What Is FTX?

FTX is a centralized crypto exchange created “by traders, for traders”, backed by significant trading companies in the industry, including Almeda Research, OTPP, Temasek, BlackRock, Coinbase Ventures and Sequoia Capital. As of 2022, the platform has over a million registered members, and the daily trading volume has reached billions of dollars. It supports over 300 cryptocurrencies for spot trading and offers products such as derivatives, options, prediction markets, leveraged tokens, tokenized stocks, OTC desk and volatility products.

Who Are the FTX Founders?

The Bahamas-based company was co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. FTX claims to be “built by traders, for traders” and the team hails from reputable Wall Street quant firms and technology companies such as Jane Street, Optiver, Susquehanna, Facebook and Google.

Sam Bankman-Fried, more widely known as SBF in the industry, is an entrepreneur and investor. He studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and graduated with a degree in physics and a minor in mathematics. Before creating FTX, he worked at Jane Street Capital and founded Alameda Research trading firm. As for Gary Wang, he serves as CTO of the company. Wang also graduated from MIT, and worked as a software engineer at Google building price aggregation systems, before teaming up with SBF to launch FTX in May 2019.

When Did FTX Launch?

The crypto derivatives trading platform was launched in May 2019.

Where Is FTX Located?

The company is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda, headquartered in the Bahamas.

FTX Restricted Countries

US residents cannot trade on the global platform, but a separate FTX.US exchange is available for US customers, only with reduced functionality and fewer crypto listed.

In addition, the exchange doesn’t open corporate or individual accounts for clients located or registered in the United States of America, Cuba, Crimea and Sevastopol, Luhansk People's Republic, Donetsk People's Republic, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, North Korea, or Antigua and Barbuda.

The platform does not register users from Ontario, Canada, and there may be potential limited restrictions in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Canada. Non-professional investors from Hong Kong may not access certain products, Brazil users are not permitted to use derivative products and all Japanese users are serviced on FTX Japan.

What Coins Are Supported on FTX?

The platform supports 300+ cryptocurrencies, among them BTC, ETH, SOL, LTC, XRP, DOGE.

How Much Are FTX Fees?

FTX applies a tiered maker/taker fee structure, commissions vary depending on the trading volume for 30 days and are between 0% to 0.02% for maker fees, and 0% to 0.07% for taker fees.

Moreover, users may be charged up to 0.10% for withdrawals. Creation and redemption of leveraged tokens are charged 0.10% and daily management fees are 0.03% (FTX currently offers XRP, BNB, TRX, BTC, ETH, EOS, USDT, LEO leveraged tokens).

Is It Possible To Use Leverage or Margin Trading on FTX?

The crypto exchange offers advanced trading opportunities for both experienced traders and newbie investors: spot trading, margin trading, futures trading are available to users.

FTX supports up to 20X leverage. On the spot, qualified users have access to up to 10X markets leverage. Rates are determined by lenders, paid every hour. Also, FTX Futures offers cross-margin for a fairly wide range of coins.