Disclaimer: Due to the collapse of FTX in November 2022, the information in this article about FTX is no longer relevant. If you are looking for a similar crypto exchange to FTX, here are our top recommendations:
What is FTX?
FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange focusing on trading, with a wide range of products including derivatives, options, volatility products and leveraged tokens. FTX's platform has plenty of features that experienced traders and professional trading firms will find invaluable, yet also offers basic spot trading that newcomers to the cryptocurrency market will appreciate.
NOTE: If you are from the US, you won't be able to access FTX. However, you can access the sister site, FTX US. Click here to read our full review on FTX US.
My Overall Thoughts on FTX
FTX is a relatively young cryptocurrency exchange that has quickly built up a reputation as a robust and fully-featured trading platform. I had heard a lot about FTX, and I was very impressed when I opened my own account and saw the range of derivatives I can trade. These are the three main reasons I would recommend FTX to both crypto newbies and experienced traders.
1) Over 275+ cryptocurrencies are supported on FTX, so you can definitely find some coins that you are interested in investing in. The range of coins is regularly growing, as FTX adds more options to their platform.
2) Deposit to FTX in 10 different fiat currencies with no fees, and trade from only 0.02/0.07% maker/taker fees. You can discount your fees if you are a large-volume trader as well as if you hold FTT coin. You can also receive 5% off all your trading fees if you sign up with this link.
3) Spot trading is available for beginners, while experienced traders can enjoy trading futures, stocks, leveraged tokens and more. Plenty of options no matter what level of crypto experience you have.
Please note that FTX is not available in the USA due to strict regulation. However, there is a separate site called FTX US (see review) that is supported in the States.
A couple of downsides of FTX is the expensive fiat withdrawal fees of $75, and no live chat support. If you are looking for an advanced crypto trading platform that has 24/7 live chat support, check out Bybit. Bybit offers 280+ coins, spot trading, derivatives trading, and margin trading with up to 100x leverage. Read our full Bybit review here.
Key Features & Advantages of FTX
Users will find a lot to love about FTX, and here I have listed the best features and advantages to using this platform. Click on any of the jump links to read more information.
Negatives and Disadvantages of FTX
Although FTX is an excellent trading platform, there are a few points where they could improve. To read more about these points, click on the jump links below.
What Services does FTX offer?
Let's take a look at what FTX offers, that has made them become such a popular cryptocurrency exchange around the world.
Quickly and easily swap one coin or currency to another: FTX has an easy option for those that want to quickly swap their fiat or cryptocurrency to another coin. It is right there on the home page once you have logged into your account, and it simple for even complete beginners to use. Select which coin (including fiat currencies) you want to convert from, and which coin you want. Select the quantity of the coin you want to convert from, and click Convert to finish the transaction.
Mobile app for iOS and Android: FTX has a fully-featured app called FTX Pro that available for mobile devices. On Google Play store it has over 500,000+ downloads and a 4.6-star rating from 6,000 reviews. The interface is easy to navigate, and you still have access to all the derivatives markets that are found on the desktop site.
Over 275+ different cryptocurrencies supported: FTX offers a wide range of over 275+ coins on their platform, which is a decent number for most investors and traders. They are regularly adding more coins as well, so if there is something you are looking for and it is not currently on FTX, it may become available later.
Staking available - earn interest on your cryptocurrency: FTX offers staking on a few coins such as SOL, RAY and SRM. By staking your crypto, you are locking it up on the FTX exchange (you cannot sell or transfer it while it is staked) but in return you receive rewards paid in the crypto that you staked, similar to interest in a bank. For example, if you stake RAY you will receive 20% more RAY coins on an annualized basis.
Hold and stake FTX's token (FTT) for benefits: FTX has their own coin called FTT that you can purchase on their platform as well as some other crypto exchanges. You can gain benefits for staking FTT, including trading fee discounts, waived blockchain fees (receive number of free ERC20 and ETH withdrawals per day) and increased airdrop rewards. If you don't want to stake your FTT, you can just hold FTT in your account, and you automatically receive discounts on your trading fees with as little as $100 USD worth of FTT.
NFT marketplace - buy and sell NFTs: NFTs have become extremely popular, and FTX offers a marketplace for their users to get onboard. You can mint, buy, sell and store your NFTs on the FTX exchange.
1% of all net fees donated to charities: FTX is more than just another crypto exchange, they are also committed to making the world a better place. FTX was founded with the goal of donating to the world's most effective charities, and they donate 1% of all their net fees to charities. Currently they have donated over $14 million to charities which includes user donations, which they also match up to a certain limit.
FTX Pay - get paid in fiat or crypto: With FTX Pay you can send and receive payments in crypto or fiat using a fast, secure, and low-fee payment processor. This is not only useful for sending money between friends and family, but can also be used by merchants to accept payments from users. The funds can be sent straight to an FTX account or an external wallet.
Advanced markets - futures, stocks, leveraged tokens, volatility, forex: Users of FTX are able to access a huge range of markets that cannot be found on more basic crypto exchanges. You can see the available markets in the picture below, including futures, spot, stocks, leveraged tokens, volatility, prediction and fiat.
