Bitfinex Review – Read This Before Opening An Account!

Bitfinex is a centralized crypto exchange that has been in service for 9 years. It is nearly as old as cryptocurrencies themselves!

Bitfinex started as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange and evolved to become one of the biggest players in the game. Bitfinex offers plenty of tools and serves a huge amount of users, having a daily trade volume that can reach $1.6 billion.

To put it in perspective, this is more than the United States spent daily on the maintenance of its Defense and in Health combined during 2020. Nearly every single day of the year!

What Is Bitfinex?

Owned by iFinex Inc, the platform defines itself as the home of digital asset trade and as such, provides many useful services. Bitfinex’s goal is to provide you with the best trading experience through its constantly updated platform.

This is no easy feat, especially when serving over two hundred countries. Well, the fact is that they make it look easy.

Having hundreds of currencies and tokens on the menu, the platform probably brings more options to the table than you’ll ever need. Once you are done reading this Bitfinex review, you will understand why this exchange has remained so popular. Who knows? You might also find it to be the right choice for you! Let’s get started.

What Features Does Bitfinex Offer?

Bitfinex has several features which allow you to perform different operations ranging from simulation trading to classic crypto trading. It is not usual to find a single platform with such a variety of tools.

This Bitfinex review will provide all the information you need to get started. From new to experienced users, we will go through each of its well-thought features. Once you know all the features the platform has to offer, you should be able to make good use of them.

Paper Trading

Preferred by many users when starting out, paper trading is a great tool for learning. It allows you to trade in a simulated market using test tokens that mimic real cryptocurrencies.

This will help you get used to the platform and test trading strategies without using your real funds. Most features in Bitfinex can be tried out in this environment while not risking your valuable assets. This makes this tool one of the best ways for you to step up your crypto trading without any of the risks.

Trust us; many crypto investors have lost money for testing features with real crypto… Including us in the early days!

When using this feature, you will be operating with one of the five test tokens available: TESTBTC, TESTUSDT, TESTUSD, TESTAAA, and TESTBBB. These do not hold any value in real life and only function in this test environment. However, they will mimic the behavior of the real thing, allowing you to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies.

Definitely a great tool to have, as working with your dear funds in a new platform can be stressful and a bit risky. Through paper trading, you can do a few rehearsals to make sure you know your stuff when it comes to using this exchange. We would love to see this feature implemented in other exchanges!

Exchange Trading

This is the most used service and what Bitfinex does best. It’s the classic favorite for users wanting to trade crypto.

As long as you have an account and possess enough funds in your exchange wallet, you will be ready to make use of it. Just log in, go to the main trading page, and select the desired pair of assets. After this, complete the required information according to the details of your operation and place your order. That is all! Now you just have to wait until your order is executed.

This is a pretty standard feature when it comes to crypto exchanges. However, Bitfinex offers such a varied selection of order types and order options that make it better than most. Let’s start by taking a look at the available order types:

• Limit
• Limit (Order Book)
• Market
• Stop
• Stop-Limit
• Trailing Stop
• Fill or Kill (FOK)
• Immediate or Cancel
• Scaled Order

As if this was not enough, you can also match your order types with available options. These are:

• One Cancels Other (OCO)
• Hidden
• Visible on Hit
• Post-Only Limit
• Reduce-only
• Time in Force (TIF)

As you can see, this Bitfinex review is already showing what makes Bitfinex great. This variety of order types make the exchange extremely useful for newbies and advanced traders alike. While you might think that beginners won’t use these options, the use of orders like stop-limit is recommended for beginners!

As with all exchange trading platforms, Bitfinex requires you to pay for the corresponding maker or taker fees. We’ll go over these later in this Bitfinex review so you know how fees work and what you should expect from them.

Margin Trading

This popular feature lets you borrow funds for trading. Lending is done through the Margin Funding platform and allows you to trade with up to 10x leverage. This means you can trade for close to ten times the funds you invest in each of these operations.

The result?

The option to increase the return on your gains. We don’t recommend new traders use this feature, though, as it also increases the risk for losses.

Margin Funding

This is a great way to earn interest from your assets, allowing you to fund other users’ margin trading investments. Considered a low-risk type of investment, you should definitely consider it once you have tokens in your account.

