Bitfinex Review 2025: Fees, Safety, and Features

Bitfinex is one of the oldest and most reputable centralized exchanges, offering advanced trading tools mainly for professional traders and institutions. These services include margin trading, derivatives trading, advanced charting tools, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and paper trading.

Aside from these trading tools, the Bitfinex wallet, Bitfinex mobile app, Bitfinex trade bot, margin funding, and scaled orders are some of the key features that make the exchange an ideal choice for professional traders and institutions. Though Bitfinex services are primarily for professionals, beginners can use the exchange trading interface to trade and practice with paper trading accounts.

To give you more insight about the exchange, this Bitfinex review will explain what is Bitfinex? What are Bitfinex fees? What are the best features of Bitfinex? While highlighting step-by-step instructions on how to open a new account to trade crypto on Bitfinex. Let’s begin!

What is Bitfinex?

Bitfinex is an advanced trading platform and one of the longest-standing cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry. The platform is fully equipped with various cryptocurrency trading tools, mostly tailored towards intermediate, advanced, and institutional users. However, that does not mean that new users cannot navigate the exchange or use some basic trading tools.

The crypto exchange is suitable for trading major coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, so if you want to trade smaller altcoins, Bitfinex does not have deep liquidity for them as it does for major cryptos. Now, let’s dive into some of the different features and overview of Bitfinex in the table below.

Exchange	Bitfinex
Founded	2012
Founder	Raphael Nicolle and Giancarlo Devasini
Features	Exchange, margin trading, margin funding (P2P lending), advanced charting tools, derivatives trading, scaled orders, OTC market, spread ladder, and honey framework.
Supported Cryptocurrencies	170+
Margin Trading	Yes
KYC	Mandatory
Security Measures	Offline fund storage, two factor authentication (2FA), universal 2nd factor (U2F), IP address detection, email alerts, and withdrawals protection.
Ease of Use	Not beginner-friendly. Ideal for professional traders.
Customer Support	Good
Trading Fees	0.1% maker fees and 0.2% taker fees.
Trading Options	Spot trading, margin trading (over 600 pairs), derivative trading, P2P trading, and margin funding.
Payment Methods	Bank transfer, OpenPayd (GBP, EUR), credit/debit card (via third-party providers), crypto deposits, and Bitfinex Pay (including WalletConnect and manual payments).
Restrictions	Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Crimea, United States, Canada, British Virgin Islands, the Donetsk People’s Republic, Venezuela, and Austria or Italy.

In addition to the services above, Bitfinex exchange has an affiliate program that rewards new users for joining the cryptocurrency exchange. Besides the standard reward, you can unlock additional discounts on trading fees as your 30-day trading volume increases.

All you have to do is use this Bitfinex referral code to register a new account and you will get a 6% trading fee rebate.

What Are Pros and Cons of Bitfinex?

Bitfinex pros are listed below:

• Low Fees: Bitfinex trading platform charges 0.1% for makers and 0.2% for takers, which is low compared to the industry average. These low fees can be reduced when your 30-day trading volume goes high and by holding LEO, Bitfinex’s native token.
• Deep Liquidity for Major Coins: Bitfinex has a high trading volume and deep liquidity for major crypto coins, so orders are filled quickly with no price slippage.
• Advanced Trading Features: The crypto exchange offers various tools for advanced traders, including the Spread Ladder, which allows traders to hedge their positions during market volatility, and the Bitfinex REST and Websocket API, which institutional traders can fully integrate into their systems.
• Supports 140+ Crypto and 335 Trading Pairs: Bitfinex supports multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Avalanche, Litecoin, and Solana, plus over 300 trading pairs.
• Robust Security Measures: While Bitfinex has faced security breaches in the past, the cryptocurrency exchange has improved its security to prevent a recurrence of those incidents. They have regular audits and offer 2FA and IP address monitoring to protect user funds.

