Bitfinex is a Taiwan-based cryptocurrency trading platform owned and operated by iFinex Inc. It is available at https / www.bitfinex.com, and reviews about it are quite contradictory. Since 2014, it is the largest Bitcoin exchange platform with a share of more than 10% of world trade. In 2016, Bitfinex was hacked and 72 million dollars in bitcoins were stolen from customers.
The service first announced a security breach on August 2, 2016. Bitcoins were stolen from separate user wallets, while the creators of the platform ensured that they track hacks.
Immediately after, the trading value of BTC fell by 20%. Having learned about the incident, the Bitfinex developers stopped all trading and withdrawal of funds. In this hacking, 119,756 units of bitcoins were stolen.
Shortly after the hack, Bitfinex created BFX tokens, which were used to recover stolen capital to customers. In April 2017, service representatives announced that they had redeemed all tokens, for the most part having paid all the lost funds. Despite the measures taken, reviews about www.bitfinex.com are often negative.
In April 2017, it was announced at Bitfinex that the site could no longer allow users to withdraw their funds in US dollars. This happened after WellsFargo set limits on its bank transfers. As a result, bitcoins traded at a price about 100 US dollars higher than on other exchanges, as users began to buy BTC in order to transfer them to other platforms and withdraw there.
Verification
To trade FIAT currencies, an authentication check is required. Depending on the type of account (individual or corporate), the exchange may require the provision of additional documents.
In addition to personal identification data and proof of place of residence, the Bitfinex verification process also requires a bank statement and a signed statement confirming the accuracy of the documents and information provided. It is worth noting that the place of residence is confirmed by the provision of a receipt for payment for housing and communal services, which must be paid more than three months ago.
According to reviews of Bitfinex.com, the verification process is a bit more complicated than on other exchanges, but it is necessary to make deposits and withdraw money in foreign currency, as well as to use Tether, an amazing technology that allows you to fix the currency on the BTC block.
Currencies of the site
At the same time, there are almost no restrictions when it comes to trade.
Currently, Bitfinex only accepts US dollars from FIAT currencies. The service also works with TetherUSD and the following digital values:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum;
- Etherium Classic;
- ZCash;
- Monero
- Litecoin.
This list is far from exhaustive - many altcoins are available for exchange and trade transactions, not even the most popular ones.
How to replenish the account?
According to reviews of Bitfinex.com, depositing funds cannot be called cheap. Regular transfers are available with a fee of 0.1% of the amount (with a minimum commission of $ 20). Express transfers that are completed within 24 hours on business days cost 1 percent of the amount, but not less than $ 20.
Fees
As you can see from the review and reviews of the Bitfinex exchange, trading fees start at 0.1% for the seller and 0.2% for the buyer. The first commission reduction is available from the trading volume of $ 500,000, which is quite a lot compared to other exchanges. As the volume of monthly trading increases, fees are steadily decreasing. An endpoint with $ 30 million or more will reduce the commission to 0.1 percent for the buyer and free the seller from paying the commission.
When it comes to deposits and withdrawals, everything except bank transfer is free.
The exchanger also charges a fee for margin financing. The service fee charged by margin finance lenders is 15 percent of the fees received from active margin contracts. For those who place a hidden offer, the cost is slightly higher and is 18%.
Bitfinex.com Trading Analysis
A review of the Bitfinex.com cryptocurrency exchange should begin with a description of the trading platform. At first glance, it is very complex, but it offers many trading opportunities.
Due to the large trading volume and good liquidity, bids, requests and the number of orders are displayed in real time, which allows users to choose the best time to place their order. The exchanger also offers margin trading with a leverage of 3 to 1. This means that the user must have at least 30 percent of the amount that he wants to receive on credit.
Margin trading is supported by appropriate loans. As follows from reviews of Bitfinex.com, they are provided in the corresponding section of the service. Any user can choose the opportunity to provide the capital needed by margin traders. In return, lenders receive a daily interest rate on the Bitfinex platform. This type of trading is called swap. It is easy to guess that such functionality provides opportunities for successful investment. Reviews and reviews of the Bitfinex crypto exchange confirm this fully.
In general, the platform offers a wide selection of loans. You can use existing orders to get borrowed funds in the required quantity and for a convenient period. You can also simply open the corresponding position, after which the system itself will help to make a choice.
How to trade?
Many types of trading orders are available, from which you can always choose the appropriate option. The most significant and popular, according to traders, are:
- Limit - involves the establishment of a certain price below which trade will not be carried out;
- market - a transaction occurs at the market value of a digital currency;
- fill or kill (literally - “execute or stop”) - a kind of limit order that ceases to exist if it is not executed in a certain period of time;
- stop - is set when the unit price reaches the set mark;
- one cancels other (canceling each other) - in fact, this is the simultaneous placing of limit and stop orders, and when one of them is executed, the second is canceled.
Ease of use
The user interface of Bitfinex is awesome. The platform offers quick options for buying or selling digital currencies, as well as placing orders. According to reviews of Bitfinex.com, the website is mobile and responsive. It works very fast, so real-time trading is always possible. Mobile apps are available for Android and iOS.
The service is available to users in four different languages: two versions of Chinese, Russian and English.
API
Despite the easily customizable interface and the ability to independently select the necessary elements, the creators of the exchange provide API functionality for developers. Thanks to him, you can create various third-party tools, including graphs and charts. All this will allow more widespread use of available orders and conduct profitable trades.
User support
Customer support is available 24/7, but only by email. Usually, response letters arrive within 12 hours, but in some cases it may take longer. In addition, there is an official forum where users can request assistance. There is also a page with frequently asked questions, which nevertheless does not cover all the necessary information.
User experience
There are numerous claims of users to the Bitfinex.com cryptocurrency exchange, but they are mainly associated with a scandalous hack. However, there are almost no complaints about trading or working with accounts. However, sometimes traders point out the performance problems that Bitfinex has during a period of high currency volatility.
Bitfinex Security
The exchange claims that 99.5 percent of customer funds are stored in a crypto-store, while the remaining 0.5% remains in trade to provide the necessary liquidity. The storage system has a multi-level function and is geographically distributed in several secure locations.
For the client, the service offers two-factor authentication both for depositing funds and for withdrawing. The exchanger states that it has advanced verification tools to determine whether an account has been hacked.
What can be said in general?
Despite the fact that the prospective future of the site is doubtful due to the scandalous hacking of the system, the fact that the service bought all its tokens in less than one year is noteworthy. This is definitely a great exchange for buying and selling bitcoins, as well as for working and investing in some other cryptocurrencies. The positive features of the service are the following:
- high liquidity;
- low commission for cryptocurrencies;
- full package of types of orders, margin trading and the lending market;
- availability of the Russian interface of the site;
- availability of applications for using the site from mobile devices;
- a huge selection of digital currencies and their pairs;
- many tools for market analysis;
- wide selection of orders;
- Compensation to users of all losses from hacking.
However, the review of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange will be incomplete without indicating negative features. These include:
- too complicated verification process, especially complicated for Russian-speaking traders;
- high commission when replenishing the account in dollars (via bank transfer);
- ambiguous reputation of the site due to scandalous hacking.