About Ethfinex
Ethfinex is a hybrid decentralized exchange which allows users to buy and sell a broad range of ERC-20 tokens, making it one of the most important hubs of trading in the Ethereum ecosystem. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Ethfinex is an Ethereum-based subsidiary of Bitfinex, one of the world’s most successful crypto exchanges.
While the Bitfinex company is located in Hong Kong and is operated by iFinex Inc., the Ethfinex is registered offshore of the British Virgin Islands and operates under the associated governing laws.
By catering to the need of both novice and more experienced traders, the new digital asset trading platform has set its sights high as it aims to become the de-facto choice of Ethereum token traders from all over the world. For instance, it provides its members with access to token trading, community discussions, as well as ICO crowd sales.
Since its launch back in December 2017, the Ethfinex platform has seen very good 24-hour trading volumes (somewhere in excess of $280 million) and is currently ranked 83rd on CoinMarketCap.
Unsurprisingly, Ethfinex’s functionality is fairly similar to that of Bitfinex, both in terms of user accessibility and in terms of trading options as well as security technologies. Here are some of the most noteworthy features of Ethfinex:
Supported cryptocurrencies
There are currently over 200 cryptocurrencies supported by the platform including USDT, ETH, EOS, OMG, ZRX, TRX, REP, DAT, TNB, ELC, EDO, ELF, FUN, GNT, RCN, YYW, SPK, MNA, SNG, IOST, DTA, HOT, NIO, DGX, and BBN.
Available countries
Ethfinex is available to members from a broad range of countries with a few noteworthy exceptions. The first big exception is the United States of America. Users from this country are prohibited from accessing the platform. Other noteworthy names on the restriction list include Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Korean, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Yemen.
Trading
Ethfinex provides its members with the following types of trading options: Market, Limit, Stop, Trailing Stop, Fill or Kill, One cancels others (OCO), post-only limit order, Hidden order, and algorithmic orders.
The platform also allows its users to benefit from margin trading. Hence, users can trade with up to 3.3x leverage by obtaining funds from the peer-to-peer margin fund market. In this respect, users can either borrow a desired amount of fund at a rate and duration of their choice or open a position and have Ehtfinex take out the funding for them at the best rate possible.
Deposit Methods
As far as deposit methods go, the exchange allows its users to either deposit cryptocurrencies or make US Dollar deposits via bank wires and transfers. Users can also choose between US Dollar and Euro versions of Tether. The best thing is the fact that there are no associated fees for both types of deposits.
Fees
The platform boasts a comprehensive section where members can view the fee structure. In short, order executions are determined by trading volumes over the last 30 days as well as taking into account the maker and taker status. For instance, maker fees can reach as high as 0.1% while the taker fees range between 0.1% and 0.2%. It’s also worth noting that large crypto deposits are usually free and that a small fee is only applied for deposits smaller than $1,000. Users should also know that withdrawals imply different charges depending on the type of crypto subjected to withdrawal.
NEC token
Ethfinex has its own native token, called the Nectar token, or NEC. The token is distributed for free to token market makers in direct accordance to their traded volume. It allows them to claim loyalty rewards from the total monthly exchange fees, as well as to have a say (by voting) in future matters of the exchange’s governance.
Security features
Security is one of the top priorities for Ethfinex, a fact reinforced by the multitude of security features meant to protect the funds of the platform’s users. For starters, the large majority of funds are stored in offline (cold) wallets. It’s estimated that just about 0,5 % of crypto assets are stored in “hot” wallets for casual trading operations. The platform also boasts two-factor authentication, withdrawal protection, advanced API key permissions, email encryption, and various other verification tools dedicated to monitoring suspicious behavior.
Verdict
To conclude, Ethfinex is a well-rounded and very interesting cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange is focused on ERC-20 token trading, making it very appealing for users interested in Ethereum’s ecosystem, but less so to those usually looking to trade anything but ERC-20 tokens. It boasts various useful features such as margin trading, leveraged trading, advanced charting options, competitive fees, and it accepts both fiat and crypto payments.