The cons of Bitfinex are listed below:

• Might Not Be Suitable for New Traders: The crypto exchange platform was designed for professional traders and institutions. Therefore, it offers advanced features that crypto newbies might find confusing.
• Low Liquidity for Lesser-Known Altcoins: While Bitfinex exchange is considered one of the most liquid exchanges for trading BTC and ETH pairs and other major altcoins like SOL, XMR, and XRP, the case is different for less popular cryptocurrency trading pairs.
• Not Available in the US: Bitfinex products and services are not available to US residents.

How is Bitfinex Customer Service?

Bitfinex provides three options for users to get help. However, from our Bitfinex review, their customer service needs improvement, especially in handling issues that the self-help services can not settle. In cases like account blocking or freezing, withdrawal delays, etc., such customers would need to communicate with a knowledgeable and responsive support team.

For the support channels, Bitfinex trading platform has a live chat feature and a comprehensive Bitfinex Help Center for self-help. The live chat service provides immediate support for frequently asked questions. The Help Center is also packed with information on various topics, including how to get started, API documentation, KYC verification, and more.

However, if you need further assistance, you can start a chat with a support representative by clicking the icon at the bottom right corner of the page. A member of support team will answer your questions and help you with any challenges.

What Cryptocurrency is Available in Bitfinex?

The cryptocurrencies available in Bitfinex are LEO, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Solana, TRON, Cardano, Tether, Litecoin, Monero, Toncoin, Polygon, Shiba Inu, Polkadot, Stellar, and Cosmos. In addition to these coins, Bitfinex supports over 140 other cryptocurrencies and multiple trading pairs.

Which Countries and Regions Does Bitfinex Support?

Bitfinex exchange is supported in about 197 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, Vietnam, France, India, Argentina, Malaysia, Nigeria, Malta, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Colombia, Singapore, and South Africa.

However, Bitfinex restricts access to traders in Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Crimea, and the Donetsk People’s Republic. Also, there are no Bitfinex US customers because the cryptocurrency exchange restricts US citizens, citizens or residents of Canada, the British Virgin Islands, the Government of Venezuela, and Austria or Italy.

Is Bitfinex Available in the US?

No, Bitfinex is not available in the US. The exchange discontinued its services in the US in 2017 due to the resources required to service Bitfinex US customers and the complexity of the US regulatory environment. Ever since, it has explicitly prohibited US customers from opening new Bitfinex accounts or using its services, as stated in its Terms of Service.

Is Bitfinex Safe and Legit to Use?

Bitfinex is safe and legit to use. But before we discuss how they recovered from several attacks and improved their security, let’s examine the large-scale hack they encountered in 2016. In that hack, 119,756 Bitcoins, worth about US$72 million at the time, were stolen.

After this attack, the hacker took steps to cover his tracks by deleting from Bitfinex’s network access credentials and other log files that could have revealed his conduct to law enforcement. However, the US government recovered about $3.6 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin by decrypting a file owned by Ilya Lichtenstein.

While the investigation into Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, was ongoing, in July 2023, Bitfinex worked with the Department of Homeland Security to recover about $315,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies stolen in the 2016 breach.

By August 2023, Lichtenstein and Morgan both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison, while his wife, Morgan, was sentenced to 18 months for helping her husband. 

Since this security breach, Bitfinex platform has become a more reliable exchange by increasing its security measures to protect all user assets. Here are some features it uses to safeguard customer funds and data.

