Today’s review will have us looking at BitMEX; one of the famous cryptocurrency derivative platforms.
BitMEX is a cryptocurrency exchange for professional traders.
It offers up to 100x leveraged contracts that can be bought and sold in Bitcoin.
In this post, I intend to breakdown all you need to know about BitMEX in plain and simple English.
So, sit tight while I take you through this post!
Post Summary
This list of subheadings will be our guide to this post.
- Overview of BitMEX
- Features of BitMEX
- BitMEX Services
- Supported Cryptocurrencies | Available Leverage
- Supported Countries and Payment Method
- Fees on BitMEX
- How to Register, Deposit, Withdraw and Verification Requirements on BitMEX
- Customer Support Channel
- FAQs
- Conclusion
Let’s get started!
1. Overview of BitMEX
BitMEX (Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange) is a crypto trading company registered under HDR Global Trading Limited in Seychelles.
The exchange was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, who are individual experts in finance, trading and web-application.
BitMEX is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange that allows traders to buy and sell leveraged contracts for bitcoins.
It does not operate like conventional spot trading exchanges that you are used to e.g OKEx, Binance, Okcoin, etc.
BitMEX is instead a derivative market for crypto instruments.
By “derivatives”, it implies that the instruments traded on the BitMEX obtain their value from actual cryptocurrency assets.
The only currency that is deposited, and withdrawn is bitcoin and all fees are paid in bitcoins.
Trading on BitMEX requires that you buy or sell any of the listed derivative crypto instruments using what is called the margin trading.
Switching gears to get a better grasp of BitMEX…let’s talk about BitMEX features.
2. Features of BitMEX
BitMEX has the following features;
- UP to100x Leverage
- 2nd rated crypto derivatives by Coinmarkepcap** at the time of this post
- Trading Testnet
- Excellent user interface
- 24hrs customer support
- Mobile app
- Strong security and trust
Taking a step further, lets look at the services that Bitmex offer.
3. BitMEX Services
BitMEX is a crypto derivative that offers margin trading services or leveraged contracts.
Currently, you will find two contracts available on this platform and they are;
Futures Contracts | Perpetual Contracts
- Futures Contract: This is an agreement to buy/ sell any of the crypto derivatives listed on the exchange at a predetermined time.
This contract is the complete opposite of spot contracts.
On BitMEX, you can find two kinds of Futures Contract and they are the;
- Traditional Futures Contract: Here you can quote Bitcoin and seven other altcoins.
- Quanto Futures Contract: Bitcoin is not available for this contract but you can quote up to 4 altcoins.
- Perpetual Contract: This contract is similar to the Future Contracts except that it is interminable.
More so, unlike the Futures contract, it is only available for BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC and XRP.
That’s it…let’s keep moving this post forward!
4. Supported Cryptocurrencies | Available Leverages
Supported Cryptocurrencies
At the time of this post, BitMEX supports the trading of 10 crypto derivatives.
The supported currencies are as follows; XBT, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH, ADA, EOS, LINK, XTZ, TRX.
Note: – The symbol of Bitcoin on BitMEX is XBT.
Available Leverages
The platform provides different leverages for different contracts and different types of cryptocurrencies.
Below is a breakdown of the leverages according to the kind of contract you initiate.
- Futures Contract: This leverage is available for all the derivative cryptos available on BitMEX.
Here the different leverages per crypto are schedule in two types;
- Traditional Future Contracts
- Bitcoin – 100x
- Cardano – 20x
- Bitcoin Cash – 20x
- EOS Token – 20x
- Ethereum – 50x
- Litecoin – 33.33x
- Tron – 20x
- Ripple – 20x
2. Quanto Futures Contracts
- Cardano – 25x
- Chainlink – 33.3x
- EOS Token – 25x
- Tezos – 33.33x
- Perpetual Contracts: This leverage is only available for five crypto derivatives on BitMEX.
- Bitcoin – 100x
- Bitcoin Cash – 25x
- Ethereum – 50x
- Litecoin – 33.3x
- Ripple – 50x
Having stated all the leverages available on this platform… let’s quickly dive to the next subheading.
5. Supported Countries and Payment Method
Country Support
BitMEX offers its services worldwide. However, it places restrictions on users from the following countries:
- United States of America
- The province of Ontario in Canada
- Province of Québec in Canada
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
- The Republic of Seychelles
- Bermuda
- Cuba
- Crimea and Sevastopol
- Iran
- Syria
- North Korea
- Sudan
Payment Methods
Bitcoin is the only payment methods available on this exchange.
Deposit and withdrawals are made in bitcoin and all profit and loss are made in bitcoin.
6. Fees on BitMEX
Fees on BitMEX vary depending on the currency you are trading and the contract type.
Here is a breakdown of the various fees charged per crypto contract.
- Perpetual Contract Fees
Note:
- A negative fee means that the trader will receive a rebate.
