How we review
Every review and comparison on CoinsCipher follows the same methodology. This page is the single source of truth for how we score products, who writes which review, how we handle affiliate links, and when we revisit a verdict.
Who writes reviews
- Reviews and platform how-tos are written by Sead Fadilpašić, our Editor-in-Chief. Sead has reviewed exchanges, wallets, and security tools for over a decade at Cryptonews.com (founding member, 2018-2026) and TechRadar Pro.
- Comparisons and “best-of” roundups are written by Marom Anaky, our Founder and CEO, who sets the comparison criteria the publication uses.
- Tax guides and general explainers are written by Eric Nkando, our Senior Writer, whose byline appears on Investing.com, FXLeaders, and The Distributed.
Hands-on standard
We don't review a product we haven't used. For every exchange, wallet, or tax tool review we open or fund a real account, run at least one representative task end-to-end (a trade, a deposit, a withdrawal, an export), and record the screens we saw. “Hands-on” is not a tagline here; it's the gate for publishing.
Where a feature is region-locked or requires verification we can't legally complete, we say so in the review and mark that section Not tested instead of inferring.
Scoring rubric
Each review has a single overall score from 1 to 10, built from five weighted criteria. Weights add to 100 and are shown in every review so readers can see what we rewarded.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Fees and spreads | 25% | Published maker/taker, deposit and withdrawal, hidden conversion margins we found while funding the account. |
| Security and trust | 25% | Registration status, custody model, cold-storage share, insurance, breach history, 2FA and session-management controls we exercised. |
| Product and coverage | 20% | Asset count, order types, staking, derivatives, fiat rails, country availability, mobile app parity with web. |
| Experience | 15% | Onboarding and KYC time, UI clarity, order entry speed, CSV/tax export quality, support response in a real ticket we filed. |
| Transparency and policies | 15% | Clear fee schedule, published proof of reserves, terms-of-service plain-language score, incident disclosure history. |
Honest downsides
Every review has a Downsides block. If we can't name at least two specific downsides, the review isn't ready to publish — we go back and dig until we can. Review drafts that read as uniformly positive bounce at editorial.
Winners by segment
Our comparisons name winners by segment rather than one overall “best”. “Best for day traders”, “best for first-time buyers”, “best for self-custody” — different criteria win in different seats. A single “best exchange” verdict erases the trade-offs that matter to the reader.
Affiliate links and sponsorship
Some outbound links on CoinsCipher are affiliate links — if you click through and sign up, CoinsCipher may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never determine whether a product is covered, scored, or named a winner. We publish negative reviews of partners when the hands-on test warrants it. See our ownership and funding page for the current list of commercial relationships.
We do not accept paid rankings, paid placement, “sponsored best-of” roundups, or product-review-for-coverage swaps. We will reject a pitch regardless of commission potential if the product fails our hands-on test.
When we update a review
Fees change. Features ship. Companies get breached. Jurisdictional availability shifts. Every review carries two dates in its byline:
- Published — when the original hands-on test ran.
- Last verified — the most recent date we re-checked every claim against the operator's current site, fee schedule, and support docs.
Reviews are re-verified at least every 90 days, and immediately when a material event (fee overhaul, security incident, regulatory action, acquisition) occurs. Material updates get a dated note in the review body, not a silent rewrite.
Corrections and reader feedback
If you believe something in a review is wrong, email info@coinscipher.com. We respond to substantive corrections within one business day and publish them per our corrections policy.