Bitfinex consistently ranks among the top exchanges in terms of daily trading volumes and is one of the most trending digital currency platforms of trading in operation today.
The exchange caters to more intermediate and advanced traders likewise as institutions and offers a wide selection of coins, trading pairings and trading alternatives. Bitfinex intends to be the premiere destination for seasoned digital currency traders across the globe.
Bitfinex is a Hong Kong based trading platform that was established in 2012 by Raphael Nicolle. The exchange is both owned and operated by iFinex, Inc. and has managed to work its way to the top of the charts in terms of trading volumes and user activity on the platform.
Bitfinex is one of the largest digital currency trading platforms, and is traditionally trending with traders across the globe, on the other hand, the team behind the exchange recently decided to discontinue supplying their services to United States customers and focus on their users based in other parts of the world.
The exchange as of now handles approximately $2B worth of trades a day, and records 24 hour trading volumes worth around $600m for its BTC/USD pairing, and this represents around 6.27 percent of the total market.
These high trading volumes are a result of the team behind the exchange focusing on supplying a high degree of service for traders by utilizing a wide coin selection, minimal charges, and a comprehensive interface.
The exchange likewise allows fiat deposits and houses a variety of digital currencies with approximately 72 market pairs active on the platform.
Bitfinex likewise attracts institutional investors and operates an OTC desk for high value over the counter trades. Regardless of its success, Bitfinex has likewise attracted a fair amount of controversy because of suffering a number of hacks, and being closely linked to the Tether (USDT) stablecoin.
Bitfinex Key Features
- Functionality – Bitfinex operates a robust, comprehensive, and highly customizable platform interface that is both modern and well designed but traditionally suited to more experienced users. The main dashboard presents users with a number or tabs and different options whilst a selection of advanced charting tools are likewise made available. The platform likewise incorporates Trading View charts and provides a mobile application that is available to both Android and iOS users.
- Security – Owing to its past experience with hacks, Bitfinex place a priority on security and employs a lot of the security techniques employed by today’s leading exchanges. The vast bulk of funds are placed in cold storage with approximately only 0.5 percent of cryptocurrency assets being accessible in hot wallets. The site likewise utilises database encryption and duplication in addition to DDoS protection to secure that trading cannot be halted by an external influence. Customer accounts are likewise reinforced via the use of 2FA, PGP encryption and a host of advanced verification tools designed to monitor changes in account activity.
- Customer Support – Users are as of now served by a support team that is available via email 24/7. The group intends to answer queries within 12 hours, but responses can take much longer. Along with this, there is a knowledge base section that covers the most pressing issues alongside other question and answer pages available on the site.
- Trading Options – A host of trading options are available on the platform including margin trading as Bitfinex allows its users to trade with a leverage of up to 3.3x by using their peer to peer margin financing facility. In addition of this, traders have access to a number of different order types such as limit, market, and stop orders. Whilst trailing stop, fill or kill, iceberg, OCO, and post only orders are likewise available.
- High Liquidity – Bitfinex persists to rank at the top of BTC/USD trading markets and it as of now accounts for approximately 6 percent of all daily trades with 24 hour trading volumes worth around $600m. Combined trading activity on the platform amounts to approximately $2B worth of trades a day and this high degree of liquidity helps its users to trade with confidence in the price stability of coins on the platform.
Supported Currencies
Approximately 72 market pairs linked to the four base currencies of USD, EUR, BTC, and Ethereum (ETH) are as of now available on the site.
Along with allowing fiat purchases of the two major digital currencies, a number of other currencies are likewise available to be traded and these include Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin (BTC) Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH) Classic (ETC), Dash (DASH), Ripple (XRP), Monero (XMR), EOS (EOS), OmiseGO (OMG), NEO (NEO), Zcash (ZEC), and 0x (ZRX).
USDT Tether (USDT) is likewise available on the platform, while Bitfinex is one of several exchanges that allow their users to buy IOTA (MIOTA).
The Bitfinex team are constantly looking to increase the number of coins available on the site and new additions often make their way onto the platform.
In doing so, an overview of each coin that’s available on the exchange is readily available and it’s a good idea to regularly check the site to see what has been added.
Bitfinex Signup and Login
Before you create an account, the team behind Bitfinex like to remind new users that their service is aimed at more professional traders and comes with certain specifications.
In doing so it’s necessary to read the pop up box that appears and agree to the terms and conditions. These as of now include a short-term minimum account equity of 10,000 USD and new accounts are not able to trade or perform any platform function until they reach this amount.
Similarly, to be able to win access to fiat deposits and withdrawals, users must agree to undergo a verification process that may take up to 6-8 weeks to complete.
Once you have ticked all the necessary boxes, you can move onto creating an account.
Creating Your Account
You can open an account by following the signup process and entering your username, email address, and password. It’s likewise necessary to enter your time zone and a unique captcha text.
Making a Deposit
Once this is done, you can begin to finance your account by firstly locating the “Deposit” button in the upper right-hand corner.
Clicking this button takes you to the deposit page and here you can choose Us Dollar, Tether (USDT) or from a list of digital currencies to be able to deposit.
Making a Trade
Once your account has been funded, it’s possible to click on the ‘Trading’ button and select the pairing that you prefer.
From here you can determine the quantity, price and type of order that you would like to execute.
Bitfinex Security
As one of the older exchanges in operation today, Bitfinex has experienced a number of hacks with the 1st major hack taking place in May, 2015.