- Funding rates change based on market lending rates.
2. Traditional Futures Fees
For Bitcoin (XBT): Maker fee – (-0.0250%), Taker fee – (-0.0250%), Settlement fee – (0.0500%).
For altcoins: Maker fee – (-0.0500%), Taker fee – (0.2500%)
3. Quanto Futures Fees
All altcoins: Maker fee – (-0.0250%), Taker fee – (0.0750%)
Keep in mind that BitMEX does not charge any fees for deposits and withdrawals.
However, you might pay network fees depending on blockchain traffic.
7. How to Register, Deposit, Withdraw and Verification Requirements on BitMEX
i. Account Registration
Registering for an account on BitMEX is easy, all you need is an E-mail address to get started.
After creating your account and logging in, you will be welcomed by a dashboard with all the necessary options required to start your trading adventure.
The dashboard should be easy to understand if you are accustomed to margin and derivatives trading vernacular.
ii. How to Make Deposit on BitMEX
Here I will be giving you an easy step by step guide on how you can make your first deposit on BitMEX.
- step 1: Click on “Account”, and on the account menu, click on “Deposit”.
2. Step 2: Your personal BitMEX multi-sig wallet address will get displayed on the screen and it will look like the screenshot below.
3. Step 3: You can now send bitcoin from your wallet to your BitMEX account by scanning the QR code or copying the address manually to your crypto wallet.
Note: The minimum deposit amount is 0.0001 XBT (10000 Satoshi).
iii. How to Withdraw from BitMEX
Below is a step by step guide on how you can withdraw on BitMEX
- On your dashboard, click on “Account” and then on “Withdraw”
- A withdrawal slip will be displayed. Fill in boxes and click on ” Submit Withdrawal”
Note:
- BitMEX processes withdrawals once a day and your withdrawals may take about 23hours to be processed.
iv. Verification Requirements
Below is a list of Verification requirements on BitMEX.
- A picture of your ID
- Your personal video or image selfie
- Proof of residence document
- A brief description of how you would fund your account
Note: Verification of account is mandatory, and is required before you can deposit any fund to your BitMEX account.
8. Customer Support Channel
Customer support service on BitMEX is very good and it is active on a 24-hour basis.
Users can contact support through these various channels;
- https://www.bitmex.com/app/support/contact
- https://www.reddit.com/r/BitMEX/
- https://t.me/BitMEX_Announcements
- https://twitter.com/bitmex\
- https://www.weibo.com/bitmex
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ9eXM9P9-f93eeRImPcpUA
To complement this is a comprehensive knowledge base and FAQ that will help you understand how the platform works.
9. FAQs
You see, Leveraged contract is equivalent to Margin Trading.
It is a mechanism used by crypto traders to put them in an advantaged position for profit-making.
Margin trading is basically, the use of a borrowed and already existing capital to earn additional profit for an investment made.
To further explain this, a real-life illustration that I have given below will be helpful:
Let’s say you wish to invest N1, 000,000 worth of bitcoin on BitMEX but have only N500,000 BTC at your disposal.
You can borrow N500,000 BTC from the exchange and add up to your capital on a margin|leverage of 1x.
Moreover, it is possible to leverage up to 100x on this platform.
Although this strategy can be very profitable, it can likewise leave you with huge losses if you are not well informed.
For instance, you leveraged your N500,000 BTC for N1,000,000 BTC trade. You might end up with a 30% profit or 30% walloping loss.
No, BitMEX has delisted these two contracts from there services.
Margin trading is quite risky if not well understood.
To help you understand how it works, BitMEX created a test version for newbies.
The test version works the same way as the real deal, although it can be used only for training purposes; you can’t deposit or withdraw here.
Through consistent practice on the test net version, you should be an expert in no time at all.
You can access the tesnet version by clicking on this link.
As at the time of this post, BitMEX is of the second-best crypto exchanges offering margin trading services for crypto traders.
This exchange has a pretty solid track record when it comes to securing its users’ funds, and there has not been any report of hack on the platform.
In my opinion, the platform is a very much high rated platform that you need to start using.
However, margin trading is a very risky investment, and you can lose a big amount of money in it.
Therefore, you should perform real trade on BitMEX when you are confident and have the right kind of knowledge to do so.
PS: If you want to learn how to trade cryptocurrencies profitably, then enrol for our Crypto Trading Mastery Course by going to www.ctmastery.com. You can also join our Telegram community at https://t.me/ctmastery
Conclusion
That’s all I have on BitMEX review!
With all the details that I have given you above, you would discover that Bitmex is in no doubt the exchange that you need to start using for your margin trading.
I have carefully walked you through this platform, showing you all the available features and contracts traded.
It is now time to hear from you or you can tell me:
What do you think of BitMEX?
Have you used the exchange before? What was your experience?
Do yo agree that this exchange is the best place for margin trading?
Please, leave your opinions in the comment section below.
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