Phemex Review – Is This Crypto Exchange Legit?

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By Alex Halstedt

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Phemex Review

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Phemex Review

  • Trading Platform
  • Ease of Use
  • Fees
  • Trading Tools
  • Platforms Offered
  • Customer Service
  • Platform & Account Security
4.4

Summary

Finding the right derivatives exchange platform can be a challenge, but Phemex says it’s here to help. Phemex is a derivatives exchange platform designed for both brand new and well-experienced traders. This centralized exchange includes futures contracts, a spot trading market, simulated trading, an OTC market, a crypto converter, and more. Should you sign up for Phemex now? Before you dive in, read our complete and thorough Phemex review.

Pros

  • 100x leverage on perpetual contracts with a large number of trading pairs including Gold/USD
  • Traditional spot trading 
  • TestNet for risk-free simulated trading
  • Supports orders such as limit orders and market orders
  • Availability to buy crypto with a credit card or transfer from a bank account
  • Zero trading fees on the spot market for Phemex Premium users
  • A large number of customer support resources
  • Decent security measures in place
  • Passive income opportunities via the Earn Interest and Referral programs

Cons

  • Not available for certain residents within restricted territories including the U.S. and the U.K.
  • Exchange does have a warning from the FCA about operating without a license

The Phemex platform has become a popular derivatives exchange in recent years. The crypto trading platform has seen an increase in new crypto traders as well as a correlated growing trading volume. But what does this derivatives exchange have to offer that makes it stand out amongst other derivatives exchanges? Is Phemex safe? Is the Phemex exchange regulated?

In this Phemex review, we will aim to answer those questions, as well as any other questions you may have. This Phemex review will give a comprehensive overview of the exchange and all that Phemex offers, including:

  • A brief history of the exchange
  • The various trading platforms available to buy or sell digital assets on the Phemex website
  • Trading fees and other Phemex fees
  • Customer support
  • Security
  • The registration process for opening a Phemex account to start trading

As this Phemex review only aims to inform the reader of the services that Phemex offers, the contents within this article should not be taken as investment advice. By the end of this article, you will have the information needed to decide whether Phemex is the right exchange for you.

Phemex Main

History of the Phemex Exchange

The Phemex trading platform was founded in 2019 by Jack Tao and a group of eight different former Morgan Stanley executives. The exchange was designed to provide the utmost excellence in user experience by relying on the company’s extensive experience in Wall Street risk management. The Phemex exchange is located in Singapore.  

Is the Phemex Exchange Regulated?

Phemex is a centralized exchange, but it is not fully regulated. The company is registered with FinCen under the United States Treasury Department but does not hold a license to conduct cryptocurrency trading of any form. Similarly, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK has issued a warning against Phemex for operating without an authorized license. Phemex users should be aware of this when using the platform. Generally, US citizens are not allowed to lawfully trade perpetual contracts using cryptocurrency.

Additionally, the Phemex exchange is not available for citizens of the following countries:

  • United States of America
  • United Kingdom
  • Québec (Canada)
  • Bermuda
  • Cuba
  • Sevastopol
  • Crimea
  • Syria
  • Iran
  • China
  • North Korea
  • South Korea
  • Sudan
  • Hong Kong
  • Republic of Seychelles

Phemex Trading Platform

Whether you are looking to buy or sell digital assets or participate in the contract trading of perpetual contracts, Phemex has a market available for you. The Phemex user interface is designed in a way that is easy to understand and navigate for new and experienced traders alike. Standard order types are supported, such as market orders that trigger immediately on current market price, as well as limit orders that execute when the price reaches the limit price/trigger price. 

The interface features chart integration with Trading View, offering some of the best technical analysis tools in the industry. A running order book, position management, and trade history are also available within the Phemex user interface. Read on to learn more about the Phemex trading platforms and the offerings associated with each.

Spot Trading Market

Phemex offers a spot trading market for those looking to buy or sell actual digital assets (as opposed to contract trading, which is based on the price of an underlying asset). Phemex currently has 37 different assets tradable in a trading pair with USDT. Phemex users can trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and a wide variety of mainstream cryptocurrencies. 

Phemex Spot

Futures Contracts

For those interested in leverage trading, Phemex offers contract trading of perpetual contracts based on the price of an underlying crypto asset. In this market, users can utilize leveraged financial instruments to trade USD-settled contracts with up to 100x leverage. Currently, Phemex offers 38 different trading pairs in this market. Gold/USD is also available for perpetual contracts, with more commodities and stock indexes likely to be supported in the future.

Using limit orders and market orders, users can purchase perpetual contracts for a long position, or sell perpetual contracts for a short position. This effectively allows a trader to be able to trade the market in both directions. This style of crypto trading is usually reserved for experienced traders due to the inherent risk that comes with the 100x leverage trading of futures contracts.

