The Complete Guide to the Bitfinex Exchange

Content

• History
• Founders
• Registering on Bitfinex
• Deposits and Withdrawals
• Trading Interface
• Trading on Bitfinex
• Fee Structure
• Service Areas
• Accessing Bitfinex Through APIs
• Mobile App
• Security
• Listing Tokens
• Customer Service
• Conclusion

From its humble beginnings as a small peer-to-peer Bitcoin buying and selling platform to one of the most famous exchanges in the world, Bitfinex has certainly come a long way. The cryptocurrency exchange is popular among traders, with the platform providing ample opportunities to make profits as it matured into a fully fledged crypto exchange offering an ever-increasing range of tokens and coins.

Bitfinex still retains the essence of the ease it gave users to quickly convert their crypto assets into fiat and vice versa. Yet, it reflects its growth with offering advanced leveraging and margin trading, lending and staking. The exchange stands in the top-10 global exchanges and gives deep liquidity to traders, helping them in realising their profits.

1. History

One of the earliest exchanges that is still in operation, Bitfinex has been around since 2012. In its early days, Bitfinex simply acted as a peer-to-peer exchange for Bitcoin, operating out of Hong Kong. Over the years, it started to expand its operations, introducing P2P margin lending and support for newer cryptocurrencies. The exchange now stands at number six in the list of exchanges maintained by the crypto statistics website CoinMarketCap.com. The exchange has a roughly daily average trading volume in excess of 8,000 BTC, translating into almost $10 million USD at the time of writing this guide, spread across 275 trading pairs using 146 unique tokens and coins.

Bitfinex has had a fair share of issues. In May of 2015, the exchange was subject to a hack, resulting in 1,500 BTC being lost. In the summer of the next year, the exchange faced the wrath of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the US. In the early years of cryptocurrencies, there was a lot of gap in how the laws and regulations applied to the new digital class of investments. The Commission saw the exchange working as an illegal off-exchange financed retail commodity transactor. The Commission further declared the platform as an unregistered Futures Commission Merchant. This resulted in a fine of $75,000 USD.

Bitfinex’s recovery from the financial hit was hardly over when it faced another breach in its security in August 2016. The heist this time was of 119,756 BTC. The hack was so massive at the time that the value of Bitcoin dropped by 20% internationally. The following two years were also a roller coaster ride for the exchange and its traders as the platform faced multiple difficulties in securing a banking partner for fiat deposits and withdrawals.

Even with all the issues that surround the exchange, Bitfinex is still going strong and is considered among the top 10 exchanges in the world.

2. Founders

Bitfinex was launched by Raphael Nicolle, with Giancarlo Devasini joining him early on. The duo spent the next couple of years enhancing and expanding the platform to evolve from a simple P2P platform to one the largest exchanges in the world.

Raphael Nicolle’s Education

• University of Lyon: The University of Lyon is an education and research centre. Raphael did his DUT Biological Engineering in 2006 from there.
• Microsoft: Raphael is an accomplished Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, with the certification having been awarded in 2009.
• Linux: Raphael also holds a LPIC-1 Administrator Certification in Linux systems since 2011.

Professional Experience

• Helpline: Raphael started his career in IT and worked as a development technician and at the helpdesk of Helpline from January of 2009 to June of 2010. He provided technical and phone support to clients who faced issues in their computers.
• ID Lyon SARL: Working for another IT company, Raphael was the System Administrator and helped the firm in developing different IT solutions for their clients. Raphael only worked here for seven months from February of 2011 to August of the same year.
• Freelancing: The next few years were mostly spent by Raphael working for different tech companies as a freelancer. His main works from that time include developing a website for a local politician for his election campaign, and being a Linux systems administrator for Optisolutions and even Gutenberg.
• Bitfinex: It was during the time he spent freelancing, in the company of different IT professionals and firms, that Raphael learnt about Bitcoin. He saw the potential the digital currency held and how the demand of the asset could lead to a whole trading environment. Bitfinex was the result. Raphael was the founder and CTO for Bitfinex from its development in October 2012 to May 2015, when he left the exchange in the hands of a group of investors.
• Self Employed: Returning to the freelancing arena, Raphael currently has made investments in different projects and seeks his personal goal of ending human ageing.

Giancarlo Devasini’s Education

Not much can be found about Giancarlo online. He has no LinkedIn profile to be found as the Bitfinex CFO. A profile page on the Bitfinex website describes Giancarlo as a physician who graduated with a Doctor of Medicine from Milan University in 1990. Giancarlo did not feel satisfied with the work he was doing and decided to move on to the technology sector, seeking knowledge from Asia.

