BitMEX is a cryptocurrency exchange, which is a large platform for the trading of digital coins with the ability to store crypto capital on a trading account. The daily money turnover on this exchange almost always exceeds $ 1 billion (over 100,000 bitcoins).

The founders and developers of this project implemented their planned ideas, creating a high-quality and reliable cryptocurrency exchange. The vast majority of BitMEX’s clients have experienced crypto traders. In the ranking of crypto exchanges in terms of trading volume, it takes first place.

Review of the BitMEX Exchange 

Crypto exchange Bitmex began registering its first clients in 2014. The platform itself is registered in Seychelles, and its head office is located in Hong Kong. Managed company is HDR Global Trading Limited.

The official website of the BitMEX exchange compares an abundance of useful data, detailed information about the project’s employees, the availability of reference materials, a blog, etc. It is very important to have presented reminders about futures contracts, margin trading, and perpetual contracts. 

The management and technical team of BitMEX are constantly trying to optimize the exchange and create optimal working conditions for traders. Attention is focused on professional speculators, which is why inexperienced beginners have to seriously study the features, functionality, tools, and additional options.

Features of BitMEX

There are no cardinal qualities that distinguish the BitMEX trading platform from competitors. But many small nuances, together, make the exchange convenient and of high quality in terms of trading and exchange operations. There are the following nuances:

• Platform interface. There are a lot of complex elements here, so mastering such details will certainly take time. But traders who understand the intricacies are happy with the abundance of necessary and really important options, charts, tables, and displayed data.
• Cryptocurrencies. Here is a relatively modest list of available virtual currencies, but they are all highly liquid. You can buy and sell here seven types of crypto coins and one fiat currency, the US dollar. These assets form currency pairs in different combinations.
• All users registered on the Bitmex platform are subdivided into takers and makers. Makers create a trade order and wait for purchase by other exchange participants, while the takers acquire open contracts if they are satisfied with the maker’s offer. There are slightly different commission rates for these groups of traders.
• High level of security. Only BitMEX has a unique control scheme when withdrawing digital coins from the trading balance. The order will be executed if at least two people from the special commission on the service confirm that there are no signs of theft of funds. It guarantees the suppression of up to 80% of cases of theft.
• Good organization of information support. On the Bitmex trading platform, many blocks are containing various data. If you hover the cursor over any interface elements (tables, labels, graphs, etc.), then an explanatory line is automatically displayed, in which information is briefly presented. So you can navigate the exchange quickly and comfortably.
• Verification. This procedure is optional. You can trade anonymously, especially since transactions (withdrawal/replenishment) are made in bitcoins, and cryptocurrencies, as you know, are already characterized by exceptional anonymity.
• Withdrawing crypto coins from the deposit and replenishing the balance. It is also a nonspecific approach for modern cryptocurrency exchanges: all operations for crediting or withdrawing funds are carried out exclusively in Bitcoin.
• Technical support service. BitMEX exchange consultants are always working (all day round the clock). Besides, there are many communication channels available: telephone, leading social networks, instant messengers, and email. As a rule, replies to letters and messages come very quickly.

Benefits of BitMEX exchange

Of course, the features of trading on the site are positive qualities, but, in addition to them, several advantages should be noted. So, the advantages of BitMEX are:

• Low trading commissions. It starts from 0.025 to 0.075% of the transaction volume.
• High liquidity, especially for the XTBUSD perpetual contract.
• The minimum deposit amount is only 0.0001 Bitcoin (about 1 USD at the current exchange rate).
• Demo trading, where you can test all BitMEX functionality. You will need a separate account, but you can use one email. In the test mode, it is allowed to speculate with the XBTUSD asset, which automatically lowers its volatility.
• Margin trading on the Bitmex exchange platform. Leverage up to x100.
• Many useful tools are provided for profitable trading.
• Regular verification by specialists of the history of accounts and balances of users.
• Affiliate program.

Disadvantages of the BitMEX exchange

The abundance of advantages is striking. Indeed, the BitMEX exchange is incredibly high-quality and functional, but it also has some shortcomings:

• The interface is complex, as it is full of many blocks, section tabs, and graphs. But if you seriously analyze all the nuances, then the most effective trading is possible here.
• There are only a few cryptocurrencies and fiat. They are made up of 7 cryptocurrencies and a dollar.
• Low liquidity on altcoin contracts.
• Withdrawal of funds and replenishment of the balance are carried out exclusively in XTB (Bitcoin) crypto coins.

