Phemex Review 2024: Secure Crypto Exchange for Traders
Phemex is a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform that offers advanced trading features, including futures contracts and perpetual contracts, with the option to use high leverage. With its user-friendly interface, low fees, and high-performance trading engine, Phemex has become a popular choice for professional traders seeking a reliable and efficient platform to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
The cryptocurrency industry is rapidly changing and growing. New platforms and exchanges seem to come and go faster than my financial advisor rolls his eyes when I tell him that I’m buying more Bitcoin again.
Wading through hundreds of crypto exchanges can be difficult; many crypto traders are looking for the next best up-and-coming and secure exchange, which is likely what brought you to this article today. This Phemex exchange review will cover everything you need to know about the platform and help you decide if this cryptocurrency exchange is right for you.
Phemex TL; DR
Solid, regulated exchange with good security for those looking for a place to trade crypto with up to 100x leverage. Copy trading and contests provide lucrative incentives for serious traders.
Phemex Key Features at a Glance:
- Flexible earn platform
- Good customer support
- Copy trading & trading contests
- Quick support for small-cap altcoins
- High-performance transactions and order execution
- No KYC for depositing and withdrawing crypto and trading
- Great platform for beginners as there is access to simulation/practice accounts and the free Phemex Academy + hundreds of blogs and articles to teach crypto and trading
If you are on the search to find the perfect crypto exchange, be sure to check out our article where we break down and compare the Top Crypto Exchanges.
Phemex Summary:
Headquarters: | Singapore |
Year Established: | 2019 |
Regulation: | Regulated and registered with FinCEN The platform also maintains licenses to engage in money transmission activities in multiple states and operates globally. |
Spot Cryptocurrencies Listed: | 250+ |
Native Token: | Phemex Token |
Maker/Taker Fees: | Highest: 0.1%/0.1% Lowest: 0.002%/0.03% |
Security: | High |
Beginner-Friendly: | No |
KYC/AML Verification: | Not needed to deposit/withdraw crypto and trade. KYC will be needed to purchase crypto and withdraw fiat. |
Fiat Currency Support: | USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, JPY, CAD |
Deposit/Withdraw Methods: | Buy Crypto: Debit/Credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, wire/bank transfer, all through third-party services Deposit: Crypto, wire transfers through third-party vendors, USD wire transfers via OTC account Withdrawal: Crypto, USD wire transfers via OTC account |
Review: What is Phemex
Phemex stands out as more than a typical cryptocurrency trading platform. It not only facilitates trading but also offers unique features like copy trading and competitive trading contests. Additionally, it includes an attractive 'earn' platform for passive income, all integrated into a highly efficient and professional-grade trading system. This positions Phemex as an increasingly popular destination for cryptocurrency traders.
The Phemex exchange has a pretty comprehensive roster of useful features and functions outside of simple crypto spot and derivatives trading, all of which we will dive into throughout this review. For you history nerds out there, you may find it interesting to learn that Phemex was named after the Greek Goddess of fame and fortune, Pheme.
This exchange is one of the newcomers to the space. Founded at the end of 2019, it is already looking quite impressive with everything it has achieved in such a short period of time. Of course, some things still need building out and improving, which I will cover as well.
The platform has already attracted over 5 million users globally and has a healthy 24-hour trading volume of over $92 million as of July 2023. Not bad, considering we are in the depths of a bear market.
Phemex is located and registered in Singapore and is owned by Phemex Pte. Ltd. Their project values are well thought out, and the team has a noble mission which is worth mentioning here. I will paraphrase the company goals:
- Embrace Change- Unpredictability has become the new normal. Only by constantly adapting can the company emerge stronger from every major shift.
- Act Swiftly- The mission fuels the team with purpose, and the vision inspires them to execute relentlessly. To provide the best experience, they will move forward with boldness and haste, because the user’s triumphs are their ultimate motivation.
- Empower Individuals- By building a fair trading environment and providing superior asset management tools, Phemex allows everyone to effectively manage their risk. Their success is reflected in each trader’s success.