Over the Counter Market

A key service for large traders, OTC lets you trade directly with another party while avoiding public order books. Liquidity is this feature’s most important property, and exchanges will not affect the market price. This is great if you are looking to trade high amounts of crypto at a better price.

Derivatives Trading

This rather advanced option allows you to speculate on the future price of a token.

After getting intermediate verification on your account, you can use this feature provided by iFinex. All you need to do after that is move funds into your Derivatives wallet. These funds must be BTC or USDT.

The highest leverage for derivatives trading is 100x, depending on the selected pair. This means you only need to put forward 1% of the position you intend to open.

Staking

This is a popular way for users to earn weekly rewards by staking tokens. These rewards can be as high as 10%, depending on several factors which are calculated by the token network. While there isn’t a minimum deposit for starting, rewards must be above a threshold valued at around US$0.50.

Fees will not be charged when staking, but Bitfinex does keep a small portion of the rewards. This is a very safe way to put your funds to work when you don’t need them.

How Secure Is Bitfinex?

If you have been around for a while, you probably heard Bitfinex suffered two big security breaches several years back. Still, it handled the situation most professionally and managed to pay back its users.

It is unclear if Bitfinex could have prevented this, as security measures in their platform have always been excellent. Keep in mind that whenever there are a lot of funds, there will be some unauthorized person trying to access them.

These breaches are not isolated incidents in the crypto space, with major platforms like Binance, KuCoin, and Coinbase also experiencing them.

Bitfinex values funds and user information a lot and works hard to maintain them secure. For this very reason, many of their security measures are not disclosed, as they could provide ideas and information for attackers. Let’s analyze what we know about the platform and how it helps in keeping us safe.

Backend Security Features

Cold Storage

Most of the crypto assets held by Bitfinex are stored offline in multi-signature cold wallets. These cold wallets cannot be accessed through the platform or the platform’s servers. Just a small fraction of the funds are stored in accessible hot wallets, which is obviously necessary for platform operation.

Backups of the Platform’s Database

The database used by Bitfinex’s platform is backed up in real-time on encrypted drives and copied over different locations. This is the best available practice for data safety, so losing this information is virtually impossible.

DDoS Protection

This exchange also features protection from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. That is one of the classic methods hackers use to take down services and is still a viable threat to many platforms.

Secure Hosting

The network of servers providing this service runs on constantly updated software and the best applicable practices. This is not a minor detail, as outdated software is responsible for millions in losses every year across many online services.

Client-Side Security Features

Two-factor Authentication (2FA)

You probably used this before, as banks and many other online services adopted it years ago. This is used to authorize operations by using a device or application not related to the platform.

As such, if your password was to be compromised, your account would remain inaccessible to hackers.

Universal 2nd Factor (U2F)

Similar to 2FA, this method uses a physical security key in order to confirm certain operations. A state-of-the-art technology that will give you peace of mind, U2F guarantees only you can access your funds.

Advanced API Key Permissions

If you use APIs, you can create keys to manage permissions on a per-feature basis. This provides flexibility and security for advanced use of the platform.

Advanced Verification Tools

Bitfinex will keep records of your login data in order to detect unusual activity in your account. Session hijacking is prevented by detecting IP address changes.

In addition to this, suspicious logins will be reported by email with an option to freeze your account manually if you want to. Last but not least, access to your account can be restricted based on IP address.

Withdrawals Protection

All withdrawals are monitored for unusual activities and are inspected by an admin if needed. This is why a confirmation step is required to complete withdrawals!

Another feature that is highly recommended is defining a whitelist for withdrawals. This prevents withdrawals from being sent to unknown accounts.

Email Encryption With OpenPGP

OpenPGP is the most widely used email encryption standard. Not only can it make your communications private but also help authenticate the parties involved. Using standards like these is vital to reduce the attack surface we provide to hackers.

How Good Is Bitfinex Customer Support?

As a modern internet company, Bitfinex knows customer support and usage guidelines are key to helping users. 

At the frontline, the Bitfinex Help Center has over a hundred articles with detailed instructions for all their services. It is presented in a straightforward design, without the dead ends you probably find on other websites. Most of your doubts will be just one search or a few clicks away.