Phemex Contracts

Crypto Converter

Another feature of the Phemex platform is the Crypto Converter. This is a simple and straightforward service that allows Phemex account holders to convert their holdings from one crypto asset to another. Within a matter of minutes, users can convert Bitcoin, USDT, or USD into BTC or USD. An option is available to send the funds to the user’s contract trading account once the conversion process is complete, otherwise, the funds will deposit in the user’s Phemex wallet.

Phemex Convert

Simulated Trading

For the new trader that is unfamiliar with the mechanics that come with crypto trading, Phemex offers a Simulated Trading market. With this crypto trading platform, users can use a Phemex demo account to test out new trading strategies and learn the fundamentals without taking any risk. The Simulated Trading market offers simulation for both spot trading and contract trading. Overall, this is an invaluable service to help those newcomers before they start trading with an account that has real funds.

Phemex Testnet

Buy Crypto With Credit Card

Phemex offers its users the ability to easily buy cryptocurrency with a credit card through various 3rd party companies including Simplex, Moonpay, Coinify, Banxa, and Mercuryo. With this platform, assets such as Bitcoin, LINK, XRP, ETH, DOGE, and more can be purchased using Visa, MasterCard, POLi, UnionPay, and ApplePay. 

To get started with this, users can choose their asset of choice and the service they feel provides the best exchange rate via a specified price. Once the user has made their choice, the purchased cryptocurrency will arrive in their wallet within a matter of minutes. 

Phemex Credit Card

OTC Market

Similar to the credit card option, Phemex also offers the ability to purchase cryptocurrency using a bank transfer. To use the bank transfer method, users will need to complete KYC information. Once the information is verified, users can make a bank transfer to deposit funds onto the platform in exchange for their desired cryptocurrency. Within 2 hours, the assets will be deposited into the user’s Phemex wallet. Assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and USDT are supported with this method. Wire transfers have zero fees associated with this method of funding.

Phemex Otc

Other Features on the Phemex Exchange

Phemex has a number of different features available on their platform outside of the spot and derivatives exchange. These services aim to provide a degree of accessibility for every Phemex user, regardless of their skill level or trading experience. Some of these programs are designed to reward their users as well as offer the opportunity for passive income.

Phemex Premium

If you’re interested in paying zero trading fees, Phemex Premium might be worth looking into. This program is essentially a VIP membership that allows users to reap benefits such as zero fees on spot trades, discounted trading fees with contract trading, hourly withdrawals with no limits, and support for conditional orders. 

Phemex Premium is available in a number of different ways. Users can buy Premium membership for periods of 30 days, 90 days, and 365 days. Premium membership can also be attained by completing certain tasks via social media as well as tasks oriented on the exchange website itself. A 7-day trial to Phemex Premium is also granted to new users who sign up with the exchange.

Zero Phemex fees can be ideal for the trader that consistently has a high monthly trading volume, as it allows the user to retain more of their profits. The casual trader will have to factor in the overall cost with their average monthly profits to determine whether the zero fees program is worth it for their own trading strategies. It should be noted that KYC is mandated to be able to use this service. 

Phemex Premium
Phemex Premium Free
Phemex Premium Direct Purchase

Referral Program

The Phemex trading platform also has a referral program to incentivize new users to join the Phemex website. Users can obtain a unique link that they can then send to their friends, which prompts them to set up an account with the exchange. For every referral, a user can get a 10% discount on taker fees on the perpetual contracts market, as well as 50% of their referral’s welcome bonus. Their referred friends will also receive a 10% discount on the perpetual contracts market, as well as a 7-day membership to Phemex Premium, where they can enjoy zero fees on the spot market. 

Phemex Referral

Phemex All-Star Program

If you are someone with a massive reach on social media, the Phemex All-Star Program might be a great fit for you. This is essentially the same as the aforementioned Referral Program, except that it allows you to permanently receive up to 50% commission on the trades your referrals make. If you happen to refer to the exchange a social media “All-Star” that has a massive reach, you can earn an extra 10% commission on their referrals. Referring up to 100 users could potentially earn you up to $2500 a month depending on the trading volume of those users.

Phemex All-Star

Welcome Bonus

For new users, a Welcome Bonus of up to $100 is available and can be claimed by successfully completing certain tasks such as funding an account with a specified amount and making trades with a specified trading volume. In addition to having zero fees on the spot market via the 7-day Premium membership that comes with a new account, this can be a great way to bolster the value of an account. 

Phemex Bonus
Phemex Advanced Bonus
Phemex Trading Bonus

Earn Interest

Phemex has a new program that allows users to earn interest on their crypto-asset holdings in a passive manner. There are options for a 7-day lockup period as well as a flexible period that allows for withdrawal at any time. Each type of lockup period has unique interest rates, with the 7-day period having a slightly higher rate. Currently, only USDT and BTC are supported, with interest rates up to 8.5% APY. Phemex has stated that more cryptocurrencies will be supported in the future.