- Stay Humble- Phemex understands that past triumphs must be tempered by maintaining humility and listening to all perspectives. Constantly re-evaluating and improving themselves, they will step towards ultimate victory.
Well, hey, that sounds pretty good to me. I can get on board with that 🙌
Important Note: If you doing your homework and research on Phemex, you may be a bit confused as I was because nearly every other review and site about Phemex claims that they are unregulated exchange, and I am saying they are regulated, so, what gives?
Regulation is an important consideration for myself, and many traders. I feel Phemex could do a better job highlighting these details on their website as there is a lot of out-of-date information circulating. I reached out to their compliance team and dug up their official MSB registration with FinCEN to verify that Phemex is regulated by FinCEN. Furthermore, they have also partnered with another FinCEN-regulated money transmitter services platform called Legend Trading, and as for licenses, the site simply states that they hold “multiple state licenses.”
The platform was founded by a team made up of individuals who have decades of previous experience working with banking giant Morgan Stanley, as well as some old-school Bitcoin miners, providing the team with a great blend of experience from TradFi and Blockchain.
Phemex is accessible in most countries around the world, including the US. I will point out that it has quite a large list of restricted countries, more than just sanctioned countries as is the case with many exchanges. I am not sure about the reasons, but you can find a full list of supported and restricted countries on the Phemex Terms and Conditions page.
Move toward decentralization
Aligning with its commitment to adapt and evolve, Phemex is transitioning to a hybrid model that blends centralized and decentralized elements. It retains the core features of a centralized exchange (CEX), such as robust security, user-friendly onboarding, substantial liquidity, and dedicated customer support. Simultaneously, it's integrating decentralized features, including governance through PhemexDAO, on-chain staking with rewards, and a decentralized lending protocol.
To that effect, the company is using soulbound token (SBT) technology, a publicly verifiable and non-transferable token on the blockchain. The Phemex Soul Pass (PSP) is an ERC-20 soulbound token. Once a user mints it, it’s theirs forever and cannot be transferred to another wallet. The metadata on the PSP can track users’ trading activity, PhemexDAO participation and various actions on the platform. This is good for users because it’ll qualify them for privileges and events that non-PSP holders cannot access.
To mint the Phemex Soul Pass, a user must meet a certain trading threshold. In the past, this threshold was a trading volume of at least $100,000 on Phemex in the last 30 days. However, this threshold has been reduced significantly to $10,000.
There's currently a pre-mining event going on. xPT serves as a pre-mint token that can be earned during the event from April 12 through Sept. 30, 2023. It is reflected as metadata on the Phemex Soul Pass, and can only be obtained by PSP holders. A total of 100 million xPT are available to be mined during the pre-mining event, and xPT will be automatically converted into on-chain Phemex Token during the token generation event in the third quarter.
Phemex Token
The Phemex Token, an ERC-20 utility token, operates on the blockchain and is transferable. It serves as the cornerstone of the Phemex platform. Users can stake this token to acquire vePT, which confers several advantages, including a role in decentralized governance, rewards for staking, enhanced trading rewards, reduced trading fees, and various other perks.
Here are a few facts:
Total supply: 1 billion PT
How to acquire: Convertible from xPT; can be purchased on the open market, can be earned as a trading reward
Transferability: PT can be transferred freely on the Ethereum blockchain
Staking: Stake PT to get vePT for governance rights and staking yield
Usability: Can be used to pay for trading fees, deposit and withdrawal fees, and gas fees on Phemex. Can also be traded or staked.
Phemex Exchange Key Features
I already mentioned there is a lot of outdated information online about Phemex. It's worth noting that the platform has been building and expanding at an impressive rate, resulting in many of the reviews and articles only painting half the picture. Some older reviews of the platform aren’t overly positive, so it is great to see Phemex improve considerably and become what many now consider to be a pretty darn good exchange.
Phemex has completely overhauled its mobile trading app, added a bucket load of new assets, and added new functions and features.
