In this review, we will look at the FTX cryptocurrency derivatives exchange and see how it performs. In particular, its trading platform, fees, security, among a number of other important features, will be examined alongside a step-by-step tutorial for creating an account.
About FTX
FTX is a cryptocurrency trading platform that provides cutting-edge products, including derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens. Co-founders Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang launched the platform in May 2019 and incorporated it in Antigua and Barbuda, while its headquarters are in the Bahamas. First and foremost, the platform seeks to provide an interface that is both sophisticated enough for professional trading businesses while also being straightforward and intuitive enough to use for first-time customers. FTX offers the following key features, all of which are useful to cryptocurrency traders:
Is FTX safe?
IMPORTANT: The FTX exchange is currently unsafe to use, as the previously third-largest crypto trading platform has collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. The previous industry-leading crypto exchange’s liquidity dried up following a sudden high demand in customer withdrawals, after which the company suffered substantial financial losses and couldn’t recover. It has also resulted in possible criminal investigations.
Why do traders use FTX exchange?
FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange that is rapidly expanding due to the sophisticated trading options such as margin and futures that it provides. Although citizens of the United States are unable to utilize the platform owing to strict regulations, a subsidiary exchange, FTX.US, is accessible for US residents (read our FTX US review for more information). The exchange provides a variety of products that may be of interest to both newcomers to cryptocurrency and experienced traders, such as:
Futures trading: Over 250 perpetual and futures markets;
Spot trading: More than 100 spot markets;
Leveraged tokens: Access to leveraged exposure through ERC20 tokens;
Tokenized stocks: The FTX exchange itself offers tokens on the equity market;
Staking rewards: Earn reward staking cryptocurrencies;
FTX Pay: Enables merchants to receive fast and secure payments.
FTX exchange’s key features
1. Trading platform
The FTX exchange is easy to use, whether you’re a day trader or simply want to buy and hold crypto. FTX operates a one-of-a-kind margin and risk engine that is natively blockchain-based, real-time, cross-margined, and fully automated. This margin engine was developed entirely in-house and is an integral element of the core of the exchange. Spot trading is available on FTX’s platform for new investors to try their hand at trading, while the trading of futures and leveraged tokens is available to more experienced traders. Within the markets tab of a trading pair’s interface, users may study and update charts, check the order book, place trades, and perform other tasks. A separate role is provided by each panel on the markets page, which is designed to aid you in informing and executing your trading decisions.
Futures
There are over 250 perpetual and quarterly futures markets, including BTC, ETH, EOS, XRP, and USDT. Each coin contains three futures contracts: one that expires this quarter, one that expires next quarter, and a perpetual future.
Spot margin trading
Spot+ is a derivative product under MiFID II with over 100 spot markets available. If you’ve enabled spot margin trading, you may lend out one spot token to borrow another; for example, you might lend $3,000 to borrow one ETH. Once locked, the USD may be leased to another user with interest.
FTX Wallet
In addition to the main panel, the wallet tab features several menu options, including Balances, Deposits, Withdrawals (including pending), Positions, Fills, and Conversions.
2. FTX Derivatives
Tokenized Stocks
Tokenized stock futures mirror the FTX spot market as its index. They will function in the same way as futures contracts on other FTX products. In addition to tokenized equities, FTX may also provide tokens on exchange-traded funds (ETFs), futures, currencies, and other products of a similar kind. The FTX exchange itself offers tokens on the equity market. For example, ftx.com/trade/TSLA/USD is a market where tokens representing Tesla stock may be traded. These spot tokens are backed by shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock held by FTX Switzerland.
Move contracts
MOVE contracts are similar to futures contracts; however, they expire based on the amount a token’s price changed, just like with futures, you may use collateral to obtain leveraged long or short MOVE contracts.
Leveraged tokens
ERC20 assets are available on the platform that can give you leveraged exposure to cryptocurrency markets. Each leveraged token represents a position in a futures contract. The price of the token will tend to mirror the price of the underlying positions in which it is invested.