If the information you need is not there, though, there are alternatives. The customer support live chat is always available if you are anxious about a response or have problems finding something.

Finally, by filling out a short form, you can contact support and get a hasty response from the company’s team via email. This form will contain all the necessary information for the team to review your case and provide a useful answer.

In all truth, chances are you will rarely need to contact support as their services are designed to be stable and easy to use. That being said, you can rest assured that they have got your back if needed!

At Turbo Wallet, we consider customer support essential. If you are like us and already considering using Bitfinex at this point, you can sign up here.

Does Bitfinex Charge Fees?

Short answer: Yes. Some operations will require you to pay fees. However, the fees will vary depending on the feature, so let’s see how to calculate those.

Trading Fees

Completing orders involving exchanges is called order execution. These orders can be for crypto-to-crypto, crypto-to-stablecoin, or crypto-to-fiat. Maker fees start at 0.1%, and taker fees are 0.2% for all order executions.

The fees improve as your trading volume increases, according to a table defined by Bitfinex. High-volume traders get to avoid paying maker fees and lower their taker fees, reaching an exceptional 0.055%.

An alternative way to lower the taker fees is holding a token created by iFinex called ‘UNUS Sed LEO’ (LEO). The more of these in your wallet during the last 30 days, the cheaper your fees will be. So if you choose to hodl that coin, it has some benefits!

Deposit/Withdrawl Fees

In the case of deposits, moving crypto or stablecoins into your account will be free. If you wish to deposit through bank wire, note those fees are 0.1% or a minimum of 60 USD/Euro.

Withdrawing to a bank, exchange, or wallet will generate fees depending on the currency, with many of them being free of charge! Keep in mind you should fully verify your account before withdrawing fiat currencies to avoid any issues.

If you withdraw assets into the address of another Bitfinex user, no fees will be charged.

How To Use Bitfinex?

Considering giving Bitfinex a try? Well, creating an account is as easy as pie. You will have your basic account in a matter of minutes, which you will want to verify later in order to access all features.

1. First, go to www.bitfinex.com/sign-up
2. Fill out the form and open your account.
3. Verify your account according to your needs. There are four verification levels, with the longest one taking two to three working days.    
4. Deposit funds (optional). 
5. Done! You can start using your account.

After having created your account, usage will depend on the feature you want to use. While we can’t explain all of them, the good news is that Bitfinex’s help center will be able to do so. If you are unsure of how a feature works, just take a look at some of its articles!

What Currencies Are Supported By Bitfinex?

Bitfinex supports 240 currencies, so unless you are searching for some brand new token, they probably have what you need. Let’s see some of the main tokens available:

Bitcoin (BTC)	Ethereum (ETH)	Cardano (ADA)
Tether (USDT)	Solana (SOL)	Polkadot (DOT)
Dogecoin (DOGE)	USD Coin (USDC)	Terra (LUNA)
Avalanche (AVAX)	Litecoin (LTC)	Uniswap (UNI)
Chainlink (LINK)	Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)	Algorand (ALGO)
VeChain (VET)	Axie Infinity (AXS)	Filecoin (FIL)
Tron (TRX)	Ethereum Classic (ETC)	Popsicle Finance (ERC-20)

With the most popular being covered, new traders will be sure to have a lot of flexibility when it comes to investing. If you are an advanced trader, the same is also true. It is also important to note that Bitfinex is constantly adding new coins!

Is Bitfinex Right For You?

Bitfinex might be a little better for you if you are an advanced crypto user. Don’t get us wrong, it offers simplicity and a user-friendly interface. However, beginners can rush to try new things at times… As long as you take your time, you will find Bitfinex to be a great option for beginners. The practical design and extensive knowledge base are enough to go from zero to hero in no time.

Bitfinex really shines in all regards. The only consideration you should make if you have doubts is the history of security breaches. While no real harm was done to users, this might be on the back of your mind and prevent you from using it normally. However, most crypto users and us believe the platform to be one of the safest at this time.

We hope this Bitfinex review has been helpful; now you know all the things you can do with this exchange. If you are still unsure, you can check some of the other exchanges we have reviewed!