Phemex Spot Trading
Trading on Phemex will be familiar to anyone who has ever used a trading platform before. The platform follows the standard modular design approach for the trading screen, similar to other crypto exchanges, and leverages the massively popular and powerful TradingView charting interface. This makes Phemex trading suitable for traders of all skill levels, and the platform capable of meeting the needs of the most hardcore technical analysis trader.
Thanks to TradingView, all the standard trading tools are available and conveniently accessible directly from the Phemex trading screen. That's a big bonus. The number of indicators are unlimited and the screen modulars are highly customizable.
Anyone familiar with trading will have no issues navigating or utilizing the trading interface on Phemex, though new users may find it a little overwhelming. Phemex supports demo trading and has an impressive learn & academy section for new traders, making Phemex a great place for beginners to learn the ropes before throwing live funds down.
As for the trading engine, the trading platform is powered by the CrossEngine, and TradingEngine, and functions by matching client orders based on price and time priority. Their CrossEngine is designed to handle 300,000 transactions per section with an execution time of under 1 millisecond.
The following trade orders are available:
- Market orders – Instantly executed and filled at the best market price
- Limit orders – Instant execution if the price reaches the set value. Users can choose the method of execution: GoodTillCancelled (GTC), ImmediateOrCancel (IOC), or FillOrKill (FOK)
- Conditional orders – These are similar to limit orders, except traders can set a trigger price.
The 250+ spot trading pairs should be enough for most traders, but if you are someone who wants to buy and trade the smallest cap and hardest-to-find altcoins, the three top exchanges for altcoin support are KuCoin, Gate.io, and Binance.
Margin/leverage trading is not supported on Phemex for the spot trading market.
If you would like to learn more about how to trade or brush up on your technical analysis skills, I recommend our article on How to Perform Technical Analysis, or if you prefer video format, Guy has put together a 3 part series on how to perform TA, part one can be found below:
Phemex Derivatives Trading
Phemex has become a popular platform for derivatives traders and supports 150+ USD-M and Coin-M perpetual contracts, with USDC Perpetual contracts coming soon.
Traders can access up to 100x leverage when trading contracts, and as with spot trading, the charting interface is powered by TradingView.
Traders can select the order types:
- Limit
- Market
- Conditional
With the following advanced settings available:
- Reduce-only- Reduce only order will only reduce the trader’s position, not increase it.
- Post-only- Post-only orders will not execute immediately, and are used to ensure a Marker Rebate.
- Bracket Order- Bracket orders are designed to help limit a trader’s loss and lock in profit by “bracketing” an order with two opposite side orders.
- Good til Cancelled (GTC)- These orders remain open until they are filled, or the user manually cancels them. Trader’s can select IOC, which is where a portion of the order will be immediately filled at target price, and the portion that cannot be filled is cancelled, or FOK, which tells the full order to be filled immediately at the target price, or it will be cancelled.
The platform also shows a handy little ping monitor on the bottom left-hand corner which shows the speed at which your connection is currently sending and receiving data. All the information mentioned above can be found in the highlighted areas below:
To sum up the derivatives trading platform, it is clear that this is a well-designed and professional-grade trading platform. The only downside is there are not as many tradable contracts as can be found on other platforms such as Binance, Bitget or Gate.io, but they are continuously adding new markets.
Warning ⚠️: Trading with leverage is extremely high risk and is a tool best used by professionals. The Coin Bureau does not recommend using high leverage. Be sure to fully understand the risks of leverage before utilizing the feature.
Phemex Sub-Accounts
Sub-accounts are a fairly unique feature not supported by many crypto exchanges but are becoming increasingly popular among quantitative traders. You can setup Sub-accounts within an existing account and it provides traders with the option of holding both short and long positions. You can separate sub-accounts for things like hedging positions, using trading bots, or isolating and testing different trading strategies.
The main account and all sub-accounts can be accessed and managed on the same screen and each sub-account can be drilled into to see data and statistics about the trading history that occurred within that sub-account.
Phemex supports the creation of up to 20 sub-accounts.
Phemex Earn
Phemex provides a few ways to earn interest on the crypto held on the platform. The first is the Flexible Savings product, which allows users to earn interest on their crypto without any lock-in periods. The savings rates range from 0.3% to 2% and assets like BTC, ETH, SOL and stablecoins are supported. There are currently 11 assets supported which is pretty good when compared to many platforms.
