Exchanges Reviews - Page 7

Bithumb has one of the most ridiculously complicated registration procedures I have even come across on the cryptocurrency exchanges. The login procedure is also quite tedious. I used to trade there when living in South Korea, mainly became the majority of trading pairs there are priced in the local won, which was convenient for me at the time. But once I left Korea, I had to switch to another exchange because Bithumb isn't really adapted to the outside audience.

I used to have a good trading experience on BitMex right before they had introduced that totally uncalled for ban of American users from the platform. They didn't explain the reasoning behind this decision, thus forcing me, and a bunch of other traders, to transfer my trading portfolios to another exchange and even pay a withdrawal fee. Therefore, I am disappointed in BitMex, though it used to be one of the safest and user-oriented cryptocurrency exchanges around.

To tell you the truth, I don't put too much trust in BW.com. First of all, this cryptocurrency exchange operates in China, which is a big red flag in itself. Should the US-China trade war enter another phase, we might see the outflow of Chinese capital to cryptocurrencies, which, in turn, may result in the toughening of regulation or even the outright ban of exchange platforms. I don't want to find myself in a situation where my assets are being frozen by some Chinese bureaucrat.

I have seen a few reviews about omgfin. The following is my experience with omgfin. After creating account, my first impression of omgfin, they have a good design. The limit of 2 BTC for withdrawals a day is the same as binance for KYC unverified accounts. I tried deposit 55 USDT and made my first BTC purchase (deposit was quite fast). I placed a buy order for the first time and I received a warning that order over the threshold (after open ticket support I found out they did not allow orders to exceed 10% similar binance). After 5 minutes my order was completed. I have tried to withdraw btc to my wallet. The withdrawal process is quite fast (almost same time i waited from binance). Here are my reviews of OMGFIN Exchange platform. Pros: Beautifully designed, Low transaction fees, Granted a business license (EU licensed), Have many attractive programs like cashback, affiliate 15%, Quick withdrawals (unlike the incorrect reports I found online before). Cons: Support few languages, No direct customer support channel (my question took more than 1 day to be answered), Support less coins to trade (only big coin), I will continue to have the next review about omgfin in the near future.

Coinbase users launch online refund campaign following GYEN troubles. Many Coinbase customers are understandably frustrated after the company decided to freeze their accounts for weeks. Coinbase has come under fire recently following a technology snafu that reportedly resulted in the company closing many of its customer’s accounts. When users attempted to purchase Japanese stablecoin GYEN and Powerledger (POWR), they suffered from technical difficulties. This was then followed by an error in the system response. Now, deeply frustrated customers have launched an online campaign demanding refunds. Chris Flemming, a Coinbase user, has started an online petition against the exchange called “Accountability for COINBASE GYEN account freeze,” which has already garnered 1,620 signatures. It states, “We as a whole recognize that mistakes happen and there is the potential for loss when investing in any cryptocurrency or asset. Though in this case the losses came from internal technical errors of Coinbase.” On Nov. 10, according to a CNBC report, Coinbase listed GYEN for the first time. Somehow, the coin became detached from the Japanese yen’s price it was supposed to track starting around Nov. 17. The token’s value rose to a peak of 0.065643, which is more than 7.5 times greater than investors had anticipated in fiat currency. Transfer activity on Coinbase increased on Nov. 18 and peaked at $122 million, according to the report. It’s still unclear how many clients were affected, how much money was lost, or whether anybody made a profit by selling before the price tumbled again. The currency is now trading at the yen peg rate as it was originally intended. A Coinbase representative told CNBC that the company would provide a thorough explanation of what occurred and how concerns would be addressed. The Nasdaq-listed exchange “will publish a blog article on the November 19 event involving GYEN and POWR assets in the coming weeks,” the representative said. They noted that both GYEN and POWR have resumed trading on Coinbase Pro, and withdrawals are enabled on Coinbase.com. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, recently suggested that cryptocurrency owners transfer their funds out of centralized exchanges to safeguard them. “Any crypto wallet that won’t give you your private keys should be avoided at all costs,” Musk said.

Binance Singapore arm acquires 18% stake in private stock exchange. Binance's most recent acquisition is still subject to some regulatory requirements. Binance Asia Services, the Singapore arm of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has acquired a stake in a local private securities exchange, Hg Exchange (HGX). On Dec. 7, the company officially announced an acquisition of a post-money 18% stake in HGX, a stock exchange licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Binance Singapore CEO Richard Teng said that the new investment will help Binance and HGX further expand the scale of products and services “supported by blockchain technology” in Singapore. “Crypto and traditional financial offerings continue to converge. We aim to work collaboratively with HGX to enhance the blockchain ecosystem in Singapore,” Teng stated.