Professional Experience

• Point-G Srl: After returning to Milan in 1992, Giancarlo founded Point-G Srl, an import firm that bought computer hardware from different Asian countries such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, setting up distribution all over Europe.
• Solo SpA: As he gained experience in the tech sector, Giancarlo continued to find ever-new opportunities. In 1997, he set up another import firm, the Solo SpA. Giancarlo bought computer DRAMs, which failed to pass the quality tests from big hardware manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor and Micron Technologies, but otherwise were in working condition. He would import the memory sticks and resell them. The business was so successful Solo SpA began incorporating other firms under its umbrella (Compas Srl in 1999, Alcosto SpA in 2000, Freshbut SpA in 2002 and Acme SpA in 2004). At its height, the group was making 113 million EUR in revenue a year and employed over 100 people.
• Retirement: A few months before the 2008 financial crisis hit, Giancarlo sold off his complete business and decided to retire.
• Bitfinex: Ever the restless soul, Giancarlo happened to meet Raphael in 2012. Giancarlo had learned of Bitcoin earlier that year and with Raphael creating Bitfinex, the two hit it off. Since 2013, Giancarlo has been associated with Bitfinex as its CFO.

3. Registering on Bitfinex

Registering on Bitfinex begins with the potential trader going to the sign up page. Bitfinex asks for the following information on that page:

• Username
• Email address. This is the address that will be used by the exchange to contact the user.
• Password
• Confirmation of the password. This is to eliminate any chance of the user entering an incorrect password during the registration process.
• The user then needs to confirm that the password proposed is a strong one that is unique and not used by the trader for any website.
• Timezone of the person.
• Referral code, if received by any active trader.
• Text mentioned in the Captcha.

When all of this information is entered, the user only needs to click the Open Account button below. However, we recommend traders scroll a bit further down and read the Anti-Spam Policy and the Terms and Conditions set by the crypto exchange.

When the user has submitted all the requirements, an email will be generated by Bitfinex to the email address mentioned by the user. They only need to check their inbox for the email by Bitfinex, access it and click the Confirm Email Address link in the email. Users are then verified and can begin accessing their Bitfinex account for trading.

Security of Account

Although traders can proceed to depositing their digital cryptocurrencies, Bitfinex  recommends that traders set up security protocols to protect their assets. The exchange has faced security breaches in the past and has learnt from it, giving users a number of options to enhance their security, including:

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).
• Limit withdrawals when logged in from a new IP
• Withdrawal confirmation phrase
• Disable withdrawal completely
• Log out automatically by disabling the Keep Session Alive option
• Limited access to the user account based on IP
• PGP email encryption

At the bare minimum, the exchange recommends setting up the 2FA for basic account security. The preferred method for 2FA is with the Google Authenticator app. This is a mobile application that binds itself to the mobile device and any 2FA-supported protocol on a website (in this case, Bitfinex). The app can be installed for both Android and Apple iOS.

Using Google Authenticator will create a secondary layer of security where the user will need to verify that the action being taken is by the trader itself. For the following actions, each time they occur, Bitfinex will ask for a six-digit password that Google Authenticator will generate. These passwords are for a limited time, lasting about 15 to 20 seconds before they expire. The trader will have that time to enter the digits when the exchange will ask for one. Each time the code expires, Google Authenticator will use its mathematical algorithm to create a new set of randomly generated digits.

To enable 2FA, users first must log in to their Bitfinex trading account and head over to their Account Security settings. There, they will find the option of Two-Factor Authentication. Opening it will give them a drop-down menu and they can then click on Setup. Users will be presented with two options for 2FA. One is the FIDO Universal 2-Factor (U2F) option on the left, and the second one is for Google Authenticator. The U2F option is more secure, but this requires the crypto trader to have a physical USB security hardware device, which can be expensive to acquire.

The option on the right is for Google Authenticator mobile-based 2FA. Using this, traders can secure their Bitfinex account as the code will be required every time when the following actions take place:

• Logging in to the account
• Withdrawing assets
• Changing of password
• Creating API Keys
• Any changes in the security settings
• Any other sensitive changes in the account as determined by the exchange

Users can proceed to link their Google Authenticator app with Bitfinex by clicking the Setup button. They will then be presented with a QR code that they can scan with the QR scanning option in their app. Before scanning, traders are advised to note down the Account Token or key that is given below the QR code. This key must be saved in a secure place as this is the only way to recover the 2FA binding in case the mobile is changed or the app is reinstalled.

