What is Kinesis Money?
Kinesis Money, launched in 2018, is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange and monetary platform that integrates physical gold and silver as tokenized assets, aiming to reintroduce precious metals as a stable, yield-bearing medium of exchange. Founded by Thomas Coughlin, who also established Allocated Bullion Exchange (ABX), a global institutional precious metals exchange, Kinesis operates from the Cayman Islands and is registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The platform supports over 40 digital assets and 150 trading pairs, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and its native tokens, Kinesis Gold (KAU, 1:1 backed by 1 gram of gold) and Kinesis Silver (KAG, 1:1 backed by 1 ounce of silver), with a reported 24-hour trading volume of approximately $53.2 million.
Kinesis distinguishes itself by offering a spot exchange focused on real-world assets, emphasizing physical gold and silver over derivatives or CFD trading. Its Kinesis Pro platform, which replaced the original Kinesis Exchange, provides professional-grade trading with advanced order types (market, limit, stop market, stop limit) and TradingView integration for sophisticated charting. The ecosystem includes a Kinesis Virtual Card (Mastercard-backed), enabling users to spend KAU, KAG, or crypto at over 80 million locations worldwide with real-time fiat conversion. Users can also buy, store, and redeem physical bullion at competitive prices, with no storage fees, across 15 insured vaults in cities like London, New York, Dubai, and Hong Kong. The platform’s native stablecoin, Currency One USD (USD1), is a USD-backed stablecoin with $12 billion in liquidity, ranking as the third-largest by market capitalization.
Kinesis’s unique yield system redistributes 57.5% of transaction fee revenue (0.22% per trade) to users, offering monthly yields in KAU and KAG for holding, spending, or referring others, without requiring staking or lock-ups. Security measures include 1:1 fully allocated bullion, biannual audits by Inspectorate (Bureau Veritas), cold storage via ABX’s vaulting network, and compliance with KYC/AML regulations. However, Kinesis faces challenges: it’s unavailable in the U.S. and sanctioned countries due to regulatory restrictions, and some users criticize the lack of stop-loss orders, raising concerns about risk management.
For traders seeking stability through precious metals and passive yields, Kinesis is innovative, but its niche focus and regulatory limits may deter some users.
What are the trading fees on Kinesis Money?
Kinesis Money charges a flat 0.22% trade execution fee for all spot trading pairs, including cryptocurrencies and KAU/KAG, which is competitive but higher than low-fee exchanges like WOO X (0%–0.05%). There are no deposit fees for cryptocurrencies, but fiat deposits via bank transfer incur a 0.1% fee (minimum $2.50). Withdrawal fees vary by asset (e.g., 0.0004 BTC for Bitcoin, $5 for SEPA transfers). Physical bullion redemption incurs a 0.45% fee plus delivery costs. Users should check Kinesis’s fee schedule for specific rates and conditions.
Does Kinesis Money offer leverage trading?
No, Kinesis Money does not offer leverage trading, margin trading, or futures trading. The platform operates as a spot asset exchange, focusing on trading physical gold (KAU), silver (KAG), and cryptocurrencies without derivatives or CFDs. Traders seeking leverage should consider alternatives like BloFin (up to 150x leverage) or CoinEx (up to 100x leverage), noting regional restrictions.
Is there a research audit report for Kinesis Money?
Yes, Kinesis Money provides biannual independent audits of its gold and silver reserves, conducted by Inspectorate, a Bureau Veritas company, ensuring a 1:1 backing for KAU and KAG tokens. These audits verify that all bullion is fully allocated and stored in insured vaults across 13 global cities. However, detailed proof-of-reserves data for cryptocurrencies is unavailable on platforms like CoinGecko, and comprehensive third-party financial audits are not publicly disclosed. Users can access audit summaries on Kinesis’s Trust and Security page, but the lack of crypto reserve transparency may concern some traders.
Is Kinesis Money safe?
While many major CEXes boast stronger firewalls than most governments, history has witnessed numerous instances where exchanges have fallen victim to hacks, resulting in the loss of customer funds. DEXes are generally safer option as you have control over your funds at all times as long as blockchain is up and running. It's all based on contract code so you can clearly look at what's behind the scenes, and how their contracts work.
Does Kinesis Money have customer support?
Almost all exchanges provide customer support, but the quality, speed and continuity of this service varies from time to time depending on the budget conditions of the companies. We recommend that you experience the customer support service provided by the centralized crypto exchange by asking a question to the support section on its website.
