GMO Coin Crypto Exchange Review: Is It Right for You in 2025?

• DATE: 9 11 25
• BY: Stellan Marwick

When you’re looking for a crypto exchange, you don’t just want to trade Bitcoin or Ethereum-you want to feel safe, know the fees won’t eat your profits, and not waste hours trying to figure out how to deposit money. That’s where GMO Coin comes in. But here’s the catch: it’s not built for everyone. If you live in Japan, it might be one of the best options you have. If you’re anywhere else, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere.

Who Runs GMO Coin? The Backing Matters

GMO Coin isn’t some anonymous startup with a slick website and no track record. It’s owned by GMO Internet Group, a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 9449). That’s not just a nice detail-it means there’s real corporate oversight, financial reporting, and accountability. Unlike many crypto-only platforms that vanish when markets crash, GMO has been around since 2016 and is backed by a 25-year-old Japanese tech and financial services giant.

But being part of a big company doesn’t mean it’s flawless. In March 2025, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) issued a business improvement order to GMO Coin. That’s a formal warning that something in their operations isn’t meeting regulatory standards. The exact issues weren’t made public, but it’s a red flag for anyone expecting perfect compliance.

What You Can Trade-And What You Can’t

As of 2025, GMO Coin supports only five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP). That’s it. No Solana, no Dogecoin, no Polkadot, no meme coins. If you’re the kind of trader who likes to chase altcoins, you’ll hit a wall fast.

The platform offers just five trading pairs-mostly BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, and similar fiat pairs. No BTC/USDT, no ETH/BTC. That’s because GMO Coin is designed for Japanese retail investors who want to buy crypto with yen, not trade between cryptos. It’s a simple, focused model. But if you want flexibility, you’re looking at a platform that’s stuck in 2018.

Fees: The One Thing They Do Better Than Everyone Else

Here’s where GMO Coin stands out-big time. Most exchanges charge you to trade. GMO Coin pays you.

Their maker-taker fee structure works like this:

• Makers (people who add liquidity by placing limit orders): get paid -0.01% per trade. That means for every $1,000 you trade as a maker, you earn $0.10.
• Takers (people who remove liquidity by buying or selling at market price): pay 0.05%.

Compare that to Binance’s 0.10% taker fee or Coinbase’s 0.50%. Even Kraken, known for low fees, charges 0.16% for takers. GMO Coin’s taker fee is half the industry average. And the maker rebate? Almost unheard of. Only a handful of professional exchanges offer this, and none of them target retail users like GMO does.

Oh, and there are no withdrawal fees. You pay the blockchain network fee (like Bitcoin’s miner fee), but GMO doesn’t add a cent on top. That’s rare. Most exchanges charge $5-$15 to pull out your crypto.

How to Deposit Money-And Why It’s a Problem

GMO Coin only accepts bank wire transfers for fiat deposits. No credit cards. No PayPal. No Apple Pay. No instant bank links like SEPA or Faster Payments.

That’s a dealbreaker for most international users. In 2025, 78% of top exchanges let you buy crypto with a card in under 5 minutes. GMO Coin? You have to initiate a bank transfer from your account, wait 1-3 business days for it to clear, and then wait another 1-2 days for your account to be credited. If you’re trying to jump on a price surge, you’ll miss it.

And if you’re not in Japan? Forget it. You need a Japanese bank account and proof of residency to open an account. The KYC process takes 5-7 business days-twice as long as most global exchanges. And if you don’t speak Japanese, good luck navigating the forms.

Security: Solid, But Not Transparent

GMO Coin claims to store 95% of customer funds in cold storage. That’s standard for reputable exchanges. Two-factor authentication is required. No known major hacks in its history. That’s reassuring.

But here’s the problem: they don’t publish proof. No third-party audits. No public proof-of-reserves reports. No transparency around encryption standards or penetration testing. For a company that’s supposed to be regulated, that’s a big gap. Competitors like Kraken and Bitstamp release monthly audit reports. GMO doesn’t. That makes it harder to trust, even if the track record is clean.

App and Interface: Built for Japanese Users

The web platform and mobile apps (iOS and Android) are clean and functional. But almost everything is in Japanese. Only about 35% of help articles, support pages, and tooltips are translated into English. If you’re not fluent, you’ll be guessing what buttons do.

Customer support is another pain point. You can email them (48-hour average response), call (Japanese only), or use live chat (8 AM-6 PM Japan time). No 24/7 support. No multilingual agents. That’s not just inconvenient-it’s risky. If your funds get stuck during a market crash, you won’t be able to reach anyone outside business hours.

Trustpilot reviews from international users average 2.3 out of 5. Common complaints: “I couldn’t figure out how to deposit,” “Support didn’t reply for a week,” “I gave up after three days.”

Who Is GMO Coin Actually For?

Let’s be clear: GMO Coin isn’t for crypto enthusiasts who want to trade hundreds of coins. It’s not for people who need instant deposits. It’s not for non-Japanese speakers.

It’s for one group: Japanese residents who want a safe, regulated way to buy and hold Bitcoin and Ethereum with yen.

If you live in Japan, have a local bank account, and want low fees with strong institutional backing, GMO Coin is one of the top choices. It’s ranked 4th in Japan’s $28.7 billion crypto market, behind BitFlyer, Coincheck, and Liquid. It’s not the biggest, but it’s one of the most stable.

For everyone else? Look at Kraken, Binance (where available), or Coinbase. They offer more coins, faster deposits, better support, and global accessibility. GMO Coin is a regional player with global ambitions-but right now, it’s still very much a Japan-only product.

The Future: Can GMO Coin Go Global?

GMO Coin has hinted at expansion. Their 2025-2027 roadmap, leaked to Nikkei Asia, says they plan to add 10 more trading pairs by the end of 2025 and seek licenses in Southeast Asia. They’ve also started offering staking for three proof-of-stake coins and a lending program where users earn rental fees on idle crypto.

But here’s the reality: without solving the language barrier, the deposit issue, and the regulatory blind spots outside Japan, expansion is unlikely. Their FSA warning in March 2025 shows they’re under pressure to clean up their act at home. If they can’t fix that, they won’t get far overseas.

For now, GMO Coin is a niche exchange with a brilliant fee structure and a serious localization problem. It’s a great tool if you’re in the right place. If you’re not? It’s a dead end.