Once the QR code is scanned, the app will generate a six-digit code that needs to be entered on the Bitfinex page and the Enable button should be clicked next. If the code is entered correctly and within the allotted time, the account holder will be presented with the following message by the exchange:

Almost Done! Please check your email to complete the setup of Google Authenticator Two-Factor authentication.

Users should then head over to their email inbox and when the email is received, open it and press the button Activate 2FA Now. The link will verify that it’s the right person who has requested the 2FA and the binding is indeed by the trader.

From this moment onwards, any major activity would require the trader to enter a 2FA code to proceed.

KYC and AML

Bitfinex, in its policy of serving the people around the world, initially allowed clients from anywhere in the world to sign up. However, when it was served a notice and a fine for being in violation of US Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations, the platform has been more cautious. In its Terms of Service, it explicitly states that the following are not allowed to register and trade on the crypto exchange:

• US National
• Sanctioned Person from any part of the world
• Prohibited Jurisdiction, including its residents, government officials and the government.
• High-risk countries identified by FATF, including Albania, the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Iceland, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama, Serbia, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
• Any other person identified in the exchange’s due diligence.

For unverified traders, these limitations are pretty useless to identify by the exchange. A simple VPN can fool the exchange as to where the person is originating from, and since all it takes is an email address to create and access trading, Bitfinex  has no other way of locating the person’s jurisdiction.

Verification gives users a wider access to the services offered by Bitfinex, including the ability to use fiat deposits and withdrawals. To start the verification, traders will need to go to their Account settings on the top right of the page and navigate to the Verification section. The exchange will prompt the user to go through the terms of the process and when the person is satisfied, they can press the Verification button to get started. The exchange will then request the account holder to enter their country of citizenship and ask for reasons why the trader wants to get verified. The user can select as many reasons that apply and proceed. They will be then given options of verification by Bitfinex, an individual one for normal traders and a corporate one for accounts owned by companies.

Selecting the individual option will make a Continue to Individual Verification button appear at the bottom. Clicking this will start the individual process. The exchange will ask for a number of data points and details about the user, which include:

• Personal Information: Name, contact number and address. The trader will also be asked to declare that he or she is older than 21 years of age at the time of verification.
• Identity: Users need to upload two different government-issued ID documents (in case a trader only has one document, they’ll need to get in touch with the compliance email and arrange for a live Skype call for verification). The user will also need to upload a selfie while holding the documents in full view.
• Bank Statement: The bank account should be in the trading account holder’s name and the statement should not be older than 90 days. This account will deliver the first fiat deposit coming to the user’s exchange account. The first deposit from another bank account will be rejected by Bitfinex.
• Proof of Residence: Any legal document such as a utility bill, certificate of a company, etc., that clearly displays the user’s name and address.

Intermediate Verification

If a trader wishes to unlock trading features of the Bitfinex exchange, but does not require a fiat connectivity, he or she can opt for an Intermediate Verification. All of the above mentioned information is required from the user apart from the bank statement. Intermediate verified traders have access to the following services of the exchange:

• UNUS SED LEO. An internal investment token of Bitfinex that offers greater profits and fee discounts on trading other tokens.
• Access to new trading products
• Deposit and withdrawal of stable coins such as USDT
• Fewer confirmations required for crypto deposits
• Access to Bitfinex Pulse, a premium news and information aggregator.

Full Verification

If users submit their banking details during their verification and are verified, they  get full access to the complete services of Bitfinex, including:

• Fiat deposits and withdrawals of supported currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and CNH).
• Deposits and withdrawals of stable coins
• More lowered confirmations, leading to faster deposits and with withdrawals of cryptocurrencies.

Verification of a user typically takes around one to two weeks. Once verified, the crypto trader is informed through an email by the exchange.

4. Deposits and Withdrawals

Once a person has signed up on the Bitfinex exchange, the first thing they need to do is to make deposits. Without any deposits and funds, it’s impossible to make any trades. To start depositing, the user first needs to go to the Deposit page of the exchange. Bitfinex currently has nearly 150 unique tokens that can be deposited.

Cryptocurrency Deposits and Withdrawals

On the deposit page, users will first need to select the cryptocurrency they want to deposit. Each crypto asset will have at least one wallet mentioned along with it on the Bitfinex exchange, with some having up to three. The wallets are:

• Exchange Wallet: Cryptocurrencies deposited here are for spot trading.
• Margin Wallet: Margin-supported cryptocurrencies will also have this option. Traders can deposit directly here to start their margin trading.
• Funding Wallet: Cryptocurrencies that can be lent on the platform for profits generated through interest can be sent here.