3. FTX Token (FTT)
The platform refers to the FTX Token (FTT) as “the backbone of the FTX ecosystem.” and is the exchange token of FTX.
There are a total of 350,000,000 FTT tokens in circulation, and no further tokens will be issued. A total of 175,000,000 of them are treasury tokens, which will be unlocked over the course of the next three years.
FTT may be used as collateral on FTX, and it will receive socialized profits from the backstop liquidity fund on the exchange.
Furthermore, FTX supports the staking of FTT, and there are fee reductions for holders of the token, as well as different discounts based on the amount of FTT held.
Note: FTX Token is not available in the United States or other prohibited jurisdictions.
FTT Staking
Staking FTT gives the following benefits:
Increased referral rebate rates: Referrers who stake FTT receive a larger percentage of the fees collected from their referees.
Maker fee (override): Stakers have access to a new maker fee schedule that takes precedence over the ordinary fee schedule. They stack with MM-level rebates.
Bonus votes: Stakers get bonus votes in FTX polls (based on FTT held and trading volume).
Increased airdrop rewards: Stakers get increased SRM airdrops.
Waived blockchain fees: Stakers are entitled to a certain number of free ERC20 and ETH withdrawals every day.
3. FTX Card
The FTX card allows crypto users to spend their FTX crypto balances at millions of merchants worldwide with zero fees.
No processing fees: The FTX Visa Card is completely free as FTX does not charge any administrative or processing fees.
Spend your crypto: FTX will immediately exchange the exact amount of cryptocurrency kept inside your account at the point of sale, enabling you to preserve your crypto.
High-level security: At FTX, all of your funds are safeguarded by state-of-the-art security measures.
24 hours a day, 365 days: You may use your FTX Visa Card to spend your crypto 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at more than a million merchants around the world.
FTX Pay
FTX Pay is a widget that allows you to take payments in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency on your website, app, or shop. Related video: Merchant Payment Setup
4. FTX Pro mobile app
Customers may download the FTX mobile app for iPhone or Android from the App Store or the Google Play store. The trade tab of the FTX Pro app provides users with the same charting and order execution features as the desktop interface.
Switch between markets: Users may quickly switch between trading pairings by clicking on the three lines in the top left corner of the screen.
Order Placement Calculator: The order calculator offers a pop-up option to easily place multiple orders.
Charting: Users may personalize the chart interface by altering periods, candle types, and adding indicators like Bollinger bands and moving averages.
Advanced Order Types: Multiple advanced order types are available through the trading interface.
FTX Fees
Trading fees
FTX offers a tiered maker/taker fee structure, and trading fees are determined by the number of trades executed over a 30-day period. All futures and spot markets at FTX are subject to a tiered fee structure. There are also referral programs, VIP programs for professional traders, and the Backstop Liquidity Provider program for market makers available at FTX, among other things.
Maker rebates for FTT stakers may be as low as -0.0030%, and it only costs 25 FTT to have no maker fees imposed on their accounts.
FTX commission
Futures: Fees for futures are always charged in USD. Spot: Maker order fees are deducted in the proceeds currency, which is the currency in which you get the funds. You will be charged taker order fees in the quoted currency, regardless of whether you are buying or selling a currency pair.
Discount for FTT holders
Holders of the FTT token will be able to earn reductions on their platform fees. The following is a list of the current discounts available, which are dependent on FTT holdings:
Deposits & Withdrawals crypto
Additional expenses for FTX customers include withdrawal fees, fees for trading or producing leveraged tokens. The majority of deposits and withdrawals are free of charge, with the exception of ETH, ERC-20 tokens, and modest BTC withdrawals. FTX users will be responsible for any blockchain fees associated with ETH and ERC20 tokens unless they have FTT staked. Small Bitcoin withdrawal fees:
BTC withdrawals of less than 0.01 BTC are completely free.