The second option are the Fixed Savings Accounts, which allow users to earn higher amounts of interest, but the funds need to be locked in for the specified terms. The APYs on the fixed accounts also rank quite high when compared to other platforms, with APYs ranging from 0.5% to 8.80%, and lock-in periods of either 7 or 14 days, making this one of the more flexible platforms to earn passive income on your HODL stash.
The Phemex Launchpool is the third way for customers to earn passive income on their funds. This feature selects tokens and projects that offer a higher APY than normal staking, while also allowing users to discover new projects and earn higher returns on their tokens.
Here is a look at some of the current and past Launchpool campaigns, with some APYs as high as a whopping 493%. Not too shabby.
The duration, rewards, and available methods of staking in these pools vary for each token campaign. If earning passive income on your crypto is an important feature for you, I would recommend checking out Binance as they offer the most comprehensive earn platform, or OKcoin, which provides some of the highest rates available without taking on ridiculous amounts of risk.
Top Trader Competition
Gamification of trading has become popular on many crypto exchange sites. Platforms like Binance and KuCoin have created a “Vegas-style” area on the platform where traders can compete with one another or join trading contests to earn extra winnings and prizes.
Phemex is making an enticing entry into the world of competitive trading. The platform runs multiple team and solo trading contests to get traders engaged and actively compete against other traders to win crypto and exclusive prizes.
The most recent campaign provided the top 3 traders who had the highest PNL with a $500 bonus, an extra 20% commission from any traders who copy their trades, and Phemex pumped their social media exposure and trader profiles on the platform. That could lead to a seriously lucrative trading career for any traders who can prove to be sustainably profitable.
Traders who rank 4th-50th received a $100 bonus. Trading contests are becoming quite popular on many trading sites for those who are serious about trading and want to earn some extra incentives.
Phemex Copy Trading
Copy trading is another popular feature now supported on exchanges like Gate.io and Bitget. Copy trading is a great way for traders to earn passive income and provides the following benefits for both experienced and new traders:
- Beginner traders who are learning the craft can study the trades and learn from more experienced traders while earning an income. Almost like an apprentice would learn from an experienced craftsman.
- Experienced traders who want a side income. There are too many assets for one person to trade and more charts than one person can watch, why not share the workload?
- Traders looking to diversify. If a trader has studied Bitcoin and is an expert in Bitcoin trading, they can focus on that and find a trader who specializes in Ethereum’s habits, trends, and price movements and copy their ETH trades.
- Experienced traders can share their strategies and earn a profit from their followers. As they are trading anyway, why not earn the extra income by allowing others to copy you?
- Traders who are just looking for easy hands-off income can just sit back and copy the pros.
The copy trading area allows traders to sort through and look at the traders on the platform available to copy. Each trader profile shows important metrics like the total P&L, monthly ROI and Monthly P&L.
Tip: Don’t just select the trader with the highest ROI, because the more important metric is longevity. Any professional trader will tell you that trading is a marathon, not a sprint, and anyone can have a lucky streak and win some massive trades, showing a high ROI. I'm looking for a trader who can achieve a sustainable positive rate of return that is realistic, healthy, and over a longer period of time.
On Phemex, an experienced trader can broadcast their trades and other traders can decide whether they would like to open the same position, or the automated trading system can perform the action on their behalf for a truly passive operation.
Experienced traders who offer their trades to be copied can earn incentives such as:
- Extra commissions
- Follower growth – Phemex helps you gain traffic
- VIP services, holiday gifts, exclusive prizes, and special CS support
- Others can copy your trades and you earn additional income from their profits
- Massive individual exposure through our platform’s social media, announcements, and special promotions
Phemex Launchpad
Launchpads are becoming very popular on many exchanges like Binance, OKX and Bitget, and for good reason. I am a big fan of centralized and decentralized launchpads like the ones found on the Trader Joe DEX, the Enjinstarter launchpad, and TrustSwap
Launchpads provide the average trader/investor with the ability to get early access to projects, something that was traditionally only available to VC firms, and those with deep pockets and friends in high places.