When the trader has selected the right wallet for his or her desired cryptocurrency, they’ll be presented with a wallet address, or the public key. This long string of characters is what the user will need to give to the sender or enter in the sending wallet. Bitfinex traders are advised to be extremely careful when copying the address because if even a single character is off, the funds will be transferred to another wallet and since blockchain is designed to be a one-way transfer without the option of cancelling or reversing transactions, the funds will be lost forever. People should also double check that they’ve selected the right cryptocurrency. It should be the same as the one being sent, as that can also lead to the tokens being lost if different.

Once the transaction is initiated from the sender’s side, the funds will be on their way. The time taken for the transfer depends on the token network and the load it’s bearing at the time. The verification level of the trader will also have an impact on the transfer time, as a higher verification means fewer confirmations required by Bitfinex to release the funds in the user’s wallet.

Transferring Funds Between Wallets

Traders have the option of moving their funds internally between the different wallets offered for each cryptocurrency. To do that, users simply need to head over to their wallet management page on Bitfinex. Here, clicking on the crypto wallet of their choice will give them the option to transfer the funds. To transfer, one only needs to:

• Type in the total amount required
• Enter the type of cryptocurrency they want transferred
• Select the wallet from where the cryptocurrency is to be transferred
• Then select the wallet to where the currency should be moved
• Press the Transfer button

The subsequent transfer is instant and carries no charge.

Withdrawing Cryptocurrencies

To move funds out of the Bitfinex exchange, users must visit the Withdrawal Page and select the cryptocurrency required to be withdrawn. The trader will be then given all the options required to be filled before the transfer can actually happen:

• Address: This the receiver’s wallet address. As with deposits, extra care should be taken when inputting this information, as a wrong address usually means the funds are lost forever.
• Amount: The amount of cryptocurrency that’s to be transferred. This should be lower than the amount held in the wallet. A secondary dialogue next to it gives the value of the assets in the preferred fiat.
• Wallet: Since a cryptocurrency on Bitfinex has multiple wallets, users will need to select the wallet from which the funds should be sent out.
• Some cryptocurrencies such as Stellar Lumen require a tag or a memo for a transaction to occur. This is a secondary measure by the network to associate the transaction to a specific wallet address and this will also need to be entered.

Below these fields, the user will be presented with the Tx (transaction) fee. Cryptocurrencies require a fee to be paid to miners and nodes who maintain the distributed ledgers. Further below, the trader is presented with two check options. The first is for creating any note with the transaction. This is an internal option and is saved on the Bitfinex exchange. A sender may add any note or information for reference, such as sending payments to a client.

The second option is for an auto withdrawal. This requires the user to have set up higher security settings so that the transfer can be speedily executed.

Fiat Deposits and Withdrawals

If users are fully verified, they have the option to deposit and withdraw fiat, or traditional currencies. Bitfinex currently supports USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and CNH in trading, deposits and withdrawals

Depositing Fiat

Bitfinex, at first glance, seems to have quite a complicated deposit process for fiat, but it’s actually surprisingly easy. The process is time consuming, but this is only a precaution by the exchange to verify transactions and funds under their rules and regulations. The deposit procedure is as follows:

• Users will need to go to their wallet management page and select their desired fiat and click ‘deposit’.
• A deposit request will be raised, with the trader entering the amount and the currency they wish to deposit.
• Bitfinex will conduct a review of the request, which can take up to two days.
• If the request is approved, the user will be sent transaction details such as the bank account number to which the fiat will need to be deposited.
• After the transaction is done, it will take anywhere from six to 10 days for the fiat to be realised in the user’s Bitfinex account.

Withdrawing Fiat

Withdrawing fiat is the most simplest one would find in a crypto exchange. The user needs to simply go to the fiat wallet on Bitfinex and enter the amount that needs to be sent. The trader’s bank account and other details, which were confirmed during the verification process, are already fed in the system and locked. This also means that unfortunately, users can’t send fiat to any other bank account.

The user has two options when it comes to transferring speed of fiat transfers:

• Standard Withdrawal: This can take from five to 15 days to complete, at a charge of 1% of the transacted amount.
• Express Withdrawal: Faster and taking just one day to complete, the express option is expensive, with a transaction fee of 1% of the total amount.