What I Don't Like About FTX
Not available in the USA: Unfortunately FTX is not available to residents of the USA because of stricter regulations. However, if you are in the US you can access the FTX US platform (read review) which is similar, but lacks derivatives trading; only spot trading is available.
No Live Chat support: FTX does not have any live chat support, which I find disappointing. They only have ticketed email support, which is not as responsive as I would like. If you are after a crypto exchange that has live chat support, you can consider using Kraken.
FTX Fees
FTX Deposit Fees
It is free to deposit cryptocurrency and fiat into FTX.
FTX Trading Fees
FTX charges 0.02% for makers and 0.07% for takers, with discounts based on increased trading volume, as per the following table. An additional bonus is 5% off trading fees if you simply sign up with this link!
30-day Trading Volume (USD) | Maker Fee | Taker Fee |
|---|---|---|
$0 - $2,000,000 | 0.020% | 0.070% |
> $2,000,000 | 0.015% | 0.060% |
> $5,000,000 | 0.010% | 0.055% |
> $10,000,000 | 0.005% | 0.050% |
> $25,000,000 | 0.000% | 0.045% |
> $50,000,000 | 0.000% | 0.040% |
If you hold FTT tokens (FTX's own coin), you also receive discounts on FTX trading fees. The discount you receive is based on how much FTT you hold, as shown in the table below.
FTT Holding (USD) | Discount on Trading Fees |
|---|---|
$100 | 3% |
$1,000 | 5% |
$5,000 | 10% |
$10,000 | 15% |
$50,000 | 20% |
$100,000 | 25% |
$200,000 | 30% |
$500,000 | 35% |
$1,000,000 | 40% |
$2,500,000 | 50% |
$5,000,000 | 60% |
FTX Fiat Withdrawal Fees
Fiat withdrawals of $5,000 and over are free for your first 5 transactions per rolling 7 day period. If you want to withdraw under $5,000, you are allowed one free withdrawal per rolling 7 day period.
If you have used up your free withdrawals, you will be charged a flat fee based on your fiat currency, as follows:
USD Withdrawal: 25 USD
CHF Withdrawal: 30 CHF
HKD Withdrawal: 250 HKD
CAD Withdrawal: 100 CAD
GBP Withdrawal: 75 GBP
EUR Withdrawal: 32 EUR
BRL Withdrawal: 0.3% + R$10
Other fiat currencies: No fee charged
FTX Crypto Withdrawal Fees
BTC (< 0.01 BTC): one free withdrawal per day, then user pays blockchain fees
BTC (> 0.01 BTC): free
ETH: user pays blockchain fees (unless FTT staked)
ERC-20 token: user pays blockchain fees (unless FTT staked)
All other crypto: free
If you have FTT staked, you will receive a number of free ETH or ERC-20 withdrawals each day. See the table below to see how it works.
FTT Staked | No. of free ETH & ERC-20 withdrawals per day |
|---|---|
0 | 0 |
25 | 1 |
150 | 3 |
1,000 | 10 |
10,000 | 30 |
50,000 | 100 |
250,000 | 300 |
1,000,000 | 1,000 |
Pros and Cons of FTX
- Over 275+ different cryptocurrencies & 10 fiat currencies supported
- Quickly and easily swap coins and fiat currencies
- Plenty of markets, perfect for derivatives traders
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
- Staking available on a few coins, including FTT which gives additional benefits
- Not available in the USA
- No live chat support
Verdict
FTX is an excellent choice of cryptocurrency exchange for both newcomers to crypto as well as experienced traders. They have really done a great job building a platform for advanced trading, with such a variety of investment markets such as futures, forex, volatility products and leveraged tokens. The fees are very competitive, starting at just 0.02% for makers and 0.07% for takers, with discounts for large trading volume and even for just holding FTT coins. Also, receive 5% discount on all your trading fees with this link.
With a variety of over 275+ coins and 10 fiat currencies, FTX is popular around the world. Unfortunately it is not available in the USA, but the good news is that there is another exchange FTX US (read our review here) which Americans can use. The site is similar, but only offers spot trading; the regulations in the USA are much stricter, so no derivatives trading is permitted. If you are after other excellent US-based crypto exchanges, click on this link to read my article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, FTX is a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2019. FTX was founded with the goal of donating to the world's most effective charities. FTX, its affiliates, and its employees have donated over $10m to help save lives, prevent suffering, and ensure a brighter future.
Yes, FTX is a safe cryptocurrency exchange, with all the usual security features you expect. FTX has also partnered with Chainalysis to monitor suspicious cryptocurrency transaction alerts in the Chainalysis Know Your Transaction (KYT) product, the real-time anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solution for monitoring cryptocurrency transactions. This combined with FTX's manual review of large or suspicious deposits and withdrawals assures an additional layer of protection.
Unfortunately FTX is not available in the USA, but the good news is that there's a FTX US site which Americans can use. It is similar, however FTX US only offers spot trading; the regulations in the USA are much stricter, so no derivatives trading is allowed.
FTX is a secure crypto exchange, and has never been hacked since its establishment in 2019. However, in saying that, even the most secure exchanges have a small chance of being hacked.
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