On this occasion a hacker was able to obtain 1500 Bitcoin (BTC) from a hot wallet controlled by the exchange, the lost funds were quickly reimbursed by the exchange. Nonetheless, a thereafter attack proved to be more problematic as a hacker was able to circumvent security on the platform and access up to 119,756 Bitcoin, which were worth an approximate $72m at the time.
The hacker was able exploit a vulnerability in the multi signature system Bitfinex employed alongside Bitcoin (BTC) wallet provider Bitgo and in response to the theft, the exchange chose to make available BFX crypto tokens which were to be redeemed by its customers at a thereafter date.
Each BFX crypto token was worth $1 and was awarded in the same amount lost by each investor. Since issuing the crypto tokens, Bitfinex has purchased them all back and completed their purchases in April, 2017.
Because of these hacks, Bitfinex has stepped up its security and as of now, 99.5 percent of client funds are stored offline in a cold storage system that employs a multisignature function that is geographically distributed across numerous secure locations.
Client accounts are secured by using 2FA and U2F, in addition to PGP email encryption. Accounts are likewise monitored and strengthened by using a number of advanced verification tools that cover account activity. These include:
- The analysis of saved login data to root out unusual activity.
- The use of an intelligent system that detects IP address changes and prevents session hijacking.
- Email notifications that report logins and include a link to instantly freeze your account if you suspect malicious activity.
- Limiting access to your account according to IP address.
Bitfinex likewise chooses to closely monitor withdrawals to be able to assist stave off attacks; the platform’s security system as of now monitors withdrawals by IP address and other behavioural patterns that trigger manual inspection on withdrawals that seem to be unusual.
Customers can likewise whitelist an address to secure that withdrawals can only be sent to that particular location. Bitfinex likewise asserts that it uses a withdrawal confirmation step that is immune to malicious browser malware.
Tether (USDT) Cryptocurrency
Bitfinex utilizes the Tether (USDT) (USDT) stablecoin and verified users on the site have the “Tether” financing option, in addition to “Crypto-Currencies” and “Wire Transfer” on the Deposit and Withdraw pages.
Tether (USDT) is a digital currency investment posted on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain tech and each USDT unit is backed by a United States Dollar held in the reserves of the Tether (USDT) Limited.
Tether (USDT) crypto tokens can be deposited and traded for other crypto tokens on Bitfinex and any other exchange that supports Tether (USDT). Funds held in Tether (USDT) can likewise be transferred and held in any Bitcoin (BTC) wallet where you control the private key.
Most it’s worth noting that, USDT is linked or “tethered” to the price of the United States Dollar and acts as a stable digital currency that allows traders to jump to a more stable digital currency during times of extreme volatility.
Although while Tether (USDT) has proved to be beneficial to traders everywhere since its introduction, the crypto stablecoin is likewise beginning to attract an increasing amount of attention.
Each Tether (USDT) is supposedly backed 1-to-1 by a United States Dollar and there is as of now around $1.65B worth of USDT in circulation. Doubts concerning the validity of this large amount have caused people to scrutinize the relationship betwixt Bitfinex and Tether (USDT) as they share certain key members of staff.
Bitfinex employs Phil Potter as its chief strategy officer and he likewise acts as a director at Tether (USDT), while Giancarlo Devasini is employed as a director by both corporations. Bitfinex has promised to undergo an external audit to prove that its accounts are fully in order and to assist clear up the controversy but this has is still to take place.
Bitfinex Fees
Charges on Bitfinex are outlined by their fee schedule and are determined by volume of trading over the last 30 days likewise as maker or taker status.
- Maker fees are paid when you add liquidity to the order book by placing a limit order below the ticker price when buying and over the ticker price for sales.
- Taker fees are paid when customers do the opposite and remove liquidity from the order book by filling an order that’s already in the order book.
- Maker charges range from 0.1 percent to 0.0 percent while the taker charges range from 0.2 percent to 0.1%.
- The higher prices cover trading volumes of up to $500k a 30 days whilst customers will have to accumulate trades worth greater than $30m a 30 days to be able to qualify for the lowest fee rates.
All digital currency deposits are free, however withdrawals are not and there are a variety of different charges depending on the particular digital currency you would like to withdraw. Deposits made via bank wire are charged a 0.1 percent fee.
Trading Options
The trading platform suits both intermediate and advanced users and offers a variety of trading alternatives. Along with leveraged margin trading, Bitfinex likewise offers the next types of orders:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop
- Trailing stop
- Fill or kill
- 1 cancels other (OCO)
- Post-only limit order
- Hidden order
As the exchange attracts a high volume of trades and has a high degree of liquidity, bid/ask and order count is resolved in real time, which gives members more flexibility with regards to choosing the best time to place an order.
Conclusion
Bitfinex is one of the most established exchanges in operation today and provides a service tailored to experienced traders and institutional investors.
Following this, the exchange enjoys high USD liquidity, while offering extensive orders and trading alternatives, and is the largest Bitcoin exchange by volumes traded.
Nonetheless, Bitfinex has courted controversy on a number of occasions and isn’t a very transparent company, after learning of its history some potential users could be put off by any security concerns they can potentially have despite the fact that the exchange paid back all the losses from its 2016 hack.
With this in mind, we would recommend that anyone using Bitfinex to only keep a small balance on the exchange at any time, making sure to withdraw your currencies to your own wallet and make sure to use all the security features available to you on the site.
In general, We wouldn’t recommend Bitfinex to beginners but intermediate to advanced traders will be fine using it.
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