1. Offline Fund Storage: More than 99% of system funds on Bitfinex are stored in offline, multi-signature cold wallets. Approximately 0.5% of crypto assets are accessible for day-to-day platform operation in hot wallets. To further protect users’ assets, the cold wallets Bitfinex uses to store crypto offline are not available from the trading platform or the platform servers.
2. Two Factor Authentication (2FA): Bitfinex encourages users to add an extra layer of security to their Bitfinex accounts to safeguard their funds by protecting sensitive operations such as logging in, generating API keys, and making withdrawals.
3. Universal 2nd factor (U2F): Besides 2FA, you can also use a physical Security Key to protect your account. It is more secure than other ways of protecting your account. Using U2F, you can take advantage of the ultra-secure FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) open authentication standard.
4. IP Address Detection: The cryptocurrency exchange also has an intelligent system that detects IP Address changes to prevent session hijacking. When you log in from another device, you will be notified of the changes so you can take action if your access is unauthorized.
5. Alerts: The email notifications Bitfinex trading platform sends to report logins usually include a link to freeze your Bitfinex account instantly if you suspect malicious activity.
6. Withdrawals Protection: The advanced trading platform monitors withdrawals by IP address and other user behavior patterns. If a transaction appears to be unusual, the system will trigger a manual admin inspection. You can also whitelist some withdrawal addresses to ensure that withdrawals do not go to wallet addresses that are not on the list.

If you are a new user who is worried about the security and safety of your funds, you don’t have to worry. Bitfinex uses these features to ensure the security of user data, transactions, and funds.

So, use this Bitfinex referral code to get discounts on all your trading fees and enjoy other exclusive rewards!

What Are Bitfinex Fees?

Bitfinex transaction fees are competitive, and you can lower these trading fees if you use the referral code above to register. Here’s a breakdown of Bitfinex withdrawal fees and limits, deposit fees, and transaction fees.

Withdrawal Fees

Bitfinex charges differently for crypto and fiat withdrawals. In fact, crypto withdrawals towards another Bitfinex address are free, but users pay network fees to miners. External crypto withdrawals are generally free for some cryptocurrencies, but Bitfinex charges a small fee for others.

On the other hand, Fiat currency withdrawals incur a 0.1% fee (a minimum amount of 60 USD/Euro) for regular bank wire transfers.

For other Bank transfers:

• OpenPayd Withdrawal Fee: For transfers of 10,000 EUR|GBP or less, traders pay 5/transaction.
• OpenPayd Withdrawal Fee: For transfers of more than 10,000 EUR|GBP, users pay 0.100% of the transfer amount.
• Express bank wire transfer incurs a 1.000% fee (min 60, USD/Euro).

What Are the Withdrawal Limits of Bitfinex?

Bitfinex has no maximum withdrawal limit for fiat currencies or cryptocurrency transactions. However, there are minimum withdrawal requirements. For fiat withdrawals, the minimum is $10,000 USD/EUR/GBP or 1,000,000 JPY for bank transfers.

If you withdraw smaller amounts, you can use OpenPayd with a minimum amount of €25/£25. On the other hand, cryptocurrency withdrawals have a minimum of $5 equivalent, with no maximum limit.

Deposit Fees

Deposits of cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and securities on Bitfinex are free. However, users depositing fiat currencies will incur a 0.1% fee for bank transfers with a minimum of $60 or €60 and €5/£5 per transaction for OpenPayd transfers.

Trading Fees

For trading, Bitfinex platform follows the maker and taker fees structure. They charge a standard 0.1% for market makers. However, this fee can be reduced based on your 30-day trading volume and Unus Sed LEO token holdings. On the other hand, takers pay 0.2%, but they can also get discounts on transaction fees with LEO holdings.

For Derivatives order execution on Bitfinex, the amount of each transaction fee and rebate you will get is calculated as a percentage of the trade value to which it applies. Let’s say you have a 30-day derivatives trading volume of $0.00 or more traded; you will be charged 0.0200% maker and 0.0650% taker’s fees. 

Note: These fees go lower with high trading volumes.

What Are the Best Features of Bitfinex?

The best features of Bitfinex are the Bitfinex wallet, Bitfinex mobile app, Bitfinex trade bot, margin funding, scaled orders, and paper trading.

Bitfinex Wallet

Bitfinex offers users three main wallets: the Exchange Wallet, the Funding Wallet, and the Margin Wallet. The Exchange Wallet allows users to easily change funds between cryptocurrencies with minimal slippage.

The Funding Wallet is used for P2P lending, where traders provide margin financing to other traders, while the Margin Wallet is for trading leveraged positions.

