# Bithumb Open API vs KuCoin (slim)

> KuCoin scores 53.9 (D) to Bithumb Open's 50.6 (D) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kucoin.md (~4,250 tokens) · this version ~2,130 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kucoin.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-kucoin
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-03
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

KuCoin scores 53.9 (D) on agent readiness against Bithumb Open API's 50.6 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Bithumb Open API leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do exchange market data.

- Bithumb Open API: D 50.6, rank #999 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bithumb.min.md
- KuCoin: D 53.9, rank #891 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kucoin.min.md
- Bithumb Open API, good for KRW-market trading for agents acting for a verified Korean account, with a vendor-built MCP server, CLI and skills. Ahead on Agent ergonomics, 67 against 62; Security & auth, 60 against 55. Also Runs on your own machine.
- KuCoin, good for An agent trading spot, margin and futures in a person's KuCoin account outside the restricted list, with no sandbox and no MCP server, so through the SDK or raw REST. Ahead on Reliability, 45 against 34; Payments & pricing, 35 against 15; Transparency & trust, 54 against 47.

| Category | Bithumb Open API | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 34 | 45 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 64 | 60 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 67 | 62 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 60 | 55 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 15 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 69 | 73 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 47 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Bithumb Open API | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Bithumb Co., Ltd. | KuCoin |
| Transports | stdio |  |
| Tools exposed | 41 | none |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-13 | 2026-11-02 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 6 stars | 55 stars |

Why the edge:
- Payments & pricing, KuCoin +20: Bithumb Open API 15 (No machine payment protocol (0). The fee page timed out on every attempt, so no price is recorded (0 of 20, unchecked). Public market data needs no key, card or account; trading needs a verified Korean account. Judgement call (15 of 20). A person must sign up, pass identity checks and issue keys in the browser (0). 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 15.); KuCoin 35 (No machine payment protocol (0). The spot base fee is stated in support articles without login, the futures base rate and the full tier table sit in images or behind script (15 of 20). Market data needs no key, no card is asked for at sign-up (20). A person registers, verifies identity and mints the key in a browser (0). 35.)
- Reliability, KuCoin +11: Bithumb Open API 34 (Read with the hosted lines. No status page found on apidocs.bithumb.com or in llms.txt; wallet-status and notices endpoints stand in (0). No readable incident history, though two notices record a public WebSocket interruption and a brief service break (5). Rate limits documented per category with numbers, updated 27 October 2026 (15). A breach is described only as a temporary restriction, with no status code, header or Retry-After, and no client order id or idempotency key is documented; 422 order_not_ready and 500 server_error say to retry later (4 of 15). No SLA found (0). The API is generally available; the MCP server and CLI are at 0.8.5 (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 4 + 0 + 10 = 34.); KuCoin 45 (Graded with the hosted lines on the API at api.kucoin.com. No status page found (status.kucoin.com does not resolve, the docs link none), so 0 for the page and 5 for no readable history. Rate limits are published per VIP level with per-endpoint weights and IP limits for public endpoints (15). Every response carries gw-ratelimit-limit, gw-ratelimit-remaining and gw-ratelimit-reset, 429000 is documented with a wait rule, and orders take a clientOid the docs recommend as a UUID (15). No SLA (0). The UTA V2 API is the production surface (10). 45.)
- Transparency & trust, KuCoin +7: Bithumb Open API 47 (The editorial half. A closed service whose terms couldn't be read (timeouts and a title-only page); the kit is MIT with a disclaimer naming Bithumb Co., Ltd. (10 of 30). No privacy policy read (0 of 30, unchecked). Dated retirement of WebSocket Private v1 and effective dates on breaking notices (14 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement read (0 of 20). 10 + 0 + 14 + 0 = 24.); KuCoin 54 (The editorial half. A closed hosted service with terms that are clear on use, liability and law but name no company (12 of 30). The privacy policy gives retention periods by purpose and provider (2 years after closure, 14 months for Firebase, 3 years for Jumio, 5 years for Sumsub) and names 41 services, with no data centre locations (22 of 30). Endpoints are removed and fields deprecated in dated changelog entries with no notice period or policy (8 of 20). Third parties named by service, locations not stated beyond transfers around the globe (10 of 20). 52.)
- Agent ergonomics, Bithumb Open API +5: Bithumb Open API 67 (Graded on the REST API with the MCP server. 41 tools in all, selectable by module, so 15 for 11 to 30 or more and 8 added back for the module switch (23 of 25). Candle counts, order paging and a 200-market cap on the ticker (13 of 20). Stable error.name values with retry guidance for order_not_ready and server_error (14 of 20). No client order id or idempotency key documented; the CLI's per-profile read-only flag, the MCP --read-only flag and the skills' read-only gate help, and readOnlyHint annotations weren't checked (9 of 20). Few required parameters, but no official SDK beyond the CLI and a CCXT guide (8 of 15). 23 + 13 + 14 + 9 + 8 = 67.); KuCoin 62 (Read for the API alone, since there is no MCP server. Responses take limit and cursor parameters on list endpoints and the order book depth is a parameter (14 of 25). Pagination and symbol filters on orders, fills and ledgers (15 of 20). Codes and messages per response, with the V2 scheme claimed to be clearer; the rate-limit page's own examples contradict its table, which costs an agent a turn (12 of 20). clientOid on orders makes retries safe; no MCP annotations to read (10 of 20). Three required fields on a spot order, official SDKs in five languages (11 of 15). 62.)
- Security & auth, Bithumb Open API +5: Bithumb Open API 60 (Keys scoped to chosen permissions, mandatory registered IPs, one-year expiry, a JWT per request and a key-list endpoint with expiry (26 of 30). Read-only keys, `--read-only` on the MCP server, per-profile read_only on the CLI, a second factor on KRW deposits and withdrawals, and skills that refuse to switch profiles to bypass read-only; nothing server-side confirms an order (16 of 20). The API returns exchange data and the disclaimer warns about prompt injection through third-party plugins (11 of 15). A local audit log for CLI and MCP calls and a key-list endpoint; no server-side per-call log (7 of 15). security.txt timed out and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found (0 of 20, security.txt unchecked). 26 + 16 + 11 + 7 + 0 = 60.); KuCoin 55 (API key with a user-set passphrase, HMAC-SHA256 signing, nine permission groups, IP allow-lists required for Withdrawal and FlexTransfers, trading keys without an IP disabled after 30 days of inactivity, revocation on the management page; no OAuth and no expiry on General keys (24 of 30). A General-only key is a true read-only mode and withdrawals are a separate permission; no confirmation step for writes beyond the key scope (12 of 20). Tools return the exchange's own data (10). The API key info endpoint shows permissions and IP lists; no per-call audit log was found (5 of 15). No security.txt, no disclosure policy or bounty on a page we could read, a whistleblower notice on the legal page (4 of 20). 55.)