The Cex.IO cryptocurrency exchange was launched in early 2013 in the UK as a holding company for GHash.io, one of the largest pools for bitcoins. To date, its hash has grown so much that it allows you to control about 42% of the hash power of bitcoin. The company was founded by developers of Ukrainian origin - Alexander Lutskevich and Alexander Ushapovsky.
Service Development
Then, an exchanger function was added to the site, which allows users to sell and buy pool shares using bitcoin. Thanks to cloud services, the exchange makes it easy and convenient to start and leave mining. Users do not need to buy equipment for the reproduction of cryptocurrency when they join the pool, and the exchanger allows you to easily manage the money earned when you exit it.
By September 2014, the Cex user base had reached over 200,000 accounts. The exchange began accepting deposits in US dollars, euros and Russian rubles through bank transfers, credit cards and SEPA from users around the world who wanted to buy bitcoins or GHash shares.
After dividing bitcoin into 2 categories and appearing in the form of cash (BCH), the exchange announced that it is now possible to sell and buy new cryptocurrency on the site.
At the same time, the company stopped all cloud development in January 2016. For this reason, all questions about how to mine in Cex.IO are no longer relevant today. According to the developers, this was done in order to better focus on services as a platform for exchanging and trading cryptocurrencies.
Strengths of the service
According to reviews, Cex.IO has one of the best ranges of features available, guaranteeing full support for novice users. The site is surprisingly easy to use, and at the same time offers many services and trading pairs.
The exchanger supports credit card transfers from most countries. The service offers margin trading on BTC / USD, BTC / EUR, ETH / BTC and ETH / USD with good loss protection tools. By comparison, Cex rivals such as Bitstamp or Coinbase do not have margin trading.
The platform processes orders through fill-or-kill (FOK), which makes transactions faster and easier for beginners. Even advanced trading platforms such as Kraken today do not offer such functionality to their users. This is repeatedly noted in reviews of CEX.IO-2017 as a strong point of the site.
The exchanger also has a mobile application for Android, which today has 100 thousand downloads from Google Play. The service also offers third-party APIs for creating custom tools. It is worth noting that most of the leading crypto exchangers see additional advantages in this.
Simple registration is available through accounts on social networks: users can log in using their accounts on Facebook, GoogleID, VK and Github.
New trending digital denominations are actively added to trading. More recently, you could see the addition of Zcash and Dash, two increasingly popular privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies.
By viewing the buy and sell page available to unregistered visitors, you can easily get the latest conversion rates. For example, you can quickly find out how many bitcoins you get for 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 US dollars. Many users like the transparency offered by the Cex.IO exchange, especially compared to other platforms where you only see bids after you have registered.
To date, there are no known violations of security policies and theft of customer funds. Cex developers did pretty well with such guarantees, while other large exchanges (such as Coinbase, Poloniex, Bitstamp and Bitfinex) experienced relatively serious thefts (although in most cases the money was returned to users).
Weaknesses CEX
As users note in their reviews of Cex.IO, sometimes when working with the platform there are delays in checking the card. Presumably, this is due to a large influx of new users.
In addition, untimely customer support is often observed. At the same time, the exchange administration made an official statement stating that additional staff for customer support have already been recruited and trained, so quick answers to all tickets are expected soon.
Currently, the service supports only seven cryptocurrencies. This is a small amount compared to other leading exchanges, in particular, Bitfinex or Bittrex. However, this is slightly larger than what Coinbase offers, and about the same as Bitstamp.
Some countries do not support credit and bank transfers. However, the functionality of Explication Localbitcoins p2p is available, which will work from everywhere.
The Buggy mobile application offers only a few services available through the website. However, it received only 3 out of 5 points in the PlayStore. At the same time, the site is doing everything possible to help all novice bitcoin traders.
