What is OKEX?
OKEX is a Chinese exchange platform with more than $1.14 billion in trading volume (according to OKEX Coinmarketcap). Being founded in 2014, OKEX is considered to be one of the largest exchanges in the world. After the infamous crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges in China in 2017, the company was forced to move to another OKEX exchange location. It is currently operating in Hong Kong.
The exchange functions both as a web site with OKEX API as well as a desktop application. Apart from offering coin-to-coin operations which are typical for the majority of traditional exchanges, OKEX also allows its users to engage in fiat-to-crypto trading. However, this is only applicable for Chinese clients, since Chinese Yuan is the only currency which is accepted here, but at the same time the platform includes well over a hundred different altcoins.
As OKEX Wiki states, there are more than 400 trading pairs on OKEX. Most of the trading pairs are against Bitcoin, Ethereum or USDT. OKEX has also recently released its own token called OKB which is the equivalent of Binance’s native token BNB. It’s current price is about $4,5 per token. It’s worth mentioning that OKEX allows its users to vote with their OKB tokens on which ICO should be added next to the exchange. There are plenty of altcoins that haven’t been added yet, but you are able to come over and vote for a specific coin to increase its chances of being listed. Check out OKEX Twitter or OKEX Reddit for the latest OKEX news.
The OKEX exchange features a lot of sophisticated instruments for active traders (OKEX futures, margin trading short selling and so on). When it comes to margin trading, you can actually profit off a maximum of 1:20 leverage which is the highest ratio of any cryptocurrencies exchanges or CFD brokers. As mentioned above, these tools are not beginner-friendly, so use them at your own risk. On top of that, OKEX has recently added algorithmic trading tools.
Security Measures
Despite the popularity and a huge OKEX volume, there hasn’t been a confirmed hack yet. Back in 2017, there was a report about hackers who had allegedly stolen $3 million from OKEX, but there was a knee-jerk reaction from the company which remained unfazed and swiftly denied the accusations. OKEX’s safety measures include:
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cold storage with a portion of funds;
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secured documents with private keys;
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SoA encryption.
How to Use OKEX?
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The first thing that you want to do is to fill out the sign-up form with some basic data.
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After creating your account, you can deposit some tokens to OKEX. The security measures require 2FA and fund password that is used only for depositing or withdrawing funds to/from your account. If you want to deposit money to your spot (main) account, simply copy the wallet address and send the specific amount of coins to OKEX USA from your hot/cold wallet.
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Once you’ve done that, you can go ‘Charts’ section where all of the available assets are listed. As you can see, there are numerous trading pairs for different markets (including its native token OKB). To look at a complex chart with in-depth price analysis of any coin (for example, OKEX IOTA or OKEX Tron), simply click on the ‘Full-Screen Trading’ button (you can add various indicators, trading tools and change the desirable timeframe).
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Go to the ‘Token Trading’ section where you can see BTC (Bitcoin) being traded against USDT (Tether). Below the current price, you there is a chart which conveniently displays the most recent price fluctuations. The ‘Buy/Sell’ section is placed on the left where one is able to choose either a limit order or a market order. If you opt for the limit order, you can alter or cancel it at any time unless it gets fulfilled.
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In order to engage in future trading, you have to successfully go through a small questionnaire which is aimed at determining your level of trading proficiency (whether you are professional enough to take part in active trading without significant losses).
OKEX Fees
Practically any OKEX review states that one of its main advantages is extremely low trading fees. OKEX fees paid by the customers are determined by the average daily trading volume over the past 30 days. The highest maker fee is set at 0,15% while the taker fee reaches only 0,2%. At the same time, these fees can be reduced to only 0,002% and 0,05% for the makers and the takers respectively.
Withdrawal of Funds
If there is a need to withdraw funds, simply go to your account and select the ‘Token Withdraw’ option. New users have to add their personal wallet address to the system and specify the amount of money that has to be withdrawn to this address. Withdrawal limits differ for separate altcoins (for example, the minimum withdrawal amount for Ethereum is set at 0.01 ETC).
Speaking of maximum withdrawal limits, it all comes down to verification.
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Unverified |
0 BTC |
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Level 1 |
2-100 BTC per day |
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Level 2 (requires ID verification) |
Unlimited amount |
By the way, OKEX has been subjected to some criticism from its users who reportedly had issues with the verification process or withdrawals. OKEX reviews contain information about withdrawals being suspended for as long as 3 months.
Dan Burgin
Alex Dovbnya