CEX – EXCHANGE REVIEW & USER GUIDE
Based out of London, CEX.io was first established as a Bitcoin cloud mining pool before pivoting to become a cryptocurrency exchange. CEX has since added a variety of tradable coins and quick, fill-or-kill (FOK) orders that make for some of the industry’s quickest trading, but its lack of transparency causes many people to question whether they trust it.
FEATURES
- Fill-or-kill (FOK) orders
- Mobile application
- Margin trading
- API integration
- Affiliate program
FUNDING METHODS
- VISA/MasterCard
- Bank Transfer
- Cryptocurrency
CEX.IO EXCHANGE REVIEW
Pros
- Extremely fast cryptocurrency purchasing via fill-or-kill orders
- Easy-to-use trading platform and interface
Cons
- Slow withdrawal times
- Banned all US withdrawals
- High fees for fill-or-kill orders
EASE OF USE
Providing the appropriate KYC and AML information for CEX.IO is time consuming and can take weeks to get approval.
Lack of transparency in terms of what deposit and withdrawal options are available in specified countries can also be annoying to decipher.
The exchange does provide a sleek interface that lets users easily look through the various trading pairs on the exchange as well as place instantaneous FOK orders, but its other issues overshadow these benefits.
COINS TRADED
CEX offers trading pairs on 8 of the industry’s top cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Bitcoin Gold
- Dash
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Stellar
- Zcash
This does include many of the top cryptocurrencies, but is by no means a comprehensive list for active traders.
TRUST FACTOR
CEX’s ban on US-based withdrawals without notice shows a lack of transparency that will certainly hurt their perceived trust in the industry.
Users can’t be sure of any of the site’s trading policies without reading the fine print. FOK orders come with hidden fees and the wording on the site seems to be intentionally misleading at times.
While there has yet to be openly fraudulent activity on the exchange, CEX doesn’t give off the sense of being a trusted exchange for investors.
PRIVACY
The exchange complies with know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, forcing users to provide sensitive personal information for fiat transactions.
In their Privacy Policy, CEX openly notes the use of user information for market research, regulatory purposes, and for third-party advertising.
Users looking to keep their personal information private will want to steer clear of this exchange.
FUNDING & WITHDRAWAL
CEX offers free bank transfer and cryptocurrency deposits. However, overshadowing this benefit is the recent move to ban all withdrawals from US-based customers.
This information is not even that apparent on the exchange, and can only be found in the fine print when attempting to withdraw.
This is particularly a problem if you’ve already funded your account and then can’t withdraw it.
Even aside from this issue, a withdrawal processing time of up to 20 business days makes for a terrible way to transact, and hurts the exchange immensely.
FUNDING METHODS
| METHOD | FEE |
| VISA/MasterCard | 3.5% + $0.25 |
| Bank Transfer | $0 |
| Cryptocurrency | $0 |
WITHDRAWAL METHODS
| METHOD | FEE |
| VISA | $3.80 |
| MasterCard | 1.2% + $3.80 |
| Cryptocurrency | 3% fee |
FEES
Trading fees are dependent on the past 30 days of user trading volume, with the highest fees coming in at a 0.25%/0.16% taker-maker split.
The quick buy feature offering fill-or-kill (FOK) orders might seem like a great option, but come with a 7% service fee.
CEX fees are good compared to other exchanges. Free bank transfers and low withdrawal fees make the exchange a cheaper option than many others.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
CEX offers a fair amount of support options. A Community portal allows users to learn from each other, but the function doesn’t have a lot of traffic.
The FAQ section is comprehensive, and there’s even an option to request a feature on the exchange.
A Zendesk customer support window makes it easy to ask quick questions, which are answered almost instantaneously.
Submitting a more detailed customer service request is straightforward and can be tracked through the support portal as well.
SPEED TO COIN
A severely long verification process impedes the time it takes to onboard on the exchange.
However, once a user gets verified on the site purchases can be made extremely quickly using fill-or-kill orders.
Withdrawals can take up to 20 business days, which is yet another impediment for prospective users.
VOLUME
Over 70% of the exchange’s trading volume, around $15 million daily, is done via Bitcoin, which provides enough liquidity to keep Bitcoin traders happy.
Outside of Bitcoin, trading volume is extremely limited and caps out around $20 million per day, failing to provide good liquidity for active traders even for big name coins such as Ethereum and Dash.
FEATURES & BENEFITS
Margin trading is available to verified customers. Fill-or-kill (FOK) orders make for an easy way to onboard new cryptocurrency users and provide for extremely fast purchases.