Registration on the BitMEX website

On the Bitmex crypto exchange, registration is the least intricate action. Any user interested in cryptocurrency trading will pass it quickly.

Step-by-step registration scheme on the Bitmex exchange:

1. On the main page of the official website bitmex.com, on the top right, you need to click the Register button.

2. A form will open, lines of which must be carefully filled in. The system requires you to specify the last name, first name, login, double password, country, and email.

3. Then, the system requires solving the captcha and accepting the rules and conditions of the exchange. It remains to click on the Register button.

It completes the registration on the BitMEX exchange. By transferring money to the trade balance, the user can engage in cryptocurrency trading by buying or selling futures contracts.

How to fund your BitMEX account

Immediately after registering for BitMEX and activating the account, bitcoins should be credited to the balance of the exchange cryptocurrency wallet XTB. The allowed minimum is 0.0001 Bitcoin. The transfer is credited after one confirmation on the blockchain network. On average, this time is 10-30 minutes. The speed is determined by the degree of congestion of the network and the exchange system.

Money should be entered according to the following scheme:

• In the top menu bar, click the Account button, and in the Wallet window that opens, click on the Deposit button.

• The platform will automatically generate a unique personal bitcoin address that you need to copy. The cryptocurrency should be transferred to it, thereby replenishing the wallet balance on the Bitmex exchange.
• Transfer cryptocurrency from your wallet, which contains bitcoins, indicating the address, transfer amount, and commissions. Typically, the output section is labeled as Send. 
• Make a transaction. Blockchain browsers are used to track the status and number of confirmations. The credited funds are displayed in the section Funds balance and Transaction history with the Completed status. The notification about the replenishment of the BitMEX balance is sent by email.

Instructions for trading on BitMEX

BitMEX is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. Here, traders have access to many tools with detailed customizable parameters to control the trading process. The abundance of different values ​​for each type of order allows planning of the trading process to the smallest detail. But beginners may have some problems understanding and effectively using the opportunities provided by the platform. 

Basic principles

To make it easier for beginners to get used to the functionality, the developers launched a demo version of the exchange at testnet.bitmex.com. The algorithm for working with this version of the platform is almost no different from the real one. The only difference is that trading is carried out with virtual money, which means you don’t have to worry about possible mistakes when placing orders.

Before proceeding directly to the instructions for trading on BitMEX, you need to understand the main features of the exchange.

1. The main trading asset of BitMEX is XBTUSD, which is a derivative financial instrument based on bitcoin quotes. It means that by buying it, the user will not become the owner of BTC coins, but he/she will be able to play for a fall (sell this instrument), even if he/she does not have a previously purchased contract on his/her account. The second plus is access to margin trading, in other words, the use of leverage. Thanks to this opportunity, a trader can open positions of a multiple of a larger value, which opens up new opportunities for making money on changes in cryptocurrency rates, but also increases risks. In addition, the XBTUSD contract is unlimited. It means that you do not need to adjust the time of the transaction to the expiration (completion) date. It is important that the quotes for this instrument almost completely coincide with the spot market (ordinary crypto exchanges, where transactions are made with the transfer of cryptocurrency between the accounts of participants).
2. The second variant of transactions is cryptocurrency futures. It is also a derivative instrument, but unlike a perpetual contract, it has an expiration date, and quotes can differ significantly from the spot market.

Commissions and funding

What happens when trading with leverage? On BitMEX, everything is organized in much the same way as on financial platforms where ordinary (fiat) assets are traded. Dollar futures, for example. To keep everything fair, the parties to the transactions periodically exchange payments calculated based on the difference in interest rates. On BitMEX, this process is called funding. And although Bitcoin does not have a Central Bank, and there is no one to set the refinancing rate, to maintain the correspondence of the XBTUSD rate to the spot quotes, the parties exchange commissions equal to 0.047% of the transaction every 8 hours. If the rate is positive, the holders of long positions pay the holders of the short ones; if the rate is negative, vice versa. In order not to pay a commission, it is necessary to close the deals before the funding deadline comes. Information about the remaining time is available in the terminal window.

