What Is Bitfinex?
Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange platform that was launched in 2012.
It was founded by Philip Potter, a Yale graduate and experienced entrepreneur, in collaboration with Giancarlo Devasini, an ex-physician and early Bitcoin adopter turned fintech entrepreneur. As of November 2020, Potter is no longer with the company, while Devasini is its current chief financial officer (CFO).
The exchange is based in Hong Kong but has an international team spread across the globe. Moreover, as a globally-focused cryptocurrency exchange platform, Bitfinex offers its services to users in the vast majority of countries. The platform does not offer its services to users in the United States.
Self-described as the "longest-running and most liquid cryptocurrency exchange," Bitfinex has maintained its position in the top 10 cryptocurrency spot exchange by trading volume for much of its existence and currently supports well over 100 different cryptocurrencies.
What Does Bitfinex Specialize In?
Bitfinex’s stand out feature is its cryptocurrency spot exchange platform, which currently features well over 300 different markets, many of which have excellent liquidity.
But like many cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitfinex has grown its product offering in the last several years and now offers far more than simple spot trading.
Among its more popular additional products include a cryptocurrency margin trading platform with up to 5x leverage, which is combined with a peer-to-peer lending platform for margin funding. Bitfinex remains one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges that offer user-funded margin loans.
As a platform built for both professional and less experienced traders, Bitfinex also supports a wide variety of order types, and offers a simple paper trading platform to allow users to test their trading strategies entirely risk-free using a simulated trading environment.
Bitfinex is also widely regarded as one of the leading platforms for institutional traders, and offers a wide variety of specialized features for these users—including dedicated support, co-location options, and over-the-counter (OTC) trading, advanced security, and more.
The Bitfinex Coin
Like many popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitfinex has its own native utility token, known as UNUS SED LEO (LEO).
UNUS SED LEO was launched following a massive $1 billion token sale in May 2019, and is used to unlock a variety of perks for holders on Bitfinex and associated platforms. As per the project whitepaper, some of the benefits of holding UNUS SED LEO tokens include:
- A 15% reduction of Bitfinex taker fees;
- An up to 5% discount on Bitfinex lending fees;
- Reduced or potentially free fiat withdrawals and deposits.
The LEO token is currently available as both an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, and an EOS token. The two versions can be freely interconverted using a tool provided on the Bitfinex wallets page.
What Bonuses Is Bitfinex Known For?
Though Bitfinex typically doesn’t offer any direct incentives for new users, it often runs a variety of competitions that generally see users rewarded for completing certain tasks—such as participating in events or winning a trading competition.
Beyond this, Bitfinex has an active affiliate program that has three degrees of rewards. Users can earn as much as 18% in commission from referral fees generated by their connections, plus potential multipliers if they or their connections meet certain requirements; such as verifying their account of holding a minimum amount of UNUS SED LEO tokens.
