Bitmex vs Binance | Who Offers Best Trading & Lower Fees?
Jack Moreau
Apr 2024
10 min read
Fact checked
Bitmex vs Binance: Are you trying to decide which cryptocurrency exchange to use? Our in-depth analysis compares Bitmex vs Binance, covering key factors such as account setup, KYC requirements, trading fees, supported countries, and platform features. Keep reading to make an informed decision on which exchange is best for you!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
In the world of cryptocurrency trading, two exchanges that stand out (for different reasons) are Bitmex and Binance.
Bitmex was founded in 2014 by infamous Arthur Hayes and Ben Delo in Seychelles, while Binance was established in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao and is registered in the Cayman Islands.
Bitmex exchange
In terms of workforce, Bitmex has over 100 employees while Binance has an army of 6,400 employees. Despite Bitmex being estimated to have over 1 million users, Binance has the significantly larger user base with over 120 million users worldwide.
Both exchanges have made a name for themselves for their advanced trading features and wide range of supported cryptocurrencies. Bitmex is a peer-to-peer trading platform that deals exclusively with digital assets and supports up to 10-20 cryptocurrencies.
Its high leverage options make it popular among experienced traders enabling them to trade up to 100x leverage on selected pairs. Despite being available for almost all users worldwide, Bitmex has restrictions on certain countries, such as the US, Ontario, Japan, and Russian citizens.
On the other hand, Binance offers a more comprehensive suite of services, including spot trading, futures trading, staking, and DeFi products. It supports over 350 cryptocurrencies and numerous trading pairs, including popular digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and SOL.
Both Bitmex and Binance have mobile applications available on Android and IOS, with impressive app download numbers and ratings.
Bitmex has over 100,000 downloads and a rating of 4.4 based on over 1,000 reviews, while Binance has over 50 million downloads and a rating of 4.4 based on over 1 million reviews.
Binance app
While Bitmex is more popular among experienced traders looking for high-leverage trading options, Binance appeals to both beginners and experienced traders with its comprehensive suite of services and wide selection of cryptocurrencies.
Bitmex vs Binance Signup & KYC
When it comes to signing up for Bitmex or Binance, both exchanges require new users to complete a KYC verification process before they can access all the features of the platform.
To sign up for a Binance account, users can create an account in less than a minute by simply providing their email and password.
To unlock full account privileges, users must complete the KYC verification process, which includes submitting government-issued ID and other information.
This process typically takes between 15 minutes to 2-3 business days, depending on the volume of applicants.
Binance KYC
On the other hand, signing up for Bitmex only requires an email and password but similar to Binance, users must complete the KYC verification process to access the exchange's services.
This process can take up to 72 hours to get verified. Despite the difference in verification time, both exchanges prioritize the security of their users and require KYC verification to prevent fraud and ensure compliance with regulations.
Bitmex vs Binance Products & Services
Bitmex is a cryptocurrency platform that offers advanced trading features and leverages up to 100x.
Users can trade spot, perpetual contracts, futures, and margin trading. Bitmex's complex features and professional-grade tools are catered to institutional investors and experienced traders.
Bitmex derivatives trading
The average daily spot trading volume on Bitmex is however quite low and frequently in the range of $1-10 million which is not great.
On the other hand, Binance provides a variety of trading services that cater to different types of users.
These include spot trading, futures trading, margin trading, perpetual swaps (perps) and options trading. Binance's contracts settle perpetually or quarterly using USDT, BUSD, or other cryptocurrencies.
Binance spot trading
Binance also offers trading bots, copy trading, and leveraged tokens for more significant price movements.
The user experience on Binance is quite good considering the wide range of products, and liquidity is one of the best in the world, with daily spot trading volumes frequently exceeding $10 billion.
Binance leveraged tokens
Binance offers a max leverage of up to 125x on futures, and margin trading is available on Binance with up to 5x leverage with various underlying collateral.
In addition to the vast array of of trading products that Binance offers, they also provide access to a range of product that allow users to earn interest on their assets. This includes services such as earn products, staking rewards and other type of vaults.
When it comes to trading fees, Bitmex and Binance are both two exchanges that offer competitive fees.