Withdrawals of more than 0.01 BTC are subject to a withdrawal fee once the first free waived fee each day is used up.
Deposits & Withdrawals fiat
Depositing fiat currency into FTX will result in the payment of any known fees, which will be clearly shown to you in the deposit instructions. The sender or intermediate bank is responsible for any additional fees you may pay as a consequence of transferring funds into your account.
All fiat withdrawals in excess of $5,000 in value are completely free.
One withdrawal of less than $5,000 in value each seven-day period is completely free. If you stake at least 25 FTT, you will be able to withdraw a further amount without incurring any fees.
Unless the withdrawal amount is more than $5,000 and you don’t fulfill the requirements for a free withdrawal, you will be charged the following fees:
Personal account security
Password Strength and 2FA Requirement: FTX requires a mandatory Two-factor authentication (2FA) set up to transact in any way on any created account.
2FA for Withdrawals & Withdrawal Passwords: There is also an optional 2FA and password for crypto withdrawals.
Withdrawal Lock After 2FA Removal or Password Change: After a user’s account status changes for instance with a 2FA Removal or a Password Change FTX will lock withdrawals on the account for 24 hours.
Features to enhance security
Subaccount Login Functions: FTX has added the ability to customize your logins. Using these, you may provide access to your account to other individuals with varying levels of access.
Whitelisting IPs: The security permissions for your account may be specified when creating your API Keys on FTX.
Whitelisting Wallet Addresses: As part of a whitelisted address, withdrawals are only allowed from specified accounts. Contacting an FTX administrator is the only way to deactivate or shorten the whitelisting delay.
Chainalysis Know Your Transaction (KYT) product, the real-time anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solution for monitoring cryptocurrency transactions, has recently entered into a partnership with FTX to monitor suspicious crypto transaction alerts. The combination of KYT with a human inspection of large or questionable deposits and withdrawals ensures an additional layer of protection. The FTX Backstop Liquidity Fund, which was estimated using the price of FTT on May 24, 2021, has roughly $200 million in assets. Note: To know more about the platform’s security measures be sure to read our in-depth ‘Is FTX Safe?‘ guide
Customer support
If you have any questions, you may contact FTX by email at: [email protected]. In addition, it is recommended that you look at their social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram to stay up to date with the latest developments on the platform.
How to set up an account on FTX (step-by-step)
Step 1: First, go to [Register] to begin the account setup process. Step 2: Enter your email along with your password and read carefully through the Terms of Service, then click [Create Account] or alternatively click [Sign In with Google]. Step 3: On the next screen, enter in your legal first and last name as well as your date of birth. Step 4: The following step will require you to input your ‘Home address.’ Step 5: After inputting your address, you will be required to enter your phone number. Click [Send Code] to receive a six digit SMS verification code to your phone, input the code and click [Submit]. Step 6: Your account will be unverified after Step 5; however, you will have the ability to explore the site, but you will be unable to deposit or trade. The whole process takes less than two minutes to complete. With ‘Level 2 Identity Verification‘, unlimited crypto withdrawals, fiat deposits, and withdrawals, as well as trading, are enabled.
Pros & Cons of FTX
Pros
FTX Visa card lets you make crypto payments around the world without fee;
The exchange supports margin trading;
There is also access to futures, spot, and fiat;
FTX Pay;
Access to over 300 cryptocurrencies;
Earn staking rewards.
Cons
FTX does not provide 24/7 phone support, nor does it have live chat;
US residents can’t trade on FTX’s global platform but do have the option to trade on FTX US.
Final thoughts
Since its launch in 2019, FTX has evolved to become one of the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. FTX management has said that they are dedicated to maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements, as the platform continues to champion compliance with cryptocurrency regulators. Furthermore, FTX provides minimal trading costs and features that are appealing to both novice investors and experienced traders, as well as providing its customers with access to over 300 cryptocurrencies. All of this combines to make FTX a solid option for cryptocurrency traders looking for a credible exchange with a high level of security that can fulfill their requirements.