There are also commissions (-0.025% and 0.075%), which are charged to those who provide liquidity (place an order, are makers), and are charged from the balance of those participants who satisfy orders, reducing liquidity and acting as takers. The maker or taker status is assigned depending on the current balance of orders, but the surest way to pay an additional commission is to place an order at the current price.

Basic trading rules

Despite some peculiarities, BitMEX is a classic exchange with the possibility of margin trading. It means that you need to be careful when choosing the order size and leverage. To understand how much the account balance will change when you open a particular position, you can use the calculator (the icon under the exchange logo). With its help, you can find out in advance the size of the margin, the liquidation price for the order, and the amount of profit or loss for different volumes and prices of open and close.

If you follow the classical principles of risk management, then to protect your funds from loss, you need to adhere to the following rules: the risk per order should not exceed 1–2% of the deposit, and the total risk, for all open transactions, should remain within 3–5%. With this approach, even a long continuous series of losing orders will not lead to a drain of the deposit: the trader will always have the opportunity to compensate for losses.

How to trade on the BitMEX exchange

The BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange provides registered users:

• Trading (cryptocurrency trading);
• Exchange of crypto coins;
• Storage of virtual currency XBT.

With the last point, everything is clear. You need to credit a certain amount to the BitMEX trading account and leave it, and when necessary, withdraw the cryptocurrency.

Exchange transactions are also simple. You need to purchase some cryptocurrency and transfer other coins to an external cryptocurrency wallet.

Trading digital money on Bitmex is a core purpose of the exchange. It is proposed to use USD and 7 types of virtual coins. Listing: ripple (XRP), bitcoin cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), NEO (NEO), cryptocurrency market leader bitcoin (XBT), and Litecoin (LTC).

To speculate in cryptocurrencies, you need to go to the Trade section of the website, where there is an optimal set of options and capabilities. 

In the order registration block, you should indicate the type of transaction, enter the number of crypto coins, select leverage, if necessary, view information about the transaction, and activate the Short/Sell or Long/Buy button.

When a regular conversion is performed, this stage ends all work steps. When trading, you should first analyze the market situation, watch the mood of traders, and carefully analyze the price chart. As soon as the level of the planned profit for the trade is reached, the order is closed.

It is worth clarifying the types of deals that exist on BitMEX. You can choose:

• Limit order. This type of order is the most convenient for traders. The volume of purchased or sold cryptocurrency is entered, and the transaction price is set, which suits the speculator. When an identical counter-offer appears on the exchange, the contract ends.

• Stop limit and its variants. The principle here is identical for all orders of this category. This type of contract is almost similar to a limit contract, but here, in addition to the trading price, you need to specify the order activation threshold.

How to withdraw money from BitMEX

Previously, there was a limited opportunity to deposit and withdraw funds from the Bitmex exchange. BitMEX uses exclusively bitcoins or satoshi for this. When there is another type of cryptocurrency on the balance, the system automatically converts when the order is executed. The procedure for receiving earned or residual funds is almost the same as replenishing the balance.

Crypto coins can be quickly transferred to a cryptocurrency wallet account. You can withdraw from 0.0001 XBT. BitMEX exchange charges a commission for processing an application and making a transaction.

Instructions on how to withdraw cryptocurrency from the exchange:

1. In the Account tab, open the Withdrawal section.

2. Enter the address of your bitcoin wallet in the Destination address line.

3. Designate the withdrawn amount.
4. Establish an acceptable commission percentage.
5. Click Send request.

After the request, the withdrawal operation must be confirmed. An email will be sent to the email, in which you need to follow the link. Next, you need to confirm the withdrawal or cancel it on the BitMEX website.

Conclusion

The BitMEX exchange is the biggest by volume size platform, that has a high level of security and, until now, has not been hacked by hackers. It is possible to trade most of the popular cryptocurrencies on unique terms that no other platform offers. For example, x100 leverage will allow you to get the highest level of profit. BitMEX is a powerful tool in experienced hands and a good trainer for beginners, where you can get comprehensive help and support, both from the built-in help system and from other users of the system.