Monfex Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Review
The cryptocurrency trading ecosystem has evolved rapidly over the last decade. Crypto traders are now provided with a wide range of different trading platforms. As the trading ecosystem matures, new platforms are beginning to offer complex financial products and trading options — such as Monfex, a highly popular cryptocurrency margin trading platform.
There are already a number of margin trading platforms active within the cryptocurrency market, but Monfex stands out as one of the most popular margin trading exchanges online today. Boasting rapid account setup and authentication, multiple funding options, low commissions, and generous leverage, Monfex is arguably one of the most attractive cryptocurrency margin trading platforms available.
In this article, we’ll break down the Monfex platform and assess the features it offers to determine whether it lives up to the hype.
What is Monfex?
Monfex is relatively straightforward — operating as a margin trading platform, Monfex allows users to trade cryptocurrencies with up to 50x leverage. The primary draw of Monfex is the extremely straightforward UI it offers traders, paired with a no-nonsense approach to contracts, commissions, and leverage.
Monfex allows traders to trade 12 different cryptocurrencies with up to 50X leverage. The trading options offered by Monfex are enhanced by a suite of professional trading tools, which include the option to set up a demo account for new users to try their hand at margin trading before investing “physical” cryptocurrency.
Monfex also makes it possible to trade via USD, and allows users to long or short specific cryptocurrencies.
Why Margin Trade?
Margin trading is common practice within traditional markets, but has only recently become popular in the cryptocurrency market. Margin trading essentially involves borrowing money from a broker, referred to as leverage, in order to trade. Leverage allows traders to access far higher capital than they would otherwise, but is a double-edged sword — leverage offers dramatically multiplied profits, but can also multiple losses.
Some cryptocurrency trading platforms offer high leverage — in some cases up to 100X leverage. This high leverage can often wipe out newer traders in the event of margin calls, which makes it a risky move for less experienced traders. Monfex’s 50X maximum leverage is less risky than higher leverage offers and, importantly, Monfex traders can never lose more capital than they deposit on the platform itself.
The Basics
When assessing any exchange, it’s important to take a look at basic features such as supported cryptocurrencies, jurisdictions, and withdrawal and deposit methods.
Trading Assets
Monfex allows users to trade in 12 different cryptocurrencies. In the case of Monfex margin trading, users aren’t actually purchasing “physical” cryptocurrency — they are speculating on the price of the asset itself. Monfex contracts support the following cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- Dash
- Neo
- OmiseGo
- Ethereum Classic
- Zcash
- EOS
- Monero
The wide range of assets supported by Monfex makes it one of the more flexible margin trading platforms active within the cryptocurrency market, as most other platforms offer 8 assets at best.
Supported Currencies, Withdrawals, and Deposits
At this point in time, Monfex does not currently support fiat currencies for deposits and withdrawals. Users are able to deposit or withdraw balance in Bitcoin only — there is currently no fee for depositing Bitcoin into Monfex accounts.
Supported Countries
Monfex is a truly international cryptocurrency margin trading platform and thus services over 100 different countries. US traders, notably, are not able to access or trade on Monfex. OFAC countries such as Cuba, Iran, and North Korea are also restricted from using Monfex.
ID Requirements
Interestingly, Monfex doesn’t require any ID information from users. It’s possible to quickly set up a Monfex account, fund it, and start trading without any KYC data whatsoever, making it an attractive option to traders seeking a less-complicated trading option.
Security & Support
Security is one of the most important factors to consider when assessing a cryptocurrency exchange. As the Monfex platform has only been active since late 2018, it has not suffered any hacks or user capital losses to date.
Like most major cryptocurrency exchange, user capital is stored in cold storage — cryptocurrency storage that is not connected to the internet and thus far safer than online “hot” wallets. It’s possible for users to set up two-factor authentication on their accounts to add an additional layer of security.
Interestingly, Monfex offers a dedicated customer service support phone line that is available 24/7. Customer support is also available via an emailing ticketing system.
Fees & Funding
Fees are extremely straightforward, and are competitive when compared to other cryptocurrency margin trading platforms. Bitcoin trading commissions are set at 0.75 percent, with Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash commissions set at 0.15 percent. Other supported assets are set at a commission price of 0.20 percent.
Both long and short term trades on Monfex are subject to a financing rate of -0.068 percent.
It’s important to note that Monfex establishes a range of trading conditions. The minimum trade size available on Monfex is 0.01, but this can range up to 100.00 lots depending on the asset traded. While minimum trades may vary by instrument, all trades are subject to a cap of $50,000, with a maximum of 200 trades. It is possible to trade around the clock, however, with 24/7 trading possible across all instruments.
As noted above, Monfex accounts can only be funded with Bitcoin. The minimum funding amount for any Monfex account is 0.001 BTC, and is performed via a standard wallet address/transaction process.
Monfex reserves a 24-hour period on which withdrawals from the platform — which are executed in BTC — will be performed. It’s not possible to instantly withdraw Bitcoin from Monfex.
Trading Academy
The Monfex Trading academy is an interesting feature that helps Monfex stand out from other cryptocurrency margin trading platforms. Rather than cast new traders adrift in the world of cryptocurrency margin training without guidance, the Monfex Training Academy provides interested traders with a broad range of information and articles.
The Training Academy content is free for Monfex users, and includes information such as how to improve crypto trading with leverage, the top coins to trade, how to manage risk when margin trading cryptocurrencies, and breakdowns of the different between cryptocurrencies and crypto-derivatives.
Setting Up an Account
Getting started with Monfex is extremely simple. Setting up an account on Monfex takes only a few seconds, and requires only a name, email address, and country of residence as well as a phone number.
Once an account is active, it’s possible to fund it and get started right away. Monfex offers a basic selection of different order types that include pending orders and market orders.
Market orders are simple — users imply define the size of an order and buy or sell/
Pending order are somewhat more complex, and allow users to execute a trade at their chosen price in future. Traders can select from sell limit, stop, buy stop, and buy limit orders. Closing a position on Monfex is performed via simple UI commands.
Overall, the Monfex trading interface is extremely simple to use and understand, and streamlines the trading experience.
The Verdict
With no complex KYC or ID hurdles to jump though, rapid account creation and funding, and a broad range of supported assets, Monfex is a powerful cryptocurrency margin trading platform that is ideal for crypto traders seeking to get started in the cryptocurrency margin trading market.
While Monfex may lack some of the truly advanced professional charting tool sets available on other crypto trading platforms, the ease of use offered by the Monfex UI paired with the upfront manner in which Monfex guides users through the particulars of margin trading makes it the best choice possible for traders interested in diving into margin trading for the first time.