Interface
The site has a superior design compared to other exchanges (such as Coinmama or Bitfinex). Novice users can easily navigate from the login page to the trading panel. Operators automatically provide security that automatically activates two-factor authentication via SMS and email (2FA). Although this protection looks very simple, it keeps accounts safe for login and logout. For those who do not trust such a system, there are additional options. A good alternative to SMS 2FA is the Google Authenticator application, which Cex users can now configure as they wish.
As already noted, reviews about the Cex.IO exchange note its advantage in that the fill-or-kill (FOK) model is used to execute orders. This means that when you place an order, it is executed immediately in full. If the execution cannot be achieved immediately, it is canceled.
According to statistics, the highest traffic on CEX.io (14.3%) comes from the United States. Other countries that attract a large number of visitors include Russia (5.4%), Turkey (5.3%), the UK (4.5%) and France (3.2%). Statistics also show that about 30% of traffic comes through mobile devices.
Mobile app
The Cex mobile app is available for both Android and iOS. Through it, you can deposit bitcoins, ethereum and lightcoins into your account using a QR code. You also have the opportunity to set limits on market orders directly in the application.
Users can view balances, active orders and price changes. You also have the opportunity to initiate, manage and cancel orders, as well as use real-time data from various exchanges to analyze cryptocurrency markets.
Since the app’s launch (in December 2015), Cex.IO user reviews have been both positive and negative. Some traders mark it as a convenient tool to maintain contact with the market. Others expressed disappointment at the poor interface and limited functionality. Common negative feedbacks report periodic interruptions in order processing, as well as failure to display detailed charts and difficulties entering the system.
The application also offers only part of the services available through the website. For example, you will not be able to carry out margin trading through the application.
API functionality
In addition to the mobile application, the team has made an application programming interface (API) available to developers to create customized applications for trading and fund management. The API comes in three flavors:
- Rest - to access market data;
- WebSocket- for professional traders;
- Fix- for institutional traders.
The API trading option is limited to 600 requests per 10 minute interval. To increase this throughput, developers will need to contact support.
Market positioning
According to official data and reviews, Cex.IO controls 0.78% of the global currency market. The exchange takes 15th place in the list of cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of trade volume. CEX.IO has less traffic than most major exchanges (such as Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp and Poloniex). Nevertheless, the service exceeds almost all of them in terms of traffic from Russia.
In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, Cex has one of the best trading platforms. It supports margin trading using leverage of 1: 2 and 1: 3. Features such as automatic borrowing and protection against negative balance make it relatively affordable for beginners.
Getting started on Cex
How to work on Cex.IO? Before you can use your credit card to purchase cryptocurrencies, you need to send its data for verification. To confirm your card, you must fill out a form in which you need to indicate the name on the card, its number and expiration date. In addition, the exchange requires that you upload three of your color photographs confirming the ownership of the card (with a credit card in the hand of both parties, as well as an identification card).
After sending these photos and filling out the form, you will be asked to confirm that the information you provide is current and valid. You will also give permission to the service employee to view your personal information.
If everything meets the requirements of the exchange, you will receive an email notification informing you of the readiness of your card for use on the exchange. If any part of the information you provide is incorrect, the compliance officer will contact you for clarification.
The verification process may take several hours or up to one day. However, some users report that they wait longer than one day.
Fees and commissions
There are three types of fees on Cex: transaction fees, deposit / withdrawal fees, and margin trading fees. The platform charges users a higher fee than most other exchanges.
All transaction fees are paid by the buyer (the trader who responds to the offer). A seller who has submitted an offer on the platform does not pay transaction fees. The fee is a percentage of the transaction value, and they range from 0.10% to 0.20%. The higher the volume involved, the lower the interest rate.
Depositing via bank transfer and crypto-wallets is free. Withdrawal of Cex.IO funds is carried out in the same ways as input. Withdrawal by bank transfer costs from 30 to 50 US dollars, depending on the FIAT currency, and up to 1% - for transfer via cryptocurrencies.