Bitfinex

Bitfinex Review

As one of the oldest centralized exchanges in the industry established way back in 2012, Bitfinex has survived and persisted through multiple bull and bear markets and came out stronger. The platform was conceived to cater to professional traders and investors. Over the years, the exchange has remained at the forefront of innovation, continuously introducing new features and products to enhance the trading experience.

Despite its reputation as a go-to platform for professional traders and institutions, Bitfinex is also excellent for retailed investors. The user interface and lack of certain features may seem less user-friendly compared to some of the biggest competitors, but the array of services, varied deposit and withdrawal methods and excellent asset safety makes it a solid trading platform for everyone.

In our Bitfinex review we will take a look at some of its top features, fiat deposit and withdrawal methods, trading markets, safety and security, and more.

Why Use Bitfinex?

• Operating since 2012 and considered safe and reliable.
• Direct deposits with low fees through ACH, SEPA, Faster Payments and other bank transfers, plus additional third party fiat gateways with even more payment methods.
• Compared to other exchanges, Bitfinex has low to average trading fees.
• Trading markets include Spot, Margin and Futures.
• As additional financial services, users can use staking and crypto loans.

Pros and cons

Is Bitfinex good for first time buyers?

For beginners, the most important factor is often ease of deposits. On Bitfinex, you can buy Bitcoin and over 150 other altcoins with bank transfers in USD (ACH), EUR (SEPA), and GBP (Faster Payments). Additionally, users can deposit in JPY, TRY, and CNH currencies.

And here is where Bitfinex’s focus on large traders and institutions is noticeable. Surprisingly, Bitfinex charges a whooping $60 minimum fee for US dollars, making it impractical for smaller transactions. Using their banking partner OpenPayd (Euros and British pounds) has a much more reasonable €5/£5 fee for transfers under 10,000 GBP/EUR, or 0.1% for transfers above 10,000 GBP/EUR. All the fees are also available on Bitfinex website here.

No direct card deposits are available, but customers can use Visa and Mastercard to deposit through 3rd party fiat gateways integrated into the platform. Through the gateways, you can also deposit via additional bank transfers, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Revolut Pay, and few other local payment methods, depending on your country.

Beginner-friendly features on Bitfinex include demo trading, letting users practice trading with mock funds and zero risk to actual assets. This can be a great tool to develop better trading habits and learn how to use the platform without stress. Similarly, users can also use subaccounts, isolating trading assets from main portfolio.

Overall, Bitfinex is no more complex to use compared to most crypto exchanges. If you used another CEX before, the interface will be familiar, and you will have no issues executing trades on Bitfinex.

Is Bitfinex good for day trading?

For frequent crypto trading Bitfinex is a fairly good choice. With demo trading feature, you can simply try the platform without any risk and decide for yourself. High-risk traders will also appreciate having subaccounts, allowing them to isolate trading assets from long-term portfolio.

Currently, Bitfinex has over 150 altcoins. Some exchanges have thousands of altcoins listed so this list may not sound impressive, but those who mainly trade larger market cap and more popular altcoins will likely find their favorites available for buying. Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Avalanche, Litecoin, Uniswap, Chainlink, Polkadot and many more are available.

Bitfinex is typically in top 20 exchanges in the world by volume on both spot and derivatives, so traders shouldn’t have any issues with liquidity. Keep in mind that Futures market only has about 50 altcoin pairs, fewer than Spot. In addition to Spot and Futures, traders can also engage in Margin trading, allowing for increased position sizes with leverage. On Futures, 100x leverage is available.

User interface

Bitfinex’s unique user inteface may initially appear confusing to traders coming from other CEXs. The trading UI’s layout is somewhat different compared to most exchanges, but it is very customizable.

UI even has some unique elements not found on other exchanges such as a spread ladder and real-time liquidations. Chart, tickers, order form, open positions, order history and other elements are fully customizable. You can drag and drop everything to create a layout that fits your preferences. Order book and recent trades can even be fully hidden.

