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FTX REVIEW

Honest, Direct, & Hyper-Distilled

Table of Contents

"As a full time trader, I prefer FTX due to its offerings of futures and the various index products. Very happy with the service and speed too"
Leonard K. Anderson
Pro crypto trader

Get Started with FTX

OVERVIEW

100 +
CRYPTO PAIRS
1
COUNTRIES SERVED
1
LANGUAGES AVAILABLE
1
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
01

THE BIG PICTURE

FTX is a powerful and versatile trading platform that works well for both first-timers and veterans. The platform is highly secure and is led by experienced professionals from Wall Street quant firms and tech companies. Tbh, FTX has everything you’ll ever need, including industry-first derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens. Unfortunately, if you’re from the US, you won’t gain access to as many features and will need to compromise on a limited number of crypto pairs. Find out everything you need to know in this honest and comprehensive FTX review.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED
02

FEES

Just like other platforms, FTX tiers its fee structure for all futures and spot markets available. However, the best part is that the maker and taker fees are relatively lower. Even better, the fee structure is simple and easy to understand (unlike Binance’s). Here’s a quick overview:

Tier

   30-day Volume (USD)

  Maker Fee

   Taker Fee

1

  0

0.020%

  0.070%

2

  > 2,000,000

0.015%

  0.060%

3

  > 5,000,000

0.010%

  0.055%

4

  > 10,000,000

0.005%

  0.050%

5

  > 25,000,000

0

  0.045%

6

  > 50,000,000

0

  0.040%

Beyond this fee schedule, FTX supports a VIP Program for professional traders, and market makers can take advantage of its Backstop Liquidity Provider program. FTX also offers discounts for users who hold FTT Token (FTX’s native token). You can learn more about these discounts and limits here.

Other important details about fees include:

  • In addition to the interest rate paid to the lenders, borrowers are charged a fee for loans
  • The platform’s leveraged tokens charge daily management fees of 0.03% alongside a 0.10% token creation fee and 0.10% redemption fee
  • MOVE contract fees track the price of the underlying index and not the price of the MOVE contract itself
  • FTX may charge a withdrawal fee of up to 0.10% for users where withdrawals or deposits of fiat currencies or stablecoins exceed their trading volume
  • FTX also charges a fee for any withdrawals below 0.01 BTC. To see the details, follow this link
VERY LOW FEES
03

PRODUCTS

FTX (international) has a ton of products, including:

  • Leveraged tokens
  • Options
  • Futures
  • NFTs
  • Quant Zone
  • MOVE Contracts
  • Spot Market
  • Prediction Market
  • Staking
  • Borrowing/Lending
  • OTC Desk

Sadly, FTX US doesn’t offer this much, but it still has a lot for its American customers, including:

  • OTC Trading
  • Spot Exchange (with fees that are almost 85% lower than other competing platforms)
  • NFTs
  • The FTX card
  • FTX Pay
  • Derivatives
LARGE VARIETY
04

AVAILABILITY

FTX international is available in almost all countries except Cuba, Crimea and Sevastopol, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and North Korea. Additionally, other jurisdictions may have partial restrictions, including Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, and Canada.

WIDE COVERAGE
05

PROS

  • Extremely-low fees compared to all other platforms
  • Highest leverage in the industry, up to 101x
  • Wide variety of asset classes and trading options
  • Ensures high liquidity
  • Allows trading crypto indices and leveraged tokens
  • Enables users to buy crypto assets via credit cards through the Simplex gateway
  • Has an NFT marketplace
  • Includes advanced trading features
MEANINGFUL PROS
06

CONS

  • Average customer support
  • Limited features and options for US customers
NOT MANY DOWNSIDES
07

PAYMENT METHODS

Crypto deposits and withdrawals incur no fees, the exception being Ethereum (ETH) and ERC-20s, or withdrawals that don’t meet specified minimum values. Unless you already have FTT (the native coin) staked, you’ll have to pay the network fee for ETH and ERC-20 tokens (could be fuckin’ costly). Account funding and withdrawals can be handled in fiat currencies via credit and debit card deposits, ACH transfers (for US customers), bank wire transfers from US and non-US banks, and, of course, cryptocurrencies.

Deposit Fees

  • Crypto:  Free
  • Bank Transfer:  Fees assessed by user’s bank
 

Withdrawal Fees

  • Crypto:  Network fee for ETH and ERC-20 tokens
  • Fiat Withdrawals:  $75 for withdrawals less than $10,000
Fiat & Crypto
08

PRIVACY & SECURITY

Although the FTX team flexes a lot about how transparent they are, the team hasn’t made much of an attempt to shed light on their security protocols – so without being a whiny-ass reviewer, we would just assume that they do follow all the established security practices.