I am not really fond of the fact that BitForex is registered in Seychelles, because it is evident that they chose this jurisdiction for the purpose of tax evasion. And while it might be good for their business, it also doesn't instill too much trust in this platform. I understand that the entire cryptocurrency industry has lax regulation and absolutely no safety net against scams, but the trader is still responsible for choosing the platform that is transparent and preferably regulated, not registered in some offshore zone.

The thing I like about BitMax is its extensive list of available cryptocurrency pairs, compared to other midsized platforms. Currently, there are more than 60 active markets, which is great for those who want to engage in tranquil trading, without the whales coming to the platform and messing the price action up. Although, BitMax is not suitable for the trading approach called scalping because of its relatively high taker/maker fee of 0.04%.

This platform has just closed down without giving a single email notification that they were closing my account!

I totally get why people are suspicious of Chinese crypto exchanges. It is not a matter of platforms, but rather the government that is vastly unpredictable and always make some ridiculous threats like banning Bitcoin or ousting the exchanges for good. That's too bad because some of these platforms, including Bibox are more than capable of providing an excellent trading experience and a sufficient level of protection.

Kraken exchange defies competitors’ regulatory concerns with SHIB listing. The move comes in contrast to other digital asset exchanges, such as Robinhood, which have avoided listing altcoins such as SHIB over regulatory concerns. United States-based digital asset exchange Kraken has announced it will begin supporting the viral memecoin Shiba Inu (SHIB) as of Nov. 30. There will be a minimum deposit of 373,000 SHIB ($16), and the minimum trading volume is 50,000 SHIB ($2). SHIB will initially be tradeable against the U.S. dollar and euro pairs, however, Kraken Futures and Margin Trading for SHIB won’t be available at launch. Kraken Australia managing director Jonathon Miller told Cointelegraph that the crypto marketplace supports projects with a clear demand for trading, including SHIB. At the time of publishing, SHIB is the 12th-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $25.81 billion. SHIB has surged over 20% in the last 24 hours on the listing news. Miller added, “I wouldn’t describe Kraken as being the place where every single coin is listed, that’s not been what we have been known for.” Kraken is one of the least conservative exchanges with 93 assets on the exchange in total. Meanwhile, Coinbase supports 51 assets, and Robinhood only supports seven. Other exchanges have been hesitant to list the Dogecoin-inspired altcoin over regulatory concerns, despite increasing pressure from their users. On Friday, SHIB surpassed 1 million holders despite trading 50% below its all-time high. On Nov. 10, Robinhood chief operating officer Christine Brown said that the platform’s “strategy is different than a lot of the other players out there who are racing to list as many assets as possible right now.” The Change.org petition requesting that Robinhood list the Shiba Inu coin has amassed over half a million signatures. Miller added, “There are certain services that we have that don’t really fit the regulatory mold. So there’s this gray area that the whole industry exists in, and that’s not specific to us.”

I don't get why people are raising so much fuss about Bithumb choking on a few withdrawals on support tickets here and there. Hello people, you are living in a crypto space where no one can guarantee the safety of your funds, except for the hardware wallet. As for Bithumb, it is an okay-ish exchange that offers nothing out of the ordinary. I have spent around a month there and withdrew my funds because I was simply unimpressed.

I must admit that I have certain sentiments towards CoinBene because it was the first crypto exchange where I got engaged in a pump and dump scheme. The comment is going to be a happy one because unlike those fools who can't sell their coins at the top of the pump wave, I managed to do it at just the right time and earn myself a pile of money. So, whatever you say about CoinBene, it will always be in my heart.

Huob seems to be placing its bets on Singapore, where it hopes to rebound after a rocky third quarter of 2021. Huobi Global announced it was exiting the country, opening a path for Huobi Singapore to make a compliant entrance. Users will have till March of next year to switch to the Huobi Singapore service, at which point their Global accounts will be closed. Singapore has been a safe haven for many of the industry’s largest players, leaning on a progressive regulatory environment, high quality of life, and a multi-cultural atmosphere for both English and Chinese speakers to feel at home.

The gossip columns were abuzz after OKEx founder Star Xu’s LinkedIn status suddenly displayed he was in San Francisco. The leader of the second largest exchange by volume had been under scrutiny this year considering the harsh regulations coming towards exchanges. His abrupt arrival in the US indicates that OK Group is serious about its divorce from China, and will be able to target new markets without fear of disruptions from law enforcement. OKEx has enjoyed strong growth in the past few months are now pushing hard on the GameFi and NFT segments, hoping to gain an edge over the competition.

