Phemex.com 2023 Review – Pros and Cons of Trading on Phemex

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Company Background

With more than two million active users worldwide, Phemex is one of the largest and most advanced crypto trading and investing platforms ever. Its name is associated with trust and reliability. The platform offers unlimited trading, buying and selling cryptocurrencies, and the possibility to manage risk and trade with ease.

The exchange is best-known for its user-oriented approach to obtain improved insights into users’ needs. In this way, they can meet user demand and provide targeted solutions. Phemex is based in Singapore, but it’s available to users all over the world. Some of its founders were Morgan Stanley executives.

Restricted Jurisdictions and Persons

The platform is not available to citizens, residents, or agents of the US, the UK, Canada’s provinces of Québec and Alberta, Sevastopol, Iran, Cuba, Crimea, Syria, North and South Korea, China, Sudan, Hong Kong, Bermuda, and Republic of Seychelles. People on sanctions list or equivalent maintained by the UK or US government or the European Union and those planning to transact with restricted persons or territories are also not allowed on the platform.

Phemex Beginner’s Guide:

What makes the Platform unique?

Phemex offers unique ways to earn interest on crypto deposits and impressive leverage: up to 100 times your initial investment. Interest can be earned on unused Bitcoin and Tether stored on Phemex via Flexible or Fixed savings.

Interest on Crypto Holdings – Passive Income

Flexible vs. Fixed

If you choose flexible, you can earn interest as well as deposit and withdraw at any time. There is no long-term commitment. The best thing about it is the high return rate, a welcome feature considering the extended bear market we have been in. To sign up for this, you only have to transfer funds from your Phemex spot wallet to your Flexible Savings account. You’ll start getting interest as soon as funds arrive.

The second option is Fixed Saving, where users can earn more interest on Bitcoin and Tether for a fixed interval. As expected, the return rate is more stable and higher compared to Flexible Saving. The platform does not support early withdrawal at the moment.

What can be traded?

Phemex offers spot trading, contractual trading (Perpetual Futures contracts), and an advanced trading platform. Their most popular market is spot trading, because it focuses on easy to trade and understand assets. With Phemex leverage, which is up to 100 times the initial investment, you can make a huge profit, but it’s very risky.

50 Contracts

Users can trade around 50 contracts (cryptocurrencies) as of time of writing. There is also margin trading, perpetual asset trading, and other options on this comprehensive, customizable, and highly precise platform. You can also earn interest on staking using your existing assets and trade gold futures. In the future, the app will make a number of non-crypto trading options available, such as the following, among others:

• Interest rates
• Major stock indices
• Foreign exchange currencies
• Energy contracts
• Commodities
• Precious metals

Perpetual contracts are like futures except they have no end period. For each execution, makers adding quotes to the order book get rebates. Conversely, takers pay a fee for removing liquidity from the Phemex order book. The platform does not charge any overnight fees.

What Altcoins are supported?

Phemex supports around 50 crypto assets, which are universally recognizable. This is enough for the majority of traders and investors. You don’t need to trade or exchange these assets to obtain them. The following are available, among others:

• BTC
• ETH
• DOGE
• USDT
• XRP
• ADA
• ATOM
• LINK
• ALGO

Phemex is always adding more crypto assets to its roster. The total amount of supported altcoins is more than 150.

Payment Methods

Phemex uses a number of third-party payment services to let users buy cryptocurrencies immediately and without any hassles. Payment methods include debit card, credit card, and bank transfer, which applies for supported jurisdictions only. The platform supports many fiat currencies, so it’s possible to make payment in local currency and save on currency exchange fees. The full list of supported fiat is in the respective section below.

Buy Cryptocurrencies with Fiat

Through Third-Party Services

You can buy cryptocurrencies using sovereign funds via Legend Trading, an OTC partner of Phemex, or a third-party service. Legend Trading is available to residents of jurisdictions where Phemex supports bank transfers. The system deposits the assets to the Phemex wallet once settled.

The third-party services available are Coinify, Mercuryo, Banxa, MoonPay, etc. You can pay for them by credit card.

If you navigate to “Buy Crypto with Credit Card” in the top drop down menu right next to the logo, you will be shown this easy to understand interface:

P2P Crypto Purchase – Payment Methods

With Phemex, traders can not only buy and sell cryptocurrencies on the spot market or opt for derivatives trading (with up to 100x leverage), but also conduct peer-to-peer exchanges. If a user wants to sell cryptocurrencies, he must specify a payment method in advance, which will be displayed to the buyer so that he knows which payment methods are accepted by the seller.