FTX has been in business since 2019. Since then, it has successfully avoided hacks or other malicious attacks. Other than this, the platform uses SSL encryption and two-factor authentication (2FA). FTX also supports IP and wallet whitelisting to further secure accounts. Lastly, FTX offers an insurance fund to protect customers from losses resulting from sudden, adverse market movements that could result in the rapid liquidation of multiple open positions on the exchange.

Good Security Features
09

WHO'S FTX GOOD FOR?

  • Experienced traders seeking advanced trading options
  • High-volume traders (OTC trading helps avoid slippage)
  • Institutional investors seeking a wide array of products
  • Beginners with no experience
SUITABLE FOR MOST

Get Started with FTX

THE FINE DETAILS

General Information

Founded in:
2018 (Launched in 2019)

Official Website:
https://ftx.com/

Customer Support:
https://ftx.com/support Help Center:
https://help.ftx.com/hc/en-us
Start Now

Registration

Registering a new account on FTX is easy. All you gotta do is click on the “Register” button, enter your preferred email and password, agree to the T&C, and you’re ready to go.

After your account is registered, you’ll need to verify your email address with two-factor authentication (2FA). Next, you’ll need to go ahead with the KYC verification to get higher deposit and withdrawal limits. Note that there are different levels of KYC, so make sure to clear the ones that best fit your needs.
Register

Support

FTX has decent customer support (better than most). Besides prompt responses via Live Chat and emails, the FTX customer support team also has dedicated technical and operational specialists to help traders find their way on the platform.

And if you aren’t the “Chatty Kathy”-type, FTX also has a large selection of trading materials and knowledge resources that can help you go from a ‘youngling’ to a ‘jedi’ in the world of cryptocurrencies. FTX also has a “blog” section, which will come in handy for “noob” traders. In addition, the customer support team is also available on social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook. Finally, there are WeChat and Telegram groups in multiple languages. Per the official website, FTX (global) serves customers across all major countries, but with a few exceptions.
Check it out

Regulation

Per the official website, FTX (global) serves customers across all major countries, but with a few exceptions. The platform, FTX Trading Ltd, is officially incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda, and its subsidiary FTX Digital Markets Ltd. is licensed under The Bahamas' Digital Assets and Registered Exchange Act, 2020 and regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas. FTX currently doesn’t accept users from Japan, The Bahamas, Australia, or Singapore; it does not service trading of tokenized stocks or prediction markets. Additionally, FTX.US is a separate trading platform and is not owned by FTX. The FTX.US platform solely operates in the United States and maintains various US regulatory licenses, including MSB, MTLs, DCO, DCM, and SEF.

Features

FTX Global is the perfect package. Although it is new to the scene, the platform has made a name for itself by launching several unique and innovative trading products like leveraged tokens and MOVE contracts. The platform handles both retail and institutional traders and offers low fees, tight spreads, an OTC desk, extensive customer service support, and in-depth charts via TradingView. Other key features include support for multiple fiat deposits, credit card payments, mind-boggling leverage of up to 101x, simple conversions, and stablecoin settlements. Then there’s crypto derivatives trading, leverage trading on S&P 500, deep liquidity, futures trading, NFT marketplace, savings accounts, and much more. That said, most of these features are only available on FTX global and not FTX US. **Special Mention: FTX also offers its liquidation engine, which uses intelligent and efficient values to determine the optimal liquidation process. It warns traders when their positions are about to drop below the maintenance margin of 4.5% and helps them gradually close those positions.
Read More

Ease of Use

Other than the overwhelming range of products, FTX has a pretty neat interface. There’s an “advanced trading” feature for the big boys, but the basic version also has everything you’ll ever need. FTX also offers drag-and-drop features that allow you to customize the interface whichever way you need it to be.

In all honesty, the FTX team has done a great job designing a user interface that all traders can easily navigate. But, if you look closely, the platform’s features and products are geared towards professional and advanced traders. So if you’re just getting started, there are plenty of other alternatives to choose from.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Common questions we get asked about FTX

Led by experienced professionals from Wall Street quant firms and tech companies, FTX is a highly regulated cryptocurrency exchange that operates globally.

FTX doesn’t allow US citizens to trade on its platform. FTX.US, a separate trading platform not owned by FTX, operates in the United States.

FTX has its headquarters in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.

Well, FTX charges lower fees than Coinbase and many other platforms, and it also has some unique products that you can’t find elsewhere. Unlike Coinbase, FTX is built by traders, for traders.

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