OKEx Review – Platform Features, Fees, Pros & Cons

OKEx is currently considered one of the largest and most popular crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto exchanges in the world, serving more than 20 million users in over 100 countries. This platform is ranked as the fourth biggest crypto exchange in the world in terms of trading volume and is best suited for experienced cryptocurrency traders and for “one-time” investors.

If you are considering opening an account with OKEx exchange, be sure this read this guide first. We’ll cover everything you need to know including the exchange fees, features, range of assets, the safety of funds, and more.

What is OKEx?

OKEx is a Malta-based world-leading cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to trade on hundreds of tokens and futures trading pairs. OKEx was founded in 2017 with headquarters in Malta and the Republic of Seychelles. CEO of OKEx, JayHao, had a background in game development and the semiconductor industry before joining the cryptocurrency space. In 2018, it expanded crypto operations to Malta as the Maltese government has adopted an overall friendly approach to cryptocurrency trading.

Throughout the years of operation, OKEx has managed to raise capital from leading venture capitals and investment companies including VenturesLab, Ceyuan Ventures, Longling Capital, Qianhe Capital Management, eLong Inc. etc.

Nowadays, OKEx is one of the top 20 cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide by trading volume according to CoinMarketCap, and has a wide presence all over the world.

Tradable Assets

OKEx offers a wide selection of trading assets, making it possible to get access to spot and derivatives trading. On this platform, there are over 140 digital tokens and more than 400 BTC and USDT pairs to trade on. This includes OKB, which is a utility token issued by OK Blockchain Foundation and can be used for an array of purposes on the OKEx trading platform.

OKEx Fees

The trading fee structure at OKEx is based on whether an investor is a market maker or a market taker. But due to the size of securities needed to facilitate the volume required to become a market maker, the majority of crypto investors are market takers.

Trading Fees

The trading fees for market takers charged by OKEx are a maximum of 0.15% for spot trading, which is below the industry average of around 0.25%. The fees charged on the platform vary based on the investor’s trading volume. For example, if the Bitcoin trader has achieved a spot trading volume greater than 500 BTC, the market taker fee reduces to 0.135%. VIP users can enjoy much more competitive trading fees of 0.030%-0.080%.

As for futures and options trading, taker fees range from 0.03% to 0.05%.

Deposit and Withdrawal fees

On OKEx’s platform, traders do not have to pay deposit fees but are required to pay a withdrawal fee of 0.0005 BTC for bitcoin, 0.01 for ETH, and 0.15 for ripple. Overall, the exchange’s withdrawal fee is slightly lower than at other exchanges.

Margin Interest Rate Fees

When you use margin trading,  you are essentially borrowing funds from your crypto exchange and therefore, they will charge you interest on any position held overnight. Like any other crypto exchange, OKEx charges a margin interest rate as soon as tokens are borrowed. You can find the margin interest rate fees below:

Special Features

Algo-Order Options

There are different types of market orders to help investors place a trade at predefined price and volume, and the ability to use Algo orders is specially vital for active day traders. In comparison to other cryptocurrency exchanges, the OKEx platform is quite advanced, allowing users to trade with different types of orders. Those include market order, limit market order, advanced limit order, stop-limit order, trailing top order, iceberg and Time-weighted average price (twap) orders.

OKEx Pool

OKEx provides a mining pool which is a shared group of cryptocurrency miners who combine their computational resources over a network in order to mine digital assets. Further, it supports PoW (Proof-of-work) mining of 9 major cryptocurrencies. This means you can offer your computer hash rate that is needed to mine digital assets and in return, you will be able to get an additional income.

A Range of Crypto Trading Solutions

Ultimately, OKEx sets itself apart from competitors in the industry by offering different methods of crypto trading. Those include:

• Quick trade (One-stop Marketplace)
• Spot trading
• Margin trading
• DEX (Decentralized Exchange) trading
• Perpetual swap
• Futures
• Options

On top of that, OKEx offers a crypto mining pool, Crypto-to-Crypto loans, and staking.

OKEx Academy

OKEx has a great education section on its platform with plenty of guides, trading ideas, and industry analysis. On the OKEx academy, you’ll find lots of tutorials on a wide variety of topics suited for beginners and experienced investors.

Banking

On this platform, you can deposit funds with crypto coins you own or with fiat currency payment methods. You should note, however, that transfers with fiat currencies is available on the One-stop Marketplace feature and enables users to buy only 6 mainstream coins – Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDT, Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and OKB. All in all, here are deposit and withdrawal payment methods provided by OKEx:

The minimum amount required to open an account and start trading is 10 USDT or any other cryptocurrencies with an equivalent amount. Once your account has been verified and you have completed the deposit process, the funds will be automatically added to your trading account.