In addition to the three main wallets, Bitfinex provides a Derivatives Wallet and Capital Raise Wallet for more experienced traders. The Derivatives Wallet holds tokens for derivatives trading, while the Capital Raise Wallet allows users to trade tokenized securities on Bitfinex Securities.

You can quickly transfer funds between these wallets using Bitfinex’s quick transfer feature. However, it is essential to note that the more advanced wallets are not readily available to everyone. Depending on your account verification level and jurisdiction, specific requirements or limitations apply to using the Derivative and Capital Raise Wallets.

Bitfinex Mobile App

Bitfinex offers a mobile app that has the full functionality of the Bitfinex trading platform. The convenience of the mobile app makes it ideal for users who want to trade on the go and for those who don’t like managing multiple apps or brokerage accounts for different asset classes.

With the Bitfinex app, you can do everything you need—manage your portfolio, open, view, and close positions, exchange crypto, and make withdrawals instantly. You can trade crypto for fiat currencies and vice versa with other traders on the P2P marketplace.

The Bitfinex mobile app also has the Fast Pay feature, which allows traders to send and receive Tether or BTC payments instantly. If you prefer to access and manage your trading portfolio, the app is available for download on App Store and Google Play Store.

Remember to use this Bitfinex referral code during registration to get trading fee discounts and rebates.

Bitfinex Trade Bot

The Bitfinex Trade Bot is an automated tool designed to execute cryptocurrency trades on the exchange. These bots use algorithms and user-defined parameters to analyze historical data, help traders make data-driven sections, reduce manual effort, and potentially maximize profits.

Bitfinex traders can configure parameters such as trading pairs, profit targets, stop-loss levels, and risk management strategies to suit their trading goals. Advanced users can also create and deploy custom bots using Bitfinex’s Honey Framework.

The bots on this cryptocurrency exchange support various trading strategies, such as grid trading (placing buy/sell orders at intervals) and DCA (dollar-cost averaging). If you build custom strategies, you can test them in a simulated trading environment to see how they’d fare in the real market before deploying them.

Margin Funding

Bitfinex Margin Funding is a peer-to-peer lending platform where users can lend their cryptocurrencies to other traders for margin trading. Traders can provide funding in various currencies and assets, depending on your digital assets.

It’s a win-win situation because lenders who provide the necessary liquidity for these trades receive interest on their lent funds. Meanwhile, borrowers trade with up to 10x leverage, increasing their chances of higher returns.

Scaled Orders

Bitfinex Scaled Orders allow traders to spend less time entering individual orders and more time focusing on their trading strategy. The tool automatically creates multiple limit orders across a user-defined price range while giving traders control over the diversity and distribution of the orders.

You can use Bitfinex Scaled Orders to buy or sell digital assets at incrementally increasing or decreasing prices. This helps you manage the risk while optimizing your average entry or exit price.

Paper Trading

Bitfinex’s Paper trading tool allows traders to test their crypto trading strategies in a simulated market environment before trading live. Traders can open multiple paper trading accounts without depositing real funds. The exchange also offers Bitfinex Honey, allowing users to create custom order types and event-driven automated trading strategies without coding knowledge.

How to Open New Account to Trade Crypto on Bitfinex?

Follow this straightforward process to open a new account to trade crypto on Bitfinex.

Step 1: Visit the official Bitfinex website and enter your details, including your email, country, and the Bitfinex referral code in the provided fields.

Use this current Bitfinex referral code to sign up and get up to 6% trading fee rebates and trading fee discounts.

Make sure to double-check your information for accuracy before proceeding.

Step 2: The next step is to use an authenticator app to secure your Bitfinex account through two-factor authentication. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup and click “Enable.”

Step 3: Bitfinex will send you a unique confirmation link via email. Click on it to activate your account.

Step 4: Once you are in, complete any of the three levels of KYC verification (mandatory). If you used a referral code to register, completing the verification process is the only way the discount will apply.

Does Bitfinex Require KYC?