Let's take a closer look at how their fees stack up against each other. First let's talk about Binance's trading fees.
This exchange charges a spot maker fee of 0.1% and a spot taker fee of 0.10%. For futures trading, Binance charges a maker fee of 0.02% and a taker fee of 0.04%.
Binance spot fees
These fees are already quite competitive, but they can be lowered further if you trade in high volumes or hold a certain amount of BNB tokens. So if you're a high-volume trader or a BNB holder, Binance is the perfect exchange for you.
Now let's move on to Bitmex. This exchange charges a spot maker fee of 0.075% and a spot taker fee of 0.02%.
For futures trading, Bitmex charges a maker fee of 0.075% and a taker fee of 0.02%. While these fees may be slightly lower than Binance's, Bitmex also offers trading fee rebates to those who stake a sufficient amount of BMEX tokens or trade over $1,000,000 in a 30-day period.
Bitmex fees
So, which is the better exchange when it comes to trading fees? Either way, both exchanges offer competitive fees and a wide range of trading options.
Having said that, one of the big advantages of Binance besides it's low trading fees is also that it offers many more cryptocurrencies and products than Bitmex.
Bitmex does not support the deposit of fiat currencies so the only option for users is to buy crypto directly via Onramper.
Onramper has aggregated multiple different third-party providers that let's users buy cryptocurrencies with different fiat currencies. The problem is that the fees for buying cryptocurrencies this way are very high which is why we recommend user avoid them.
Buy crypto with card on Bitmex
On the other hand, Binance offers support for 26 fiat currencies, including EUR, AUD, GBP, and PLN. Binance supports fiat deposits through bank transfers via Swift, Signet, SEPA, and Faster Payments (FSP), as well as Visa, Mastercard, PayID, and Advacash.
Binance fiat deposit
When it comes to deposit fees, Binance charges a 1.8% fee for fiat currencies deposited with Visa and Mastercard, while bank transfers via SEPA come with a 1 EUR fee. Advcash account users can deposit with a 1.5% fee.
Bitmex and Binance are both popular cryptocurrency exchanges with unique withdrawal methods. Bitmex only offers withdrawals in cryptocurrencies, while Binance provides multiple fiat withdrawal methods.
On Binance, users can withdraw their USD via SWIFT, EUR via SEPA, and GBP via Faster Payments. They charge a 1.8% withdrawal fee for fiat withdrawals with Visa and MasterCard and a 1 EUR withdrawal fee with SEPA. However, bank withdrawals with many other fiat currencies are free.
In conclusion, Binance and Bitmex have varying withdrawal methods that cater to different audiences. Binance offers more options for withdrawing fiat currencies while Bitmex only offers cryptocurrency withdrawals.
While both exchanges share similarities in terms of trading services they offer, there are some notable differences between them that traders should keep in mind.
Bitmex is a trading platform that only supports 10-20 cryptocurrencies while Binance offers a more comprehensive suite of services and over 350 cryptocurrencies.
Bitmex is popular among experienced traders who use its high leverage options to trade up to 100x leverage on selected pairs.
In contrast, Binance caters to both beginners and experienced traders with its variety of trading options, including spot trading, futures trading, staking, and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.
Both exchanges prioritize user security and require KYC verification after users have signed up.
Regarding trading fees, Binance charges a spot maker fee of 0.1% and a taker fee of 0.10% while Bitmex charges a spot maker fee of 0.075% and a spot taker fee of 0.02%.
Bitmex offers trading fee rebates through token staking or high-volume trading, while Binance lowers fees for high-volume traders and BNB token holders.
When it comes to deposit methods, Bitmex only allows depositing via Onramper, while Binance supports 26 fiat currencies and a variety of deposit methods, including bank transfers, credit/debit card, and payment processors.
Regarding withdrawal methods, Binance provides multiple fiat withdrawal options, including transfers via SWIFT, SEPA or FSP, while Bitmex only allows cryptocurrency withdrawals with a small fee.
While Bitmex is an infamous trading exchange that is loved by experienced traders, it really can't compete against Binance.
Binance is simply the better exchange across almost every category whether we are talking about range of cryptos and products, user experience and the wide range of financial services it offers.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