5. Bitfinex Trading Interface

Bitfinex is a professional crypto trading platform that puts emphasis on providing all the tools necessary for a user to buy and sell cryptos. As an exchange, the interface contains all of the regular features, but the design placement is a bit different from many other exchanges:

Trading Pair

On the top left side of the trading screen, users are presented with a small container that has very basic information on the trading pair. This information includes the trading pair itself, the current value of the quoted pair against the base pair, the traded volume in the past 24 hours, how much the price has moved in the same period and the lows/highs on Bitfinex.

Tickers

Users and traders can select their favourite crypto assets in this section as tickers, where the price movement will be automatically updated and displayed. Using the Tickers section can be very beneficial for users. They might be looking at a different pair on the trading interface and can quickly view the ticker, instantly jumping to the favourited pair to buy or sell if there’s a significant price movement on Bitfinex.

Order Form

Below the Ticker section is the Order Form container. It has both buy and sell options. In the spot trading, users have several options on order variations, including Limit, Limit (Order Book), Market, Stop, Stop Limit, Fill or Kill and Immediate or Cancel. These different types of buy and sell orders can be very handy when it comes to generating profits in a trade or mitigating losses.

Balances

Bitfinex has three different wallets for all assets, including fiat. This section holds the complete details of all assets held by the user, including how much is in the spot exchange wallet, the margin one and the funding wallet. Users can quickly jump to their asset details from here and shift their funds from one to another wallet.

Trading Chart

The trading chart takes up most of the screen. Like all other exchanges, the Bitfinex trading chart uses a default candlestick graph. Each stick in the graph represents a time interval, customisable to show anywhere from a few minutes, up to a month. The red and green standard scheme is used. When there is an overall reduction in value of the quoted asset, the stick is shown in red, while an increase in value is represented in green. The thin line (the head) above the stick shows the maximum value achieved by the asset during the time with a line below (known as the tail) showing the minimum value achieved.

The trading chart is the central decision-making section in the trade, allowing the user to understand the movement of the asset value across a range of time. Based on the intensities of movements, a trader can make calculated predictions and decide whether to sell or buy any cryptocurrency.

Positions, Orders and Order History

Placed below the trading chart are three sections, each containing information on the trading being performed by the user. The first one is the Positions, which details any margin-based long or short trading positions made by the user. Below this is the Orders one, which contains all open orders from the spot trading. Further below is the total Order History of the trader done on Bitfinex.

Order Book

At the bottom of the trading page is the Order Book. This holds all the buy and sell orders that are open on the exchange. Traders can also use this information to determine how the orders are moving on Bitfinex platform and if there’s any buy or sell pressure. The order book contains basic information on open orders, like the amount of the quoted asset, the total value in terms of the base pair and the total amount in preferred fiat. A count value is also displayed against all the orders, which tells of the amount of orders for that price in the order book.

Trades

Where an Order Book is a peek into the future, allowing traders to understand how a cryptocurrency will shift in value and trading, the Trades section is a look into the past. It displays data of the last trades executed on Bitfinex. Combining the Trades and Order Book, a trader has all the information he needs on the trades of the cryptocurrency on the exchange, enabling him to make better decisions.

6. Trading on Bitfinex

Bitfinex initially started out as a peer-to-peer exchange, helping people buy and sell Bitcoin to make profits. Even after all these years, the exchange still retains the essence of spot trading, now allowing as many as 146 different types of tokens to be bought and sold in 275 different trading pairs.

Users need to go to the trading interface to start buying and selling. On the left side, they can select the trading pair they desire using the Ticker section. Each cryptocurrency is available in different pairs. If the user wishes to buy a crypto, the base pair selected should be the ones they have funds deposited. If selling, the opposite is true, and the trader should have the quoted currency in their wallet.

Users can then use the Order Form section below the Ticker to place orders. Bitfinex offers the following buy and sell order types:

Market Order

In this type of order, the user agrees to sell or buy their asset at the going market rate. In this order, users can only enter the amount they wish to buy or sell and click the corresponding buttons. Market orders are always treated as takers. As soon as the order is placed, the Bitfinex trading engine will take the most recent price offered and execute the order.

Limit Order

Limit Orders give users a bit of more control on how they’d like the trade to be executed. Apart from the amount of the asset they wish to buy or sell, users can also define the price at which they would like the order to be executed at Bitfinex. Placing a buy or a sell order would make the trading engine match any previous order that’s placed with the same requirements and execute as a taker. If not, the order will be entered in the order book to be matched against any future order as a maker.