Launchpads can be very lucrative as they give investors a way to access tokens at fractions of a price from their bull-run all-time highs. Those thousands of percent gains are what moonbag hodlers dream of. As an example, take a look at the insane gains experienced by some of the projects that participated in the Binance Launchpad:
Phemex selects some promising projects for its users to get involved with, allowing them to purchase tokens when they are still in their early stages before their official listing on the platform. Here is a look at one of the previous projects:
Through the Launchpad portal, customers can see upcoming launches, evaluate the strength of the project, and choose if they want to participate. One thing that I would like to see Phemex do better here is provide more information, insight, and analysis into the project, making it easier for users to learn and understand more about it and enable them to “DYOR.”
At the moment, there have only been two projects promoted in the launchpad and there is no mention of upcoming projects. At this time, the launchpad on Phemex is less active than on some competing exchanges.
Risk Warning ⚠️: Not all launchpad platforms are created equal and using any launchpad is not a substitute for doing your own research and due diligence. The Launch feature on a platform like Phemex can carry a high level of risk due to the projects being small, unproven, and at high risk of failure. Tokens received from failed projects have no value. Furthermore, because these new projects will have small market caps, their tokens will be highly volatile and susceptible to pump and dumps, and manipulated prices.
Phemex Mobile App
The Phemex mobile application is designed for traders who prefer managing their portfolios from their smartphones. The app mirrors much of the functionality available on the desktop platform, ensuring a seamless trading experience. It features an intuitive user interface, making it accessible for both novice and experienced traders. Users can engage in spot and derivatives trading, access their earn accounts, and even participate in trading contests directly from the app. The recent updates to the app have focused on enhancing security features, improving the speed and responsiveness of the trading engine, and integrating more tools for technical analysis. With high ratings on both Android and iOS platforms, the Phemex mobile app is a robust option for traders who need to make quick decisions and trade on the move. However, it's important to note that while convenient, mobile trading should be approached with caution, as the smaller screen and on-the-go nature can sometimes lead to hasty trading decisions.
I found the app user-friendly with a great UI/UX. Overall, it is a pleasant crypto trading app experience. The majority of what can be done on the web platform is supported on the app, and the recent app overhaul and update has been met with positive reviews from users. The majority of Phemex App users share my sentiment with an impressive 4.7/5-star rating on Android and a 4.5/5-star rating on IOS on over 15k reviews across both platforms.
Although the app has great ratings and I couldn't find fault with it, most traders, myself included, would not recommend using a mobile app as your primary trading tool. It's a recipe for disaster, as it feels more like a game than professional trading. I go into further detail on why this isn’t recommended in my Coinbase Review for you to check out before you think you can become a pro trader simply from a mobile app. You can also read the in-depth guide to crypto trading psychology and learn why mastering your emotions will make you a better trader.
Phemex Fees
Fees on Phemex are quite competitive and in line with similar platforms like Bybit and BitMEX. Phemex uses a tiered structure based on a trader’s 30-day trading volume to determine the maker and taker fees.
Here are the Phemex fees for spot trading:
The maker/taker fees for trading contracts are 0.075%/-0.025%, though on the fees page, each contract shows this fee in a separate column which leads me to believe these may vary by contract in the future. I recommend keeping an eye on the Phemex fees page.
It is good to note that Phemex does not charge overnight fees, but funding fees are charged or issued every 8 hours.
The fees for crypto withdrawals vary greatly depending on the asset and network of choice, those figures can also be found in the fees page link above.
To purchase crypto, users have two options here. The first option is that they can sign up for an OTC account where they can wire USD for as little as $0.
To provide this service, Phemex has partnered up with a company called Legend Trading which helps facilitate OTC deposits and withdrawals for USD. Fees for depositing via OTC depend on the amount, the more money being transferred, the lower the fee, as you can see below:
The other option to buy crypto will be the more common way, and that is by purchasing via credit/debit card, Apply pay, bank transfer, or other third-party payment providers.