• AdvCash RUB
• Alpha-Bank RUB
• Bank Transfer (Brazil)
• Transfiya
• Capitalist RUB
• Cash in Person
• Daviplata/Rappipay
• Mercadopago
• Movii
• Nequi
• Pag Seguro
• Payeer RUB
• PicPay
• Pix
• Qiwi RUB
• RUB Cards
• Sberbank RUB
• Tinkoff RUB
• Tpaga
• VTB Rub
• Yoomoney RUB

Phemex Trading Fees

Maker and Taker Fees

They apply a classic “maker-taker” fee model. The former adds funds to the market and the latter takes funds away from it. This fee setup gives “makers” rewards by charging lower fees per transaction to stimulate them to improve liquidity, which accelerates markets. It “punishes” takers for decelerating them by charging higher transaction fees. The fee is just 0.075% for market takers and there is a rebate of -0.025% for makers.

Other Fees

On Phemex, crypto deposits are free. If you use a third party and pay via bank transfer of SEPA, they’re also free. MasterCard and VISA charge up to 2%. Premium users don’t pay fees on spot trading. It’s not possible to withdraw from Phemex in fiat. You can withdraw only in crypto and the fee depends on the asset. It can change contingent upon market conditions. It’s best to check right before you decide to withdraw. The platform processes withdrawals at 8:00, 16:00, and 23:00 UTC daily.

Maximum Withdrawal

The maximum withdrawal for standard users is 2 BTC per day. There is no withdrawal limit for premium users. Before you can withdraw, you must have made at least one legitimate deposit and must have enabled two-factor authentication. No fee is charged on withdrawals in NEO and USDT-TRC20.

Is there a Demo Account?

Yes, you can learn the ropes on the so-called Phemex Testnet. It’s a great way to try out different trading strategies without risking your funds.

Signup

Signup is relatively easy and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. You’re asked to create a password and verify your email. Now, you can buy crypto and start trading. No further verification is required.

However, a verification form pops up right after registration. But you can simply close that popup. You do not have to fill this out right away to be able to navigate further in the account:

However, if you want to withdraw or remove certain restrictions and limitations, you need to undergo full identity verification. The platform will ask you to upload your ID and complete a facial verification. Then, you’re asked to choose between an institutional or individual account. The next step is to make a deposit of crypto or fiat. Choose the price and asset and the platform will execute the trade at once. Typically, crypto settlements show up in the Phemex wallet instantly and fiat ones appear within two hours.

Dashboard Walkthrough

Phemex has a typical dashboard for spot and contract trading where cryptocurrency exchanges go. You see a dropdown menu at the top of the page, listing the trading pairs supported. Right below that, there are “Buy” and “Sell” boxes, where you can make an order. The pending trade feed or order book is on the right. Next to that is the advanced chart showing trading volume and price movement. On the far right is the list of settled trades. To help users reduce loss and maximize profit, the dashboard allows three kinds of limit orders. More information is available in the section “Order Types” below.

Minimum Deposit

This exchange has very low minimum deposits. They differ depending on the crypto: 0.00000001 USDT, 0.00000001 ETH, 0.00000001 XRP, 0.00000001 LINK, etc.

Order Types

Phemex offers multiple order types to meet different traders’ needs. These include the standard limit, market, stop loss, and take profit, but also some special ones, such as “Close on trigger.” Below is some more information about them.

Limit orders

Limit orders specify the minimum or maximum price that a user wants to buy or sell at. They help reduce trading costs, but don’t provide a guarantee for execution. In other words, your order might not be filled, especially if it is far out of the market.

Market orders

The platform executes market orders at current market prices at once. You might prefer this option for urgent orders. When choosing the type of action, pay attention to the order book to avoid high market impact costs.

Take profit orders

Take profit orders are executed when the price of your asset goes up. To increase the likelihood of closing a position, it’s best to use this order type rather than limit orders. You can do this by instructing the platform to execute a limit or market order only when the preset trigger price is reached.

Stop loss orders

These are executed when the price of your asset drops. They work by entering a minimum price, at which you want the platform to execute your order and close your position. This helps reduce the funds you can lose. There are two strategies, with which this type of order is recommended: as an automatic tool to enter the market when you want without waiting and as a risk-management tool to limit losses on existing positions.

Advanced orders

Phemex also offers some more special orders, which you can use in conjunction with some of the options already discussed.

Conditional orders

These orders are submitted automatically when a specified criterion is met. To activate them, the user must specify a trigger price based on the mark price, the index price, or the last traded price. Generally, professional traders use this option with advanced strategies.

Close on trigger

You can use this additional order type with most Stop Loss and Take Profit orders. You just check the “Close On Trigger” box. It’s considered a “high-priority” order. The platform will try to cancel other open orders for the same pair if there isn’t enough margin to execute the order. It can only be used to lower a position and if there’s the probability it will cause an increase, it will automatically cancel. This type of order is used if the market reverses.

