Bitfinex Exchange Review

What is Bitfinex Exchange?

Bitfinex is currently among the oldest and largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry. It was founded in 2012 by Raphael Nicolle and Giancarlo Devasini, with headquarters in Hong Kong. As we have learned, Bitfinex is owned and is operated by the company iFinex Inc. At the moment of this writing, Bitfinex welcomes customers coming from 52 countries globally. We should as well outline that due to some reasons,  the exchange has recently ceased providing its services in the United States.

Taking into account the lack of direct regulation or compliance with the country-specific financial jurisdictions, some users wonder – is Bitfinex scam? So far, there have not been any legal precedents to evoke distrust with regards to Bitfinex. However, the security concerns did take place and we are going to cover this shortly.

How Secure is Bitfinex?

Security is one of the top criteria for selecting a good crypto exchange. Unfortunately, it is hard to confirm that Bitfinex security is one the decent level and here is why.

Bitfinex was previously hacked multiple times, which resulted in the significant loss of the clients’ money. As we have discovered, the initial hack occurred in May 2015. A perpetrator managed to steal 1500 BTC from the digital wallet controlled by Bitfinex. The worst, however, was yet to come. In the next attack, the hacker managed to bypass the platform security measures and get access to even more virtual currency. The whole hacking attempt resulted in the theft of 119, 756 BTC.  At that time, this sum would be equal to nearly $72 mln.

In the first case, Bitfinex quickly covered the losses of the hack victims as the amount was relatively not big. As for the theft of $72 mln, the company launched the reimbursement program by releasing their own BFX tokens valued at $1. Thus, the tokens were granted to all the investors that suffered the attack. Later on, Bitfinex repurchased all the tokens back by April 3, 2017.

Considering all this, is Bitfinex legit? These events undermined the trust in Bitfinex, so the exchange had to amplify its security to a much higher degree. At the moment of this writing, almost all clients’ funds are held in cold storage. Additionally, the customers can enable two-factor authentication (2FA), universal 2nd factor (U2F) and PGP encryption for email correspondence.

On top of all that, Bitfinex launched the system that tracks any changes in the IP address linked to the specific account. Users receive the email alerts upon each login to make sure the latter is authorized. In case of any suspicious activity, the user can simply freeze the account. It is also worth mentioning that Bitfinex preserves the right to restrict the account access based on the monitored IP address data.

Last but not the least important fact is that Bitfinex is monitoring the withdrawals based on IP address as well. It is also possible for the customers to set the particular locations for withdrawals. In this case, any other withdrawal destinations are automatically rejected.

Opening an Account at Bitfinex

Account registration at Bitfinex is a seamless procedure that takes just a couple of minutes. To open an account, the trader has to provide the valid username, email, set a password and select the time zone.

However, before the actual sign up, Bitfinex requires all potential users to acknowledge the following information:

• Bitfinex offers a platform tailored for professional traders. It is not recommended for crypto trading novices.
• All platform functions are disabled until the user meets the minimum account equity requirement of $10,000
• To access fiat deposits and withdrawals, the user has complete the verification process which may take 6-8 weeks
• Bitfinex may charge an inactivity fee ($25/year) for users that hold the balance, but do not participate in Bitfinex markets

Bitfinex Payment Options Review

In terms of funding, Bitfinex offers the abundance of options for the client. In fact, the trader can fund the account with 69 cryptocurrencies or deposit with fiat currencies like USD, EUR, GBP, and JPY using bank transfers.

Our Bitfinex review found out that all the cryptocurrency deposits are free, provided that the amount deposited reaches or exceeds the equivalent of $1000. Otherwise, Bitfinex classifies the less amount as “small deposit”, which in turn is subjected to fees. For instance, the small deposit fee for Bitcoin is 0.0004 BTC. In case of withdrawals, however, Bitfinex charges the fixed commission for each virtual currency, which is essentially the same as the small deposit fee. You may see a bit of the fee schedule below:

On the other hand, all bank transfers incur the 0.100% fee for both deposits and withdrawals.

Supported Cryptocurrencies

At the moment of this Bitfinex review 2018, the platform supports more than 200 currency pairs. They are linked to the markets such as BTC, ETH, USD, EUR, GBP, and JPY. Moreover, Bitfinex is one of the few exchanges that provide access to IOTA trading.

Bitfinex Trading Platform Review

Speaking of the trading software, it is fair to say that Bitfinex platform has a great functionality and customizable interface, which may especially appeal to more advanced users. It is also possible to trade on the go using Bitfinex mobile apps for iOS and Android.

The platform offers in-depth charting – 10 time frames and 76 technical indicators. Additionally, the trader can benefit from various order types at Bitfinex. Those include Market, Limit, Stop, Trailing Stop, One Cancels Other (OCO), Fill or Kill, Hidden Order, Post-Only Limit Order.

Apart from exchange services, Bitfinex also enables the users to trade with margin. The maximum leverage offered is up to 1:3.3.

Lastly, the platform comes with 3 languages – English, Chinese and Russian.

Bitfinex Reviews: Trading Fees

As with many cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitfinex fees depend on maker/taker status as well as on the 30-day trading volume. To be more specific, the maker fees range from 0.1% to 0.0%, while for the taker the fee can be from 0.2% to 0.1%.  The fees are relatively low, providing that the required volume is met. To qualify for the lowest fees, the trader has to reach the volume of $30 mln equivalent. Here you can see the full table:

Customer Support

In order to contact Bitfinex customer support, the user has to submit the ticket on the website. Support agents answer all inquiries via email, but their response time may vary from 12 hours to several days. For indirect client support, traders can utilize the “knowledge base” (i.e FAQ).

The Bottom Line

Bitfinex is a well-established crypto exchange that offers a wide variety of tradable pairs, a top-notch platform, and relatively low fees.

The quite worrying part about Bitfinex is the security of clients’ funds and data. Therefore, is Bitfinex safe? Although the exchange has significantly improved its security facilities since the hackings, we are not 100% sure that Bitfinex security cannot be circumvented again.