Limit orders also have four advanced orders that the user can place to fine tune the way the order should be executed:

• OCO: Apart from the desired price and the amount of crypto to be sold or bought, the One Cancels the Other also opens up a dialogue box of Stop. Essentially, this is two different orders, a Limit and a Stop, combined in one. If the user wishes to sell an asset at a profit, for example, and also wishes to protect the investment against losses, they can take advantage of this handy function. The required price and amount define the profit level at which it’ll be sold and the Stop is the minimum price at which the asset value drop is acceptable. If either of the conditions are met, the specific order is executed with the other being cancelled.
• Hidden: If the user wishes to make a large buy or sell Limit Order and doesn’t want to jeopardise the market, the trader can always use the Hidden The order is placed in the books, but isn’t shown to other traders. This keeps it out of the eyes of other traders, who would otherwise panic and go in a buying or selling spree. Hidden orders will always incur a taker fee.
• Visible on Hit: Part of the Hidden option, selecting the Visible on Hit option means that when a Hidden order is executed partially, the rest of it can become visible.
• Post Only: These types of orders are designed to ignore any pre-existing matching orders. This order will not be executed unless the matching order is placed after this one is. Post Only orders will always be considered a maker by the exchange.
• Time in Force: A TIF Limit Order adds in the element of time to the standard Limit Order. If the order isn’t executed until the time defined, it will stand as cancelled.

Limit (Order Book)

This order is a Limit Order, but instead of the user defining the price of the asset to be traded, only the amount is entered. He or she then quickly selects any open order in the Order Book and the exchange opens up the user’s order according to the selected value. This helps the trader in selecting the price closest to their desired value, adding on to the already-existing open order and having a higher chance of being executed in the Bitfinex platform.

Stop Order

In Limit Orders, the user enters the desired price of a cryptocurrency to trade. This can be useful, but at times, this can lead to a loss as this price is independent of the market price. What if the user only wishes to buy an asset at a higher or lower value only when the market price is in that range? This is where Stop Orders on Bitfinex come in handy. For example, ETH is being traded at $400 USD and there’s a chance that the price will drop. The trader can set a sell Stop Order for $350 USD for a specific amount of ETH and click the Exchange Sell button. The order will be placed, but not available for trading until the market price falls to $350. Similarly, a buy Stop Order of $450 would entail that the asset won’t be bought unless the market price rises to that level.

Stop Orders can help users mitigate losses in case of a value drop or buy assets when there is an uptrend. They also have the option of selecting TIF for Stop Orders.

Stop Limit Order

A combination of Stop and Limit, the Stop Limit order lets users of Bitfinex place a Stop price (the limit of the market price that is acceptable for them), the amount of asset and their Limit price. In this order to be executed, the Stop price must be achieved in the market. As soon as the market price touches the Stop price, the order is placed in the Order books as a Limit. This allows the traders to place Limit orders according to a predicted market price.

Stop Limit Orders can also be placed as Hidden and TIF.

Fill or Kill

Basically a Limit Order, FOK forces the order to be immediately executed and traded completely. If there's a partial matching order, it won’t be executed and will instead be cancelled in its entirety. This type of order is used by traders who wish to have their orders completed, rather than being partially filled over a period of time.

Immediate or Cancel

Very similar to the FOK, the IOC is also executed immediately, but this type of order allows partial fulfillments. Any unfilled amount is cancelled and returned to the user.

7. Bitfinex Fee Structure

Bitfinex has a well-defined fee structure. Each fee has been carefully calculated to provide maximum benefit to the user and cover the exchange’s expenses. The exchange mainly has three kinds of fee structures:

Trading Fee

The trading fee is designed to be reduced as more and more trades are completed by a trader. This encourages the Bitfinex users to make more trades and generate profits. The trading fee depends on three different aspects, namely the volume of trade done in the last 30 days, the order being a maker or a taker and the amount of the exchange’s internal investment token, LEO, held by the user.A Maker fee is charged when a trader adds liquidity to the order book, while a Taker is the one that picks up (or takes) the order that is available in the book.

Deposit Fee

Deposits made for all cryptocurrencies and stable coins are free. However, the sender of the assets will be charged a network fee, depending on the blockchain. This fee is for miners who validate the transaction and write it on the ledgers.

For fiat, the exchange charges 0.1% of the transacted amount, with the minimum transaction being of either $60 USD or EUR.

Withdrawal Fee

Bitfinex has different charges for different cryptocurrencies.

When it comes to fiat, the exchange charges a flat 0.1% on the amount, with a higher 1% for express withdrawal. For both categories, the minimum amount to be transacted is $60 USD/EUR.