While OKEx does not charge any deposit fees, it charges a withdrawal fee of 0.0005 BTC for bitcoin, 0.01 for ETH, and 0.15 for ripple.

User Experience

OKEx is one of the few crypto exchanges on the market to offer not only a mobile app, but a desktop app as well (rather than only offering a browser version on desktop). While the web browser version is potentially a good option for you if you are not an active trader, you may be more comfortable using the OKEx desktop or mobile app for regular use.

Overall, the exchange’s user interface is very friendly and interactive, particularly when compared to other exchanges such as Binance. The instrument page is very basic and inserting an order is extremely easy.

On the negative side, the exchange lacks essential features for crypto investors. First, it is difficult to find market news and analysis., which means you’ll have to find a third-party tool that offers instant market updates. Further, the charts are not intuitive to derive insights and can be difficult to use.

Mobile Trading

OKEx supports a mobile application that is easily downloadable on Apple Store and Google Play and is very user friendly. We decided to test it to find out whether you can manage your account from the mobile app and what are the supported features.

Our conclusion, the OKEx mobile stock trading apps is an all-in-one trading platform for cryptocurrency trading. It allows users to buy and sell digital assets in all forms available on the site (spot and derivatives), view real-time streaming quotes, store crypto coins on its built-in digital wallet, deposit and withdraw funds, and subscribe to digital asset news.

On top of that, the app is extremely easy to use and its user interface works for both beginner and more professional investors.

Security

OKEx is registered in Malta and Hong Kong and recently featured digital assets and trading services that are compliant with the Virtual Financial Asset Act (“VFAA”), which is a regulated authority by the Malta Financial Services Authority.

The exchange has never been hacked despite being one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and overall, OKEx is considered to be a safe and secure trading platform.

The token security is based on the core private key encryption algorithm, and the cold and hot wallet technology developed by OKEx’s team, is based on the most advanced privacy encryption technology in the industry. Furthermore, in order to secure investors’ account from unauthorized access, OKEx supports the following features:

• 2-factor authentication
• Mobile verification code for security settings and withdrawal, of funds
• Email verification codes

Customer Service

OKEx offers 24/7 online support to help users solve any technical and trading issues. The exchange offers users to contact the support team via phone, email, submit a ticket form, WhatsApp, and live chat that is available on desktop and the mobile app. In addition, OKEx has a great FAQ section a ‘join the community’ section where you can find answers and communicate with other members on the platform.

Supported Countries & Regions

OKEx offers crypto trading services to more than 100 countries around the world. However, residents of the following countries are restricted from trading with OKEx.

Below is a list of the countries not supported by OKEx:

How to Trade on OKEx

Registering for a trading account is mandatory in order to use the platform and trade cryptocurrencies. Luckily, the account creation process is not complex and you will be able to either register through the website or OKEx iOS/Android mobile app.

If you are still keen to open a Bitcoin account with OKEx, follow our simple step-by-step guide below:

Step 1. Open an account with OKEx

The first step involves signing up on the platform and creating an account. Once you visit OKEx’s website, click on the Sign-up button at the top right corner of the screen and then, submit your email address or phone number, and create a password. Next, you will have to enter a 6 digit code that was sent to your email or mobile phone.

One major advantage of opening an account with OKEx, when compared with other crypto exchanges, is that when you use the ‘One-stop Marketplace’, no KYC verification on OKEx is required. This is essentially a fast buy option of 6 mainstream crypto coins  -  Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDT, Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and OKB with 30 fiat currencies.

Step 2. Deposit funds

Once your OKEx account has been verified, navigate to the Assets button and click on the Deposit. The platform’s deposit screen will open up, and on this page, you can choose the type of cryptocurrency you’d like to deposit to your account. As previously mentioned, OKEx allows users to deposit funds through a wide range of crypto coins but keep in mind that you will be able to transfer a specific type of token to the wallet deposit address you receive on the selected token only. For example, you can deposit Etherem to an Ethereum address.

Next, copy the wallet address into the digital wallet you own and transfer the cryptocurrencies.

Step 3. Trade

Crypto-to-Crypto Trading

Once the funds have been automatically added to your account, you can start trading at OKEx. As mentioned, there are different types of trading options available including a spot, margin, futures, options, DEX, and perpetual swap.

Fiat-to-Crypto Trading

If you are not holding any digital asset and wish to buy and sell cryptocurrencies via OKEx, you can choose the Quick Trade option that enables you to buy cryptos with fiat payment methods.

To do that, click on the Buy/Sell button on the top menu. Then, select one of the OKEx-supported fiat currencies and set the amount of which you wish to buy a specified crypto coin.

Once you click on the Buy button, you will be transferred to a page where OKEx offers you the best prices provided by a third party.

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