I have a soft spot for exotic altcoins because it is kind of similar to digging diamonds out of the dirt, and the crypto market is full of dirt and has very little diamonds, which makes this process even more exciting. BitMax is a perfect spot for such discoveries because it has literally a ton of exotic coins, with new ones being added on a regular basis. That is why I keep my account on BitMax, awaiting for some coins to pump.

Coinbase posted a 41% growth in subscription services revenue of $145 million compared to Q2 via its such avenues as its ETH 2.0 staking program, custodial fee revenues and token rewards. The firm also noted that its 7.4 million Monthly Transacting Users (MTUs) are beginning to “engage beyond crypto’s first use case.” “Approximately 28% of our retail MTUs both invested and engaged with at least one other product in Q3. Further, 49% of our retail MTUs engaged with non-investing products such as Staking, Earn, and Coinbase Card, including 2.8 million users who were earning yield on their crypto assets.” Trading volume on the platform tallied at $327 billion in Q3, down 29% compared to Q2, with institutional investors representing the lions’ share of trading with $234 billion, while retail traders accounted for $93 billion. Ether (ETH) outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of trading volume for the second quarter in a row, with the former totaling 22% while the latter equated to 19% of total volume. “Other crypto assets” accounted for 59% of trading volume, which was up 18% compared to Q2.

Coinbase now allows users to share their crypto allocations. “We want to empower the cryptoeconomy to share knowledge and information and learn from each other,” said Coinbase senior product manager Rishav Mukherji. All of United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase’s roughly 68 million verified users can now more easily make information on their portfolio public. In a Coinbase blog post on Friday, senior product manager Rishav Mukherji said the crypto exchange’s app now includes a feature that shares a user’s allocation percentage — not balances — to their network of friends. He said this would just be the first move in the coming weeks for users to begin sharing additional details on trades conducted on Coinbase. “We want to empower the cryptoeconomy to share knowledge and information and learn from each other,” said Mukherji. With a reported 8.8 million monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2021, Coinbase is the largest crypto exchange in the United States, reporting more than $1.2 billion in revenue in Q3. The firm’s profits totaled $406 million the same quarter, marking a 74.7% decrease compared with those of Q2. The social media integration is largely a new move for Coinbase, though some may consider major figures publicly disclosing even the percentage allocation of their funds a market indicator. This week, Apple CEO and billionaire Tim Cook revealed for the first time that he held some crypto in his portfolio, but he did not specify which type and how much. Others, including Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary and Mad Money host Jim Cramer, have been more open about sharing the crypto percentages of their portfolios.

Binance still sees 171M visitors in a month. Despite facing intense scrutiny and pushback from regulators across the globe in recent months, data shows that the centralized exchange Binance still towers over its competitors. According to data from Similar Web compiled by Finbold, Binance had the most web traffic out of all crypto exchanges in October with a total of 171 million visitors. The figure represents a 12% increase compared to the month before. Coinbase ranks second with 91 million visitors last month, and had a 31% surge in traffic compared to the month before. Notably the third most popular exchange is PancakeSwap, a DEX that operates on the Binance Smart Chain, with 25 million visitors and a 14% month-over-month increase. While Bybit sits at fourth with 24 million (down 8% from September). Coingecko data shows that Binance is well ahead of its competitors in terms of volume, with the platform seeing more than $33.3 billion over the past 24 hours. That figure is more than five times larger than the total of second-ranked Coinbase, which generated $6.6 billion worth of 24-volume. On Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported that former Binance executives estimated that the firm could be worth up to $300 billion as a publicly-traded company. It is unclear when or how Binance will go public, considering its lack of a formal headquarters. However, CEO Changpeng Zhao said in September the Binance’s U.S. branch was looking at an initial public offering (IPO) in 2024.

Huobi to halt services in Singapore after China exit. All Huobi clients in Singapore should close active positions and withdraw their digital assets before March 31, 2022. Huobi Global, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volumes, is winding down operations in Singapore shortly after exiting China. Huobi will have shut down accounts of all Singapore-based users by the end of March next year, the company officially announced late Tuesday. All Huobi clients based in Singapore should close active positions and withdraw their digital assets before March 31, 2022, Huobi said. The exchange will also gradually halt access to Huobi services in Singapore before March, the announcement notes. The move is part of an effort to comply with relevant regulations by local financial authorities, the firm said. According to Huobi’s user agreement, the company’s services are prohibited for persons located in the United States, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Singapore, Crimea, Mainland China, Kyrgyzstan, the United Kingdom and others. “The company may suspend or terminate your account or use of the service, or the processing of any digital asset transaction, at any time if it determines in its sole discretion that you have violated this agreement or that its provision or your use of the service in your jurisdiction is unlawful,” the agreement reads.