8. Service Areas

Although the Bitfinex crypto exchange doesn’t openly admit to any kind of limitations of jurisdictions it serves on its website, it does have areas defined in its Terms of Service that it will not give exchange services. When the exchange was slapped with a $75,000 USD fine in 2016 for being in violation of the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission, it began to be increasingly cautious of violations of laws. The Exchange’s terms define the following limitations for jurisdictions and citizenship:

• Sanctioned Person: Bitfinex does not have any clarity on the definition of a sanctioned person, so this is a vague area.
• Prohibited Jurisdiction: Prohibited jurisdictions including any national, or a resident, the government or any government official from Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), the Government of Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Crimea.
• US residents and citizens.
• Person from or in any jurisdiction that does not meet international AML–CTF standards: This currently includes Albania, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Iceland, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama, Serbia, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
• Former Government Official or Politically Exposed Person: As defined by the FATF’s 40 Recommendations.
• Individuals who: Are at a risk exposure to penalties, sanctions, or other liabilities under tax, AML, corruption, CTF or any law that is applicable to Bitfinex or any of its associates.
• Due Diligence: Anyone who doesn’t meet the diligence standards, requests, or requirements of Bitfinex.

However, it’s to be noted that a simple signup doesn’t require any KYC or AML checks and if a user doesn’t go for a higher verification and masks the IP using any software, the exchange has no possible way of determining the origin of the trader. As far as the exchange may know, a high-volume BTC trader from Germany could be a North Korean government employee.

9. Accessing Bitfinex Through APIs

APIs are popular tools in the crypto exchange sphere. An Application Programming Interface is a small computer program that allows users to connect two different software to perform specific tasks. In the realm of cryptocurrency trading, APIs can be used to connect automated trading software, or bots, to the person’s trading account. This enables traders to set up complex trading instructions that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to execute manually through the exchange.

In the Account Settings, the user will find the option of API. Clicking it will make all the options for API appear on the right. They will need to go to the Create New Key tab. Here the following options for accessing the user’s Bitfinex account data can be defined:

• Account Info: Account holders can pull basic information on their account and can even enable the editing of the data.
• Account History: Past data on trades done, as well as balances.
• Orders: Information on the current orders placed and the ability to place or cancel orders remotely.
• Margin Trading: The ability to place or close positions.
• Margin Funding: Status of money lent in margin and the choice to lend more or cancel previous.
• Wallets: View balances of the wallets and transfer internally.
• Withdrawal: Select if the API should be able to place withdrawal orders or not.

Once these options are set, the user can go to the bottom right of the page and name the API keys. Bitfinex allows more than one API to be set up and naming each can help in identifying them. Next to the label is the Generate API Key button, which should be clicked to proceed.

The exchange will display the API Keys. There are basically two keys: the API Key itself and the API Secret Key. Both keys are needed to connect an API to the exchange. Next to the keys is a QR code. If the API being used by the user is mobile-based and supports QR code scanning, the user can simply use this code instead of entering the long alphanumeric keys.

Before dismissing the page, traders should note down the keys in a safe place. The keys are shown only once for security reasons. If the user doesn’t save the keys, he or she will need to delete the keys and create new ones.

10. Bitfinex Mobile App

Mobile phones today have become an essential part of a person’s life. Bitfinex understands that its users are often on the move. To cater to these needs, Bitfinex allows its clients to trade through their mobile or tablets using mobile apps.

Android App

Compared to other exchanges' Android apps, the Bitfinex Android App is particularly small in size, at just 44 MB. Nonetheless, the app has been designed to offer everything that a user would experience in the web version. Having been already installed on more than 100,000 devices, the latest update was done in July 2020. With just shy of the 500 user reviews, the app has an average rating of 3.3 from a possible 5. The latest update seems to have been botched since the latest reviews by traders mainly report the app crashing on start or not starting at all.

The Bitfinex team seems to be paying attention to the negative reviews. Nearly every complaint on the Google Play Store carries a response from the exchange. Perhaps this will extend beyond simply placating angry traders and the exchange might be working on creating the next iteration of the mobile trading app, free of the reported bugs. That said, until the next version is launched, there is no way to be sure of this.

iOS App

The Bitfinex iOS app carries the same interface and functionality as its Android brother. It offers everything from simple spot trading to advanced margin trades. Allowing users to be connected with the exchange at all times, the app makes the trader truly mobile. Compared to the Android version, the app carries a slightly lower rating, with a 3 out of 5 from just 27 reviews.

