MEXC Review: 0% Maker Fees Are Real, So Is the Compliance Gap
MEXC lists new tokens faster than almost anyone and charges close to nothing for spot maker orders. We funded an account, traded on no-KYC limits and checked what the FCA and BaFin have said about the exchange before deciding who should use it.
6.4out of 106.4
Our verdict
MEXC is the cheapest and fastest way to trade a new token the day it lists, and its 0% maker fee is not a teaser rate, we paid it. But the exchange has no tier-one licence anywhere, the FCA and BaFin have both warned consumers against it, and unverified accounts are capped at roughly 1,000 USDT a day out. Traders who already accept exchange risk for a specific listing edge will get what they came for. Anyone parking savings, or anyone in the UK, US or an EEA state after the July 2026 MiCA cutoff, should not open an account here.
Best for: Active traders chasing new listings who keep balances small and move winnings off-platform fast
MEXC's pitch is simple: near-zero fees, thousands of tokens, and listings that beat everyone else to market. We opened an account, funded it, traded spot and futures at the posted rates, and pulled funds back out before writing a word of this.
The fees are not a bait rate
We placed a limit order below the market on BTC/USDT and it filled at 0% maker, exactly as advertised. The taker side cost 0.05%, again matching the published schedule. Futures ran 0% maker and 0.02% taker on our test account, no VIP tier required. Holding 500 or more MX tokens knocks another half off whatever remains, which most competitors do not offer for free. None of this needs a promo code or a support ticket. It is simply what the order ticket showed us.
MEXC's own fee schedule page, the source we checked our order fills against
Listings arrive before anyone else notices
Three of the last five tokens we watched debut on a mid-cap chain went live on MEXC's spot market before Binance or OKX had them queued. That speed is the actual product here, not the fee discount. MEXC's markets page runs a live "Newest" rail next to hot futures pairs, and traders who watch it closely are the ones this exchange is built for.
The Markets page surfaces new listings next to BTC and ETH prices in real time
Trading without ID has a ceiling
MEXC lets you deposit, trade spot or futures, and withdraw without submitting identification, at least up to a point. In most regions that point is roughly 1,000 USDT out per rolling day. Clear Primary KYC and the daily cap jumps to 80 BTC; Advanced KYC pushes it to 200 BTC. We tested a small no-KYC withdrawal and it cleared inside ten minutes. Larger balances simply cannot move without documents, so treat the no-KYC path as a convenience for small, fast trades rather than a way to stay anonymous with real size.
We also read through user reports of accounts frozen mid-KYC review, with funds stuck for weeks while support asked for repeat document uploads. We did not hit that ourselves, but the pattern shows up often enough in independent forums that anyone pushing past the no-KYC cap should expect the review to take longer than the ten minutes our small withdrawal did.
The spot trading screen for BTC/USDT, where our maker order filled at the posted 0% rate
What regulators are actually saying
This is the part a fee comparison leaves out. The FCA lists MEXC Global Ltd on its warning register and tells UK consumers the firm is not authorised. Germany's BaFin separately warned against MEXC for running crypto custody without the licence that requires. The exchange operates out of the Seychelles and holds no licence from a tier-one regulator anywhere. When the EU's MiCA transition period closed on 1 July 2026, exchanges without a licence lost the legal right to serve EEA residents; MEXC had not secured one, told EEA users in June to withdraw, and compliance monitors still logged new European sign-ups going through after the deadline. None of that means the exchange is a scam. It does mean the safety net that comes with a regulated platform, complaint escalation, deposit protections, licensed custody, simply is not there.
Who should actually open an account
If you trade a specific listing edge, keep balances small, and move proceeds off-platform once a trade is done, MEXC does what it says: cheap fills, fast listings, no friction. If you are based in the UK, the US, or an EEA country after the MiCA deadline, you are trading somewhere you are not supposed to be, regardless of whether the interface lets you sign up. And if you plan to hold savings rather than active trading capital here, the withdrawal cap and the licensing gap both argue against it. We would not park anything beyond active trading capital on an exchange two regulators have already named in public warnings.
The bottom line
MEXC earns its reputation on speed and price, and both held up under real testing. It has not earned trust the way a licensed exchange has, and the gap between those two things is the whole review. Rate it on convenience alone and it scores high; rate it on where your money actually sits, and the FCA and BaFin warnings pull that number back down hard.
Our score reflects that split deliberately. A 6.4 is not a warning to stay away entirely, it is a signal that MEXC belongs in a specific role: a fast, cheap venue for a trade you plan to exit quickly, never a place to keep money you cannot afford to lose to a platform with no licensed backstop.
What we liked
0% maker and 0.05% taker on spot, confirmed live on the order ticket
New tokens list on MEXC days or weeks before larger exchanges
Trading and withdrawals both work without ID under regional limits
Over 3,000 tradable tokens across spot and futures
What held it back
No licence from the FCA, BaFin, SEC or any tier-one regulator
FCA and BaFin have both issued public warnings against the firm
Unverified withdrawal cap is roughly 1,000 USDT a day in most regions
Shut EEA registrations only after MiCA's 1 July 2026 deadline had passed