Trading interface layout can be completely customized. But in fact, additional UI settings are available, letting you further customize charts, layout, order book, and even choose a different color scheme. You can even pick your own saturation, contrast and brightness levels, something that no other exchange listed on Cexfinder has.

Overall, Bitfinex’s trading interface takes a bit more time to get used to. On the upside, UI can be customized in a way that will feel familiar and intuitive, with far more options than any other exchange we’ve seen.

Does Bitfinex have cheap trading fees?

• On Spot and Margin, the minimum (maker) fee is 0.1%, and taker fee is 0.2%.
• On Futures, the minimum (maker) fee is 0.02%, and taker fee is 0.065%.

Compared to other exchanges, these are either cheaper or average trading fees. However, these numbers do not include Cexfinder’s exclusive referral code discount. Simply by using our Bitfinex signup link, you can reduce all trading fees by 6%. There are no other requirements or fine print: just using the link or our code “yK8gobn07“ during signup is enough.

Additionally, Bitfinex has its own native token strangely named UNUS SED LEO. By holding just $1 in this token, you can reduce spot taker fees by an additional 15%. Higher fee discounts are available if you hold more $5,000. Holding $1 is easy and completely worth it for everyone. Furthermore, high-volume traders can get cheaper fees depending on their 30-day trading volume.

As you can see, Bitfinex’s crypto trading fees are initially cheap to average, but they can very easily be reduced. In the end, depending on your trading habits and markets, Bitfinex can be one of the cheapest exchanges for crypto trading.

Bitfinex Top Features

• Easy fiat deposits – Direct deposits through bank transfers, and indirect deposits through other methods are available. You can quickly top up your account and get started trading as soon as your funds clear.
• Trading markets – You can invest into simple Spot, or use margin to increase your position sizes with leverage. Traders can also try their hand at crypto trading on Futures markets, where up to 100x leverage is available.
• Demo trading – Demo trading is available for users who either wish to test the platform first, or practice trading without any risks.
• Subaccounts – Multiple subaccounts can be set up for isolating trading and portfolio assets, ensuring no risk of liquidation.
• Customizable user interface – The entire user interface including account backend is available in dark theme, and the trading screens are highly customizable.
• Cheap trading fees – When using our special invitation code “yK8gobn07“ and by holding just $1 worth of Bitfinex’s native token, you can significantly reduce trading fees. As a result, Bitfinex can be quite cheap for trading on both spot and derivatives markets.
• Staking – Customers can stake assets to earn low-risk passive income. Only a few assets are available: Tron, EOS, Tezos, Solana, Polygon, Cardano, Polkadot, and Ethereum. APY (yearly interest yield) is between 1.5% and 6.5%, depending on asset. All staking is “flexible”, meaning there are no lockup periods, and you can trade or withdraw your tokens at any time.

Other useful features:

• Crypto loans – Bitfinex’s Borrow feature lets users borrow Bitcoin, USDT, Ethereum, Litecoin, and several other digital assets. Loans are rarely recommended for beginners, but experienced traders will appreciate the ability to easily access additional trading capital.
• Gift cards – Bitfinex’s integration with Bitrefill service allows direct and quick purchases of many different gift cards. These enable you to easily convert crypto into gift cards for Amazon, IKEA, PlayStation, Steam, Netflix and more. Many gaming-related offers are available as well, including Fortnite (V-Bucks), League of Legends, Blizzard store credits, Roblox, Minecraft and more.
• Desktop app – Bitfinex Reporting App is available on Windows, Linux and Mac as a standalone platform for viewing order, trades, win/loss ratios, and even tax reports. To advanced traders, this can save both time and money.

Bitfinex Safety & Security

Bitfinex is registered in the British Virgin Islands and based in Hong Kong, but its reach extends far beyond these jurisdictions. The exchange serves a global customer base, with users from around the world benefiting from its advanced trading features and comprehensive product offerings.

As previously mentioned, Bitfinex was launched all the way back in 2012, and has been one of the top exchanges since. It originally started as a P2P trading platform, but has since shut down its P2P marketplace due to diminished interest and better alternative deposit methods.

