Bitmex is one of the first exchanges to give leverage up to 100x for crypto trading. Although, now there are many exchanges offering this feature bitmex stands out in liquidity and popularity.
So, it deserves a complete review and let’s get into it.
Regulation
Whenever we look into an exchange to trade our money, the first thing we need to look into is by whom they are regulated.
Bitmex is operated by HDR Global Trading Limited, which is a Republic of Seychelles incorporated entity.
Instruments & Leverage Offered for Trading
At the time of writing this article, Bitmex offers 8 cryptocurrencies to trade. Those cryptocurrencies are “Bitcoin”, “Cardano”, “Bitcoin Cash”, “EOS Token”, “Ethereum”, “Litecoin”, “Tron” and “Ripple”.
The leverages and type of contracts offered are different for each cryptocurrencies. For example perpetual contracts is available to trade only for Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin.
| Cryptocurrency | Leverage | Contracts | Currencies |
| Bitcoin(BTC) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 50x, 100x | Perpetual Contract (has no expiry) Monthly Futures | BTC/USD BTC/YEN |
| Cardano(ADA) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x | Monthly Futures | ADA/XBT |
| Bitcoin Cash (BCH) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x | Monthly Futures | BCH/XBT |
| EOS Token (EOS) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x | Monthly Futures | EOS/XBT |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 35x, 50x | Perpetual Contract (has no expiry) Monthly Futures | ETH/USD ETH/XBT |
| Litecoin(LTC) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 33.3x | Monthly Futures | LTC/XBT |
| Tron(TRX) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x | Monthly Futures | TRX/XBT |
| Ripple(XRP) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 35x, 50x | Perpetual Contract (has no expiry) Monthly Futures | XRP/USD XRP/XBT |
| Bitcoin/Won(XBK) | Cross, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 50x, 100x | Perpetual Contract (has no expiry) | XBT/KRW |
Deposit & Withdrawals
This is a major negative factor for using bitmex, while most other crypto exchanges allows many currencies for deposit. In Bitmex you can only deposit bitcoins, no other currencies are allowed.
The minimum deposit amount is 0.0001 XBT and the deposit will be credited after 1 confirmation from bitcoin network.There are no fees for deposits.
Bitmex offers really good security for your deposited funds. All your bitcoin funds are stored in cold wallet so that no wallet can be read by any internet connected machines.
Now coming to withdrawals, since funds are stored in cold wallet Bitmex does not offer instant withdrawals. All withdrawals are done only after manual review.
The minimum amount request for withdrawal is 0.0002 XBT. Their withdrawal fees are also quite high and it varies based on the congestion in the bitcoin network and bitcoin price.
At the time of writing this article the withdrawal fee is 0.003 XBT (it can vary).
Fees
We have already discussed about the deposits and withdrawal fees. Other than that, there are 4 other fees charged by Bitmex.
- Maker Fee
- Taker Fee
- Funding Fee
- Settlement Fee
Maker Fee
A maker is a trader who places a limit order and waits for the order to fill. Since this improves the liquidity of the trading engine, the makers are rewarded for this.
The maker fee is -0.025%, which means you will be rewarded with 0.025% of the order value when you place a limit order. For example if you place an order for $500 worth of bitcoins then your balance will be credited with $0.125 (0.025% of 500) worth of bitcoins.
Taker Fee
A taker is a trader who places a market order to fill the position immediately.
The taker fee is 0.075%, which means you will have to pay a fee of 0.075% of the order value. For example, if you place an order for $500 worth of bitcoins then you have to pay $0.375 (0.075% of 500) worth of bitcoins.
You can get a 10% fee discount for 6 months when you sign up using this link: Bitmex 10% fee discount.
Funding Fee
Funding fee makes it possible for Bitmex to provide this high leverage. the funding fee is charged every 8 hours. So, in a single day it is charged 3 times with 8 hour intervals.
It is charged both in positive and negative based on the type of position and the trend direction of bitcoin. Long funding fee is charged on open long positions and short funding fee is charged on open short positions.
Right now the long funding fee is 0.01% and short funding fee is -0.01% (this changes depending on the volatility and bitcoin direction).
Settlement Fee
The settlement fee is charged on future contacts, right now it is 0.05% for bitcoin (might vary).
These fees are charged different for different cryptocurrencies , to know more about the fees charged you can check out here: Bitmex Fees.
Conclusion
Bitmex is highly liquid and is been there for a long time. As a word of caution, trading with high leverages has a lot of risk. Most of the time traders lose money, so if you are planning to trade you have to trade responsibly.