There is only one review from 2020, which gives it a single star and the user is frustrated over being caught in an endless confirmation link loop and unable to use the app. With only one recent review, it isn’t possible to determine if this is a one-off issue or if this is a persistent problem for the latest version of the app.

One unique aspect of the iOS version seen so far is that this is the only exchange we have reviewed which has an iOS version for not only iPhone, but iPad too.

11. Security at Bitfinex

Bitfinex has had a colourful past when it comes to security. In its initial years, its security issues offered a lot to be desired. There were only a handful of exchanges and Bitfinex was unfortunate enough to be in the crosshairs of hackers not once, but twice.

In May of 2015, the exchange had 1,500 BTC stolen. Bitfinex claimed then that the hack was in one of its hot wallets, where only a fraction of the tokens were kept for trading. Back then, Bitfinex was trading around 10% of the total BTC in exchanges.

The exchange again suffered a hack in 2016, this time the total BTC being 119,756. The hack was so profound at the time that the price of BTC fell 20% globally. To cover the losses, the exchange reduced the BTC balances of all users who were not affected by 36% and introduced its new token, the BFX as a collateral. Over the years, the exchange slowly redeemed the tokens, with the last of the activity being done in 2017.

The recent years seem to be better for the exchange. Bitfenix  has set up many different security layers and tools when it comes to customers. Tools such as 2FA, and U2F, intelligent monitoring of user IP activity, PGP and others are available and recommended by the exchange.

Most of the cryptocurrency stored on the wallet are in cold storages that are protected with multi-signature logins. Only 0.5% of assets are available in hot wallets. The exchange also uses multiple backups of its data and has an automated DDoS protection to make sure that its servers are always online.

12. Listing Tokens on Bitfinex

Bitfinex is still a popular exchange and receives plenty of requests for token listings. The exchange has a dedicated form for teams that are interested in getting their tokens on the Bitfinex list. The exchange advises any potential applicant of the following:

• An application does not guarantee a listing. If Bitfinex finds the token interesting, it will contact the project team directly.
• To fasttrack an application, project teams are advised to open corporate Bitfinex accounts. A lot of due diligence and other security checks overlap and this can speed up the listing if Bitfinex is interested.
• The exchange will try its best to be as swift as it can be in determining the potential of a project and try to contact within six weeks if interested.
• In the case of an ERC20 token with a swap planned in the next twelve months, the applicant should first swap tokens, and then apply.

13. Customer Service

Bitfinex has had a rocky start. Over the years of its operations, it has faced two hacks, a fine by the Commodities Future Trading Commission, its banking partner Wells Fargo cutting it off, and so on. The exchange is also accused of covering up its $850 million USD losses through Tether Limited, the firm behind the premier stable coin, USDT. Tether Limited and Bitfinex have the same management.

But even after all this, the exchange continues to function. This is a testament to its commitment towards providing services to its users. To help the traders, the exchange uses the following methods:

• Help Center: The exchange has a dedicated Help Center that provides different FAQs and articles for users to solve their day-to-day issues.
• Support: If traders are unable to find a solution to their problem in the Help Center, they can always go to the Support section and raise a ticket. A dedicated support representative will look into the issue and the exchange will contact the person through the registered email if they need more data to assist the trader.
• Social Media: Bitfinex has a dedicated information-distribution system using different social media channels.

14. Conclusion

Bitfinex is a decent crypto exchange that offers a variety of tokens for users to trade. The exchange, even with all the controversies surrounding its history, still manages to rank sixth on the list of CoinMarketCap.com. The exchange does seem to have increased its security, having learned its lessons from its two hacks.

In the modern world, mobility is key. As such, the exchange offers a mobile app version of its trading platform for both iOS and Android users. However, clients of this exchange report issues with its mobile version. Unless these issues are fixed quickly, the exchange will see a lot of its clientele moving to other exchanges in frustration.

Setting aside the above issues, Bitfinex seems to be on top of things and continues to grow. Its excellent provision of services, fiat support, wide range of cryptocurrencies, broad range of trading pairs and deep liquidity show that the exchange has learned what its users need. From the initial days of P2P BTC trading to being in the top-10 reflects a steadfast commitment towards dedicated services and the confidence of its users.

Traders are advised to make careful and calculated decisions on trading. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and their prices can fluctuate wildly, leading to loss. Invest only the amount you are comfortable with losing. Contact your local authorities to know of any legal coverage you may or may not have as a trader.