Yes, Bitfinex requires KYC verification. You must complete verification to access most of its advanced features, including fiat deposits, withdrawals, and advanced trading options like Margin Trading and Margin Funding. 

However, users can decide on the level of information they want to share with Bitfinex by choosing any of the three levels of verification on the cryptocurrency exchange. Bitfinex encourages high volume traders and users who wish to get full access to the platform’s advanced features to opt for the third verification level.

Since you are considering using Bitfinex to buy and trade cryptocurrencies, we compiled a comprehensive list of the best cryptocurrencies to buy now to help you make informed decisions.

How Bitfinex Compares to Other Exchanges?

The best alternatives to Bitfinex are Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com. We compare these exchanges based on their trading fees, security measures, ease of use, KYC requirements, basic and advanced tools, and other factors.

Before we proceed, all the best alternatives to Bitfinex offer new users discounts and exclusive rewards when they register using a current referral code. So check out this crypto sign up bonus article to find the best referral codes for Coinbase, Binance,  Crypto.com, and MEXC.

That said, the top Bitfinex alternatives are summarized in the comparison table below.

Exchange	Bitfinex	Coinbase	Binance	Crypto.com	MEXC
Founded	2012	2018	2017	2016	2018
Founder	Raphael Nicolle and Giancarlo Devasini	Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam	Changpeng Zhao (CZ)	Kris Marszalek	–
Features	Exchange Margin trading Margin funding (P2P lending) Derivatives trading Scaled orders	NFT Marketplace   Advanced trading tools Learning rewards Direct USD Deposit Futures	Futures and leveraged trading. Spot Trading Launchpad Binance Earn Web3 Wallet	Staking Crypto lending Crypto Visa Card Advanced Trading Tools	Launchpad Kickstarter Futures M-Day Spot Trading Copy Trading
Supported Cryptocurrencies	170+	200+	500+	250	2,700+
Margin Trading	Yes	Yes, but only on Coinbase Pro.	Yes	Yes	Yes
KYC	Required	Required	Required	Required	Yes, but not mandatory.
Security Measures	Offline fund storage 2FA Universal 2nd factor (U2F) IP address detection Withdrawal protection.	Cold wallet storage 2FA	2FA Address whitelisting Cold storage of crypto Insurance fund	2FA Cold storage for 90% of funds Anti-phishing codes	2FA Cold wallet storage Withdrawal address whitelisting
Ease of Use	Not beginner-friendly. Ideal for professionals	Suitable for beginners and experienced traders.	Ideal for beginners and advanced traders.	User-friendly interface	Not the most beginner-friendly
Customer Support	Good	Not satisfactory	Slow	Good	Could be better
Trading Fees	0.1% maker fees and 0.2% taker fees.	0.1% maker and taker orders in spot trading. 0.02% for makers and 0.055% for takers for futures..	0.10% for spot trading and 0.50% for instant buy and sell transactions.	0.25 maker and 0.5 taker fees.	0.1% for makers and takers. The fees go as low as 0%.
Trading Options	Spot trading Margin trading (over 600 pairs) Derivative trading P2P trading	Spot Futures trading Derivatives trading	Spot trading Futures P2P trading	Spot Futures Margin trading	Spot trading Futures contracts (USDT-M and Coin-M perpetual futures).
Payment Methods	Bank transfer Credit/debit card (via third parties) Crypto deposits Bitfinex Pay	Cryptocurrency Credit/debit cards Third-party services P2P trading.	Crypto Local bank transfers  Credit/debit cards Binance Pay4	Credit cards Debit cards Cryptocurrency.	Cryptocurrency Third-party payment providers P2P trading SEPA Bank transfers.
Restrictions (Available in the US)?	No	Yes	No, the global platform is not available in the US. It is only available in the US as Binance.US.	Yes	No

As discussed earlier, Bitfinex discontinued its services in the United States. So, US customers looking for alternatives can use Crypto.com or Coinbase. They are the best alternative to Bitfinex, and this Coinbase review covers everything you need to know about the cryptocurrency exchange, including trading fees and a step-by-step guide on how to get started.