Post only order

Last but not least, these limit orders are not accepted if they execute immediately. Traders place them when they don’t want to take liquidity. They often use them to submit passive orders that earn Maker fees. You can access them from the stop loss, limit, or Take Profit order section. Just check the box marked “Post-Only.”

Details on leveraged Trading

As mentioned, the platform offers up to 100 times the amount you deposit. Also known as margin trading, this type of trading involves funds borrowed from the exchange. Traders opt for it to maximize their profit. It enables them to trade and profit using much more funds than what you actually dispose of.

Since leveraged trading is very risky, it’s recommended to practice first. This is possible on the Phemex Testnet. The coins you can use to practice are BTC, ETH, ADA, USDT, XRP, and LINK.

You must apply separately for Phemex’s All-Star program, a higher-level referral tier. Participants get a 50% commission on all trading fees they gather from other members. They can invite people to join, thereby becoming eligible for an additional 10% commission.

All Stars can track their progress using the All-Star commission system. The exchange also provides reliable resources to help them achieve better results. What’s more, it encourages them to try to draw new users by offering a bonus of up to $100.

Professional Chart

Phemex offers precise charts, customization, thorough insights, a decent user interface, and flexibility. It fetches chart info from TradingView, one of the most trusted and best known chart services in the world.

You can customize the charts to meet your needs. You can choose various time intervals, use indicators, draw lines, compare assets, etc. There’s no shortage of ways to enhance your trades. You can manage leverage, place orders, and more from the left panel of the trading section.

Which Fiat Currencies are supported to trade against?

Supported fiat currencies include:

• US dollar (USD)
• British pound (GBP)
• Euro (EUR)
• Japanese yen (JPY)
• Australian dollar (AUD)
• Mexican peso (MXN)
• Hong Kong dollar (HKD)
• Singapore dollar (SGD)

Trade Alerts & Copy Trading

You can see the options on the alerts page. You get signals as to whether the outlook for a given crypto is bullish or bearish, on-chain signals, and possibly exchange signals. There are also indicators for derivatives trading. Another way to possibly enhance profits is to follow successful traders on the platform and copy their trading style. You can find all recent performances of top traders on the Copy Trading page:

Top Trader Competition

All major margin trading platforms run trader competitions with attractive rewards, and Phemex is no exception. To be included in the rankings, certain requirements must be met, such as a minimum trading volume of $20,000 in a given period.

Mobile App

Phemex has a well-designed mobile app, which mirrors the desktop experience. It’s possible to buy crypto from the app. All the features needed to trade efficiently are there. You can download the app on Android and iOS devices. On Google Play, it is rated 4.6 out of 5 by a total of ‎17,364 people. On the App Store, its rating is 4.5 out of 5 based on a total of ‎1,135 reviews. There are very few negative reviews on Google Play and Apple Store.

Security Measures

Phemex has developed and implemented an offline wallet it calls “Hierarchical Deterministic Cold Wallet System.” Each user is assigned a separate offline deposit address. The platform collects all deposited funds periodically in its multi-sig offline wallet for extra safety. Each withdrawal request undergoes rigorous scrutiny.

Phemex deploys and secures its system on the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Cloud. A number of firewalls are used to separate different machines and zones for different trading purposes. Management protocols for the internal network control access among other levels of security.

2FA

The exchange applies two-factor authentication to keep user accounts safe. The system triggers 2FA automatically when you try to log in, fund your account, change your password, or perform another important operation. This makes users carry out additional authentication to enhance account safety and security.

Any past hacks?

Phemex is one of the few crypto exchanges that have never been hacked. It also has some of the lowest fees in the industry.

Customer Support

You can contact Phemex customer support by live chat by clicking an icon, which you’ll find in the lower right-hand corner of the homepage. You can also get in touch by phone. They have designated numbers for support, product feedback, to report bugs or other issues, or to make a complaint.

Conclusion

Pros

• Highly-rated mobile app
• Low fees
• Allows real-time “spot” investing
• Accepts deposits in different cryptocurrencies
• Fiat-to-crypto purchases

Cons

• Requires withdrawal fees for most cryptos
• Does not currently offer lending services
• Complex fee structure
• Minimum withdrawal amounts

This exchange is perfect for intermediate or professional investors who place value on security, are interested in competitive trading, and want to earn interest on BTC and USDT. This isn’t to say novices should stay away. Phemex has one of the biggest learning portals of all exchanges out there and it’s accessible to anyone. It has many guides, which can help you master the basics and work your way up to advanced and professional trading options.

The “Academy” section focuses on how cryptocurrencies work. You will learn how to trade in the trading section. Some guides elaborate on the basics, while others are more comprehensive, covering all essential trading aspects. You’ll find the latest crypto news on their blog.