Phemex Earn

Events

Phemex has regular trading events on their platform that award users for having the most trading volume on designated trading pairs during a set period of time. Typically, these events usually take place with futures contract trading only. Winners will receive their reward in the designated cryptocurrency that is being traded (such as Ethereum on an ETH/USD-based contest).

Phemex Event

Phemex Trading Fees and Other Associated Fees

The trading fees model for spot trading is a flat fee model, with non-Premium users and API traders paying a 0.1% fee on all transactions. A minimum of 10 USDT is required to make a trade. Premium users can enjoy zero transaction fees with every trade.

Trading on the contracts market incurs a flat Maker/Taker fee model of 0.075% for Taker fees, and 0.025% for Maker fees. While Phemex does not charge overnight fees for contracts positions, a funding fee is charged every 8 hours. Funding fees are a common exchange mechanic that allows a user to keep a leveraged position open for a long duration of time. 

The fees Phemex charges for withdrawal fees greatly depend upon whether the transaction is coming from the standard Phemex wallet, or from the trading account used for contracts. Phemex withdrawal fees for transactions coming from the contracts trading account incur zero fees. 

The withdrawal fees for withdrawing a cryptocurrency from the platform into a user-owned external wallet have a set fee dependent upon the network conditions of each crypto asset. For this reason, the user is encouraged to look at the withdrawal fees associated with each asset, as they may be able to pay a lower fee with a different asset.

Making a Phemex deposit incurs zero fees on the platform. With no deposit fees, traders can get started with the full amount deposited into their accounts, which can then be used for spot trading or trading of perpetual contracts. 

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Customer Support and Resources

Phemex has a wealth of different resources available for customer support as well as information about the different services and the individual cryptocurrencies offered on the platform. If you’re new to the cryptocurrency scene, this can be a great place to get started, as being informed is an invaluable asset to have at your disposal. 

A Help Center is provided to answer any question a user may have about the services on the platform. Whether you have a question about your account or how certain markets work, the Help Center has a number of different articles available to provide you with the information needed. 

Phemex Help

The Phemex Academy takes this one step further and provides a large number of different articles relating to the cryptocurrency space. Users can find information about DeFi, technical analysis, as well as the underlying concepts of each cryptocurrency available on the Phemex trading platform. 

Phemex Academy

Another great resource on the Phemex exchange is their Earn and Learn program. Users can earn free cryptocurrency by watching informative videos and completing quizzes on each video. This program effectively incentivizes and rewards users who take the initiative to learn about the exchange and its underlying mechanisms.

Phemex Earn And Learn

Those wishing to stay updated on the latest news and announcements on the exchange can visit Phemex’s Blog. This resource not only covers the latest developments within the exchange but also covers topics related to the industry in general. 

Phemex Blog

Users that have an issue that requires personal attention can contact the Phemex customer support team directly by filling out a claim ticket with their information and any issue they may be experiencing. The customer support team will promptly get in touch with the user with a remedied solution to their issue.

Phemex Customer Support

Phemex Security

Phemex practices a number of different methods to ensure the safety of the exchange and the user accounts. All funds deposited on the exchange are held in offline cold storage wallets that require the use of multiple signatures to access. Withdrawals from cold storage are processed at three different time periods throughout the day, with a discerning eye looking for any malicious attacks or requests that may occur.

Likewise, the exchange has ensured the safety of their exchange by using Amazon Web Service cloud servers with extended firewall protection against any malicious attacks that may occur. Only whitelisted addresses can have access to the servers. Similarly, the underlying Trading Engine and CrossEngine that facilitate the exchange’s operations have been programmed to accommodate for the volatility often seen in the cryptocurrency market. 

Users can also add an extra degree of security to their accounts with the application of Two-Factor Authentication. This practice utilizes a 3rd party application that broadcasts a unique code every 30 seconds and is required to undertake certain account actions such as logins and withdrawals. 

Setting Up a Phemex Trading Account

Creating a Phemex account is relatively simple and straightforward. By clicking on the “Register Now” button on the Phemex website, users can get started with the registration process. The only things a user needs to register an account are a valid email and a password. Of course, if the user wishes to participate in any of the services such as Phemex Premium, they will have to provide information to complete KYC registration. 

Phemex Register

Phemex Review Conclusion

Though there are many derivatives and crypto exchanges available in the industry, Phemex stands out for offering a large number of different services to their customer base. New crypto traders and experienced traders alike will find use with the platform. It is a certainty that Phemex will likely gain more dominance within the space for the services they offer. 

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Alex Halstedt

Since 2012, Alex Hastedt has been fully immersed in the world of cryptocurrency. Since then, he’s continually educated himself on the latest developments within the crypto space. With over 3 years of formal business education, as well as over 5 years of trading experience (with over 400 hours of education), Alex commits to providing honest assessments of cryptocurrency projects and exchanges. It has become a personal mission of his to help educate those who may be new to the space, that they may not fall prey to poor decision making and other potential pitfalls he has witnessed others experience.

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