized documents for KYC verification.

Finally, when it comes to trading lots, you can work with one lot or unit of the metal but go fractional with cryptocurrencies, with no limit on the lot size.

Diving Deeper into the Uphold Mobile Apps

Looking to try out the Uphold mobile apps right away. Here is what you should know about them:

iOS App Features

• Seamless access to a multi-asset window, listing over 250+ cryptocurrencies, metals, and more.
• Allows you to locate hard-to-find assets with ease
• Supports easy fund transfers
• Offers access to flexible limit orders
• Has a separate section for handling recurring transactions
• Supports quicker account setup

Android App Features

• Offers a more versatile trading experience
• Stacked with comprehensive trading options
• User-friendly UI
• Easy-to-access education center
• High-level security
• Offers access to real-time market insights
• Asset conversion support

If you are more of a trader who wants to choose between assets, the iOS app is a better bet. As a beginner, the Android app, with its seamless UI, is a better bet.

Is Uphold the Right Crypto Broker for You?

Uphold might just be the right crypto broker for you if asset diversification is one of your priorities. And yes, if you are a U.K.-based user, getting to use Uphold, along with the Uphold card with zero foreign transaction fees, might just be the right perk for you.

Uphold also boasts Topper, a Web3 platform to help businesses on-ramp and off-ramp crypto transactions with high approval rates.

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