In the past week, there has been a lot of speculation around FairX, a decentralized exchange whose tagline is "cash for crypto." I'm personally excited about this because I'm not impressed by the existing options for converting fiat to cryptocurrencies.
By far the most popular exchange is Coinbase/GDAX. You can buy BTC, BCH, ETH, or LTC with your US Dollars. However, the complaints about Coinbase are endless. Even their subreddit cannot wait for a better option, like FairX.
Personally, I use Gemini to buy BTC and ETH. Then, and then I transfer them to Binance, which has a wide selection of altcoins. However, the process can get slow. A couple of days ago, the Gemini network was congested. It took over five hours for my ETH transfer to Binance to be confirmed. Furthermore, I couldn't withdraw my XLM from Binance to cold storage because they suspended withdrawals until today. And on top of that, Binance charges ridiculous fees for some altcoins like VEN and leaves small fractional amounts of crypto in your account.
It seems like every exchange virtually shuts down when traffic increases. There isn't much competition in the crypto exchange space due to its high barrier to entry---especially in the US with KYC/AML laws. As a result, exchanges aren't incentivized to do better and to ensure that the customer experience is top-notch. If FairX follows through with their vision, I will switch over to this exchange in a heartbeat, and I suspect that many others will, too.
It's time for a better crypto exchange, and that's why I'm cheering on FairX. It's rumored to be built on XLM, which is great for low transaction fees, and it provides another much-needed option for those looking to buy into cryptocurrencies.