Phemex uses the same third-party purchase providers as many other platforms, such as MoonPay, Advcash, Banxa, Simplex, Coinify, Mercuryo, and others. Word of warning here that although buying crypto with your debit/credit card is very convenient, that convenience comes in the form of high fees. When utilizing one of these payment gateways, fees can hit as high as 8% which is a lot. These fees are not determined by Phemex, or whatever exchange you choose, these are determined by the payment providers.
It's always recommended to use bank transfers if you want to save on fees and find an exchange that offers fee-free bank transfers like Binance, Kraken, or many others. While it is great to see that Phemex offers bank transfers through their partnership with Legend Trading, I prefer to avoid the $30 fee.
Phemex KYC and Account Verification
Phemex is a great platform to trade without KYC verification being necessary. Users who simply want to deposit and withdraw crypto and trade can do so without submitting verification, but KYC will need to be undertaken to purchase crypto or sign up for an OTC account.
The registration on Phemex is quite easy and users can sign up to Phemex by following these 4 simple steps:
- Sign up on the official site
- Provide an email address along with a password. Use a real email address as you will need to verify it.
- Click the link sent to your email to verify your account.
- Set up your account, enable the recommended security features and enjoy trading.
The KYC needed to purchase crypto will be done through the third-party vendor if you select the “buy crypto” tab and go through the process. The process and documents required are slightly different depending on the vendor, but generally include needing to upload a government-issued ID, entering your address, and taking a selfie.
If you want to know how to verify your account on Phemex, you will need to follow these 12 steps:
- Open the Phemex App and log in to your account.
- Tap the Account Icon on the top left of the screen.
- Tap the KYC verification option.
- Tap the Verify option.
- Tap Start when ready to continue with the steps indicated on screen.
- From the drop-down menu, select the issuing country of your ID and then tap on the correct ID type.
- The app will access your phone’s camera. Center and angle your document correctly ensuring that all details are legible.
- Once a valid photo of the document is captured, tap the Confirm button.
- The next action involves face verification. Once you’re ready, tap start.
- Align your face within the oval-shaped space. The app will automatically scan and upload your image.
- While the application is processing, you will see a “Verifying” tag next to your ID & Face Verification option.
- If the process is successful, the tag will change to “Verified”.
Phemex Security
Phemex follows industry best practices with the funds held on the platform and have some pretty robust protocols in place.
The majority of funds are kept offline in cold storage, and multiple signatures are required to access them. Phemex uses what is known as a Deterministic Cold Wallet System that assigns different cold wallet deposit addresses to each user, increasing the security of customer funds.
An interesting security protocol that I have not come across before is that Phemex only processes withdrawals 3 times per day, and each request uses sophisticated risk control measures to detect malicious actions or suspicious transactions. Each withdrawal request is processed via offline signatures, meaning assets remain in a cold storage environment.
The platform is further secured with SSL technology and utilizes PCI scanning.
Phemex also has an insurance fund for open trades and an Auto-Deleveraging Feature. The insurance fund alleviates unfilled liquidation orders on the platform before they are taken over by the auto-deleveraging system. This ensures that winning traders will receive all their expected profits, even if the losing trader does not have enough to cover the winning party’s gains.
This helps to reduce the risk of socialized loss by automatically decreasing a trader’s leverage in case of sharp price changes, and helps to further reduce the risk of a cascade of margin calls and mass liquidation events.
From a user perspective, customers can take advantage of the following security features:
- 2FA
- Password
- Device Codes
- Anti-phishing
One thing I would like to see from Phemex is the publication of some third-party security audits. Many platforms publish security audit results, and partner with security firms who conduct regular penetration testing. I would sleep better at night knowing that a security team was going over their security systems with a fine-toothed comb.
While there is insurance in place to cover open trades, many exchanges also offer some sort of insurance or set funds aside to reimburse customers in the unfortunate case of a successful hack. I could not find any information about this on the site and the support team didn’t seem aware of any such measures in place.