The CEX mobile application is already used by over 100,000 customers and growing. API integration offered for developers to build their own trading tools on top of the exchange.
TOTAL SCORE
CEX doesn’t provide much benefit over other exchanges on the market.
While it’s easy to use and can make purchasing cryptocurrency quick, its limitation to US customers, high fees, and long withdrawal times make it a poor option when compared to its industry peers.
There are plenty of other cryptocurrency exchange options to choose from, and CEX shouldn’t be on the top of any list.
CEX – USER GUIDE
Purchasing cryptocurrency on CEX requires complying with KYC and AML regulation. This will call for personal information, such as phone number, address, and personal identification documentation.
1. Sign up
You can sign up on CEX using a valid email address or, alternatively, log in using your Facebook or Google accounts.
2. Verification
Photo identification must come in the form of a passport, driver’s license, or government-issued ID card.
Upload a photo of both sides of your chosen form of identification, along with your payment card if using one to make a deposit.
You will also have to upload a selfie photo of yourself holding the payment card for additional security.
3. Authentication
CEX Two-Factor authentication (2FA) can be enabled using the Google Authenticator application, smartphone SMS messaging, or phone call.
4. Payment Method
To make a deposit on CEX, click on the green ‘Deposit’ button on the navigation pane. This deposit button can be seen on all pages of the exchange.
Choose your deposit method from the options available: credit card (VISA or MasterCard), bank transfer, or cryptocurrency.
Make sure you first check the list of restricted countries and information required for each deposit method before attempting to make a deposit.
Next, provide the applicable information for your deposit method. Make sure you authorize your payment method with your bank or credit card processor before attempting a deposit, if necessary.
5. Purchase Cryptocurrency
CEX offers a fill-or-kill order process that makes for quick purchases of cryptocurrency via VISA or Mastercard that expire after 120 seconds (prices update accordingly).
Once you set the ‘Buy’ and ‘For’ options, delineating the cryptocurrency you want to purchase and what you’re looking to spend, prices and quantities will be updated in the options below.
You will see a list of preset purchase quantity options to choose from, or, you can enter in a different amount to spend on a cryptocurrency purchase.
Click the ‘Buy’ button beneath the purchase option of your choice to select that trading pair.
You will then be asked to fill in the information for your credit card or bank account information if you haven’t already done so.
If you have, this information will be auto-populated and you’ll be asked to simply confirm the account or card you would like to use to make the purchase.
6. Trade/Market View
One of the bright spots for CEX is its user interface, which is clean and easy to use, while also providing a host of trading tools and options for users.
- Coin pair listings across the top of the trading platform allow for easy navigation across trading pairs. Selecting a different coin pair will change information across the trading platform to the chosen pair.
- Selected basic coin pairing information: price, daily change, volume, etc.
- Cryptocurrency pricing versus fiat currencies. Select the down arrow on any of the cryptocurrencies to get an overview of the current price as compared to a variety of fiat prices.
- Candlestick charting as it relates to the chosen coin pairing. Charting can be done by time (anywhere from by the minute to by the week).
- Market depth of open orders shows the volume of open orders for buyers and sellers across the current price landscape.
- Quick buy and sell options allow for easy limit or market orders, as well as margin trading, if available.
- Open buy and sell orders display the price and quantity of open orders on the exchange, with the total volume displayed at the top of the navigation.
8. Withdraw
Withdrawing from CEX is done in a similar way to depositing. Select the withdrawal method you wish to use, along with the amount and currency type you want to use for the withdrawal.
If withdrawing in cryptocurrency, you will need to provide a wallet address to send the cryptocurrency, while bank transfers and payment cards will require the applicable information on where to send the money.
Bonus Tip - Affiliate Program
Want to make a little extra cash for advertising CEX? The exchange touts an affiliate program that offers users 30% of the fees generated from anyone brought to the exchange.
CEX makes it easy to generate links for banner ads and landing pages to insert into third party sites, or a personal link that can be sent via email.
Participating in the affiliate program is a great way to support the CEX community, grow liquidity on the exchange, and make extra money along the way.
CEX
Pros
- Extremely fast cryptocurrency purchasing via fill-or-kill orders
- Easy-to-use trading platform and interface
Cons
- Slow withdrawal times
- Banned all US withdrawals
- High fees for fill-or-kill orders
About Author
Users should be aware that if they click on a cryptocurrency link and sign up for a product or service, we will be paid a referral fee. This in no way affects our recommendations, which products we choose to review or our advice which is the sole opinion of the authors.
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