BITMEX – EXCHANGE REVIEW & USER GUIDE
A highly advanced exchange built by Wall Street professionals and designed for advanced traders, Bitmex offers Bitcoin contracts trading, and is an active traders heaven, but one in which beginners should bypass for their own sanity.
FEATURES
- Bitcoin contracts trading
- High leverage margin trading
- Advanced trading tools and features
FUNDING METHODS
- Bitcoin
BITMEX REVIEW
Pros
- Up to 100x leverage trading
- Advanced trading functions for active traders
- Low trading fees
Cons
- No US deposits or withdrawals
- Complex platform not suited for beginners
- No mobile application
EASE OF USE
The Bitmex trading platform looks like something out of a Wall Street movie, with flashing green and red indicators, complex charts, and more tools than the eye can handle at one given time.
Bitmex doesn’t offer typical trading, as transactions are completed on contracts and futures that are hard to grasp, especially for those looking to make a simple cryptocurrency purchase.
There’s no simplified version of the platform, so if users want to trade on Bitmex they’ll have to take the time to learn the ins-and-outs of the contracts system and trading platform to stand a chance of having a positive experience with the exchange.
While it’s extremely easy to get registered and up on the exchange to start, users will find it difficult to navigate the intricate layers of the exchange trading platform.
COINS TRADED
Bitcoin is the only available cryptocurrency for deposit and withdrawal on Bitmex, making it a one-stop-shop for trading the world’s largest and most well-known digital coin, but nothing else.
Futures contracts are available for trading between Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, giving users access to several of the larger cryptocurrencies, even though it won’t allow for direct purchase and sale of the coins themselves.
Contracts are traded between Bitcoin and the following cryptocurrencies:
- Ethereum
- Ethereum Classic
- Cardano
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Dash
- NEO
- Monero
- ZCash
- Ripple
- Stellar
TRUST FACTOR
Bitmex has a rather good reputation in the cryptocurrency industry.
The exchange has never been hacked or compromised in any way, and takes extra security precautions to keep user funds secure.
Bitcoin deposits are not actually stored on the exchange itself, and are kept in cold storage to mitigate the potential risk of a compromise to the platform, with funds being withdrawn from the exchange on a daily basis.
Multi-signature wallets are also used as an added layer of security and cryptographic keys are stored offline as well.
Since personal identification is never sent to the site, users also completely eliminate the risk of identity theft that is seen across the rest of the industry.
PRIVACY
With just an email, individuals can create an anonymous account that is not linked to their personal identification or information, keeping user identity private and offline.
No fiat currency deposits also means that banking and credit card information is never sent directly to the exchange, another benefit of the Bitmex process.
FUNDING & WITHDRAWAL
Not only does Bitmex not offer any deposit or withdrawal options for fiat currency, the only currency accepted in any way is bitcoin.
This severely limits anyone who doesn’t already own bitcoin from using the exchange and benefiting from its features.
While about 10 other cryptocurrency contracts can be traded, those coins cannot deposited or withdrawn directly on the exchange.
FUNDING METHODS
| METHOD |
| Bitcoin |
WITHDRAWAL METHODS
| METHOD |
| Bitcoin |
FEES
There are no deposit or withdrawal fees on the exchange, and the only fee incurred is what is required to process the transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain, amounting to a nominal rate which would be incurred on any trading exchange.
The only Bitmex fees are for trading. Even there, trading fees are favourably low when compared to other competitors, with a 0.075% Taker fee and a rebate of 0.025% Maker fee for providing liquidity to the exchange.
These are some of the best trading fees around, and are a reason to utilize the Bitmex platform.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
With a complex trading platform that can be hard to manage, it’s important that Bitmex provide a variety of support options for its customer base.
The References section of the exchange is solely dedicated to support documentation for new and existing users.
It’s thoroughly laid out with frequently asked questions, guides to purchasing contracts on the exchange, API integration, and detailed information about margin trading.
The support team can be contacted via a traditional support ticketing system. They have created a new web form (https://www.bitmex.com/app/support/contact) on their site for customers (signed up users and general public) to submit tickets to reach their support team.
Other forms of contact include Wechat, Telegram, and Weibo, among others, although these aren’t great for asking personal account and trading questions.
There is also a separate email account for sending technical or security issues.
This variety of customer service options is helpful when attempting to troubleshoot on the exchange.
SPEED TO COIN
Without the need for identity verification, users can get trading in no time.
Registration and deposit are extremely fast, and as long as users understand the nuanced trading platform, trades can be made just as fast.
This quick speed to coin only applies to those users who already have access to bitcoin to deposit on the exchange, as there is no other way to deposit currency on Bitmex at this time.
For users with bitcoin already at their disposal, Bitmex is a quick way to get cryptocurrency in the exchange for trading.
Signup - 5 minutes
ID Verification - N/A
Deposit - Instant
Trade - Instant
Withdrawal - Instant
VOLUME
Bitmex conducts almost $3 billion in daily bitcoin transactions, making it an industry leader in bitcoin liquidity.
The exchange provides the most liquidity for bitcoin futures contracts and contract pairs against other top coins, but only provides liquidity for those coins against the price of Bitcoin, and not against fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies.
FEATURES & BENEFITS
What Bitmex lacks in trading and deposit options it makes up for in trading features. Built by Wall Street derivatives traders, the exchange displays advanced charting tools with trading indicators and overlay tools, real-time order book, market depth chart, and much more.