Bitfinex’s security was last compromised back in 2016, when $72 million were stolen from the platform. Since then, the exchange implemented multiple robust security protocols to ensure it never happens again.

Asset safety

As a result of the hack, 99.5% of user funds on Bitfinex are now stored in offline, multi-signature cold wallets. This completely isolates them from online threats. In order for Bitfinex itself to access those funds, their cold storage requires the approval of transactions with 3 out of 5 security modules held by internationally dispersed management team members, ensuring that no single person can access or withdraw funds alone (source).

Only 0.5% of customer assets are stored in hot wallets for day to day operations. This means only a very small portion of user funds can potentially be stolen in the event of future hacks. Furthermore, Bitfinex employs advanced DDoS protection, AI-driven fraud monitoring, and regular security audits of the platform. In addition, regular Proof of Reserves reports are published, offering a fully secure method to very that all customer deposits are safe and accounted for.

Account safety

User account safety has both basic and advanced methods that can be activated and used to reduce the likelihood of account breaches:

• 2-factor authentication (2FA) via FIDO physical key or Google authenticator app
• Limit access to specific IP addresses, and automatic logout on IP address changes
• Withdrawal address whitelist and withdrawal confirmation phrase
• PGP email encryption
• Login notifications and login history

Overall, the account safety methods included are more than sufficient to prevent most forms of unauthorized access. Most of the security features are optional, but it’s always best to activate as many as possible.

Regulatory licenses and approvals

Despite its age, Bitfinex is lacking in the official licenses and registrations. The only major regulatory approval is in El Salvador, where Bitfinex was the first crypto exchange to receive a Digital Asset license under the new Digital Assets Securities Law, back in 2023.

In other related info, Bitfinex has close ties with the company issuing Tether (USDT), with some shared management and shareholders. Tether is the world’s biggest stablecoin, but not without its own controversies. Conversely, this link is either good or bad, depending on your point of view.

Is Bitfinex safe to use?

Despite its tumultuous history, there is no evidence to suggest Bitfinex is a scam or fraud exchange. The executive team is transparent and listed on the website’s About page, among other information. Platform uses industry-standard security policies, and even has bug bounties in place to reduce the likelihood of potential breaches.

Bitfinex has been operating since the early days of crypto, and persevered through the good and bad times. Even today it services millions across the world, evident by its high trading volume and customer deposits.

As always, follow our crypto exchange safety advice, activate 2FA and other account security methods, and hold your main portfolio in self-custody wallets. You can trade with high leverage on Bitfinex, meaning you can always keep only bare minimum trading funds on the exchange.

Aside from that, Bitfinex had no hacks or security breaches in years, and there is no evidence to suggest your funds are at risk. Bitfinex is a legitimate crypto exchange. Due to its long history it’s even considered reliable and trusted by many in the industry.

Conclusion – Is Bitfinex a Good Exchange?

• Has both direct and 3rd party fiat deposits and withdrawals, but some of the payment methods have high fees.
• Has spot, margin and futures trading.
• Other features include subaccounts, demo trading, loans, staking, and gift cards.
• Has low to average crypto trading fees, which are easily reduced further.
• There are some past controversies and large hacks, but has since significantly improved security and regained user trust.
• Remains one of the world’s top 20 exchanges by volume and other metrics after operating for over a decade.

It’s hard to blame Bitfinex for issues that happened so many years ago. Keep in mind, some of today’s most popular exchanges like Binance, Bybit or OKX didn’t even exist back when Bitfinex was going through its struggles. Many of these and other CEXs had a huge head start when it comes to security, features, and other factors.

Nevertheless, Bitfinex persisted and thrived despite numerous competitors, and still remains as one of the largest exchanges in the market. Beginners can use it for its convenient deposits and withdrawals, while active traders can take advantage of its customizable interface and high volume.

Crypto investors looking for a reliable exchange with a long history, solid number of core altcoins and advanced trading features can consider Bitfinex as one of the best choices.