Trading options range from basic Limit and Market orders to much more complex order types that aren’t found on most other exchanges, like Take Profit Market and Trailing Stop orders, while the order calculator tool is helpful in determining the outcome of a given trade before submitting it to the exchange.
Extensive API integration allows for developers to build tools on the Bitmex platform, with every function on Bitmex open via the API. There are already several automated trading engines that allow trading on Bitmex.
Margin trading features abound, with up to 100x leverage available on margin trading. It’s obvious right away that Bitmex has the trading tools and features that are built with active traders in mind. These only scratch the surface of what is possible on Bitmex.
TOTAL SCORE
Bitmex is a prime option for active and professional traders. Its exchange platform provides the most trading tools in the industry, while the exchange touts free bitcoin deposits, withdrawals, and extremely cheap trading.
As long as users understand the futures and contracts trading system, Bitmex is the place to be for active trading.
On the flipside, users new to cryptocurrency won’t even be able to figure out how to use the exchange in the first place, and will inevitably be driven away from its complex trading platform.
BITMEX – USER GUIDE
Bitmex is one of the quickest trading exchanges that doesn’t require any form of identity verification. However, you can’t fund your account with fiat currency, so you need access to bitcoin from another wallet to deposit into your Bitmex account.
1. Sign up
Registration starts on the Bitmex home page, where you can sign up for a Bitmex account with an email address, password, and country of residence verification.
Remember, Bitmex is restricted in several countries (including the United States), and you will immediately be notified if your country allows Bitmex trading.
After signing up for the exchange, you’ll be sent a verification email.
Click the verification button in the email to verify your email and complete the registration process.
2. Verification
Bitmex doesn’t allow for fiat currency deposits and/or withdrawals, and therefore doesn’t require any personal identity verification.
3. Authentication
Bitmex highly suggests enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) to keep account information secure.
The first step to enabling 2FA is accessing the Account section of the exchange, and heading to My Account on the left-side panel.
Scroll down on the My Account page to the Security section where you’ll find the options for setting up 2FA and choose one of the two option, Google Authenticator or Yubikey.
You’ll be prompted to complete the setup of your 2FA depending on the option you select.
Follow the directions as prompted to complete the setup of your 2FA and enable the added security measure on your account.
4. Payment Method
The only payment method available on Bitmex is via bitcoin, meaning you’ll have to deposit bitcoin to your Bitmex account before making any trades on the exchange.
First, navigate to the Account section of the exchange to find the Deposit page.
You’ll be given a QR code and wallet address for your Bitmex Bitcoin wallet.
Use this wallet information to send bitcoin from a third-party wallet to your Bitmex account.
Remember to only send Bitcoin to this wallet address, and not any other cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash or you run the risk of losing your coins.
5. Purchase Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies cannot be purchased directly on the Bitmex exchange, rather, contracts representing cryptocurrencies are purchased to give traders exposure to alternative cryptocurrencies.
Navigate to the trading platform on the exchange and select the cryptocurrency you would like to purchase.
The left-side panel will display your purchase options for Bitmex, which include simple market and limit orders to more complex stop limit, trailing stop, and stop market orders.
Select the order type you would like to use for your purchase and enter the quantity of contracts you would like to purchase as well as the price at which you would like the purchase to execute.
Bitmex will calculate the total cost of this order and the order can be executed by clicking the Buy/Long button.
6. Trade/Market View
The Bitmex trading platform is filled with useful trading tools that make for a jam-packed user interface:
- Trading contract prices at the top of the screen display all cryptocurrency contracts available for trading on the exchange with 24-hour price changes
- Contract information for the selected coin, with a help guide for purchasing
- Orderbook displays information for open orders and volume on the selected cryptocurrency pair
- Recent trades with volume and price information
- Charting tool with volume and overlay tools available
- Order history for the selected trading pair
- Visually depicted depth chart for open orders on the exchange
- Open and closed positions on your account
- Margin trading balance and information for your account
- Detailed pricing information for different contracts on the exchange
8. Withdraw
Similarly to deposits, withdrawals can only be completed in bitcoin, and therefore you must have a third-party bitcoin address available to send your withdrawn bitcoin.
First, navigate to the Withdraw page on the Account section of the exchange.
On the Withdraw page you’ll be prompted to enter the destination address of the Bitcoin wallet where you’re sending your Bitcoin.
Make sure you have entered the correct wallet address before moving on, as entering the wrong bitcoin wallet address will result in a loss of all your bitcoin.
Once this is complete, enter the amount of bitcoin you would like to withdraw, or click the Withdraw All button to withdraw your entire Bitmex account balance.
A Bitcoin Network Fee will be auto-calculated for completing the transaction, however, you can manually increase this fee if you would like the transaction to be processed faster on the blockchain.
Once you confirm the information on the page is correct, click the Submit button to complete your withdrawal.
Bonus Tip – BITMEX ADVANCED UI
The Bitmex user interface is full of tools and real-time data that’s extremely useful for traders. An additional function of the platform is it allows for customizing the interface via the Bitmex Advanced UI feature.
Through the Advanced UI you can customize the way your trading platform looks through simply dragging and dropping widget tools on the interface and resizing widgets to your liking.
You can even toggle between your customized layout and the Bitmex standard layout with the click of a button.
The added touch of designing your own trading user interface is one of the best things a cryptocurrency trader could ask for.
Bitmex
Pros
- Up to 100x leverage trading
- Advanced trading functions for active traders
- Low trading fees
Cons
- No US deposits or withdrawals
- Complex platform not suited for beginners
- No mobile application
About Author
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