My final criticism in terms of security is the lack of security features supported from a user perspective. Not supporting things like whitelisted addresses or whitelisted IP addresses is a bit disappointing, I hope to see these features supported soon.
Cryptocurrencies available on Phemex
Phemex currently supports over 190 cryptocurrencies, including the majors like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, Avalanche and more, while also supporting many smaller cap coins.
You can find a full list on the Phemex Markets Page.
Phemex Exchange Design and Usability
The platform navigation is clear-cut and intuitive, with the UI/UX being easy to navigate with simple to use dropdown menus. Excluding the trading interface, the rest of the platform features are very beginner-friendly, and the design of the platform is easy on the eyes. You aren’t likely to find yourself lost wandering around different pages and areas of the site, which is an issue I mention in my Huobi Global review.
For the trading interface, as mentioned in the trading section, the integration with TradingView means that this platform is suitable for beginner and professional traders. Traders can perform all their charting and order placing on one convenient screen.
The trading interface is highly customizable, and each block can be moved around and resized to fit your preference by clicking the bottom right-hand corner of each block, and further customization settings can be found by selecting the highlighted icons as seen here:
For users looking for a great beginner platform for more simple trading or simply buying and holding, I recommend Kraken or SwissBorg as my top picks for safe platforms that are great for newcomers who do not need advanced charting and trading screens.
Deposits and Withdrawals at Phemex
Phemex has a few different options for users who want to buy crypto, deposit or withdraw crypto, or deposit or withdraw fiat.
As for purchasing, as mentioned in the fees section, Phemex has partnered with multiple third-party payment providers to provide crypto purchases via credit/debit card, Union Pay, Bank Transfer, SEPA, Apple Pay, POLi, Bpay, PayId, IDEAL, and Sofort.
Users who are looking to deposit fiat can open an OTC account with Phemex, and thanks to their partnership with Legendary Trading, a US-based FinCEN regulated money transmitter, users can withdraw or deposit via wire transfer.
Wire transfers for as little as $50 can be conducted, making an OTC account suitable for whales or those with smaller account sizes. As also mentioned in the fees section, wire transfers will come with a $30 fee for anything less than $10,000, so this still is not the cheapest option for lower-value traders.
Pro Tip: To get the best bang for your buck and save the most on fees, it is always recommended to use an exchange like Binance, SwissBorg, or Kraken that natively supports bank transfers for very little or no cost as your fiat gateway to deposit/withdraw cash and buy crypto. Once you have purchased crypto, you can then send it to an exchange like Phemex to conduct your trading. This will save you a heck of a lot of money in the long run.
Depositing and withdrawing crypto is quite standard and will be familiar to anyone who has made a crypto transaction before. Simply navigate to the assets section to find all your crypto receiving addresses to send your crypto to your Phemex account.
Phemex currently supports the following crypto assets for deposits and withdrawals:
- BTC
- ETH
- XRP
- LINK
- USDT
Users withdrawing crypto from the platform should be aware that it may not be quick or instantaneous like some platforms. Phemex processes withdrawals 3 times per day for security reasons, at 8 am, 4 pm, and 12 am UTC. The cut-off time for withdrawals is 30-minutes before the withdrawal time, so if you are in a hurry to receive your funds, keep these times in mind.
Phemex also has a p2p marketplace where users can purchase USDT, BTC, and ETH from other members on the platform.
Phemex Customer Support
Now we get into the all-important topic of customer support. Too many traders consider good support as an afterthought, a grave mistake in my opinion. The worst time to realize that a platform has terrible support is when you have an open trade and face an issue that needs to be resolved ASAP. Access to fast support can be the difference between losing a little or losing your entire trading account if no support members can come to the rescue in time.
Because of that, whenever I conduct exchange reviews, I like to thoroughly test their support and never believe any platform when they claim to have good support. Almost every exchange promises good support, and most of them fall short. You should check out my KuCoin review if you want a humorous story of what truly deplorable customer support looks like, my findings were quite surprising.
So, how does Phemex support measure up?
Honestly, pretty damn good… KuCoin could learn a thing or two. I don’t often have high expectations for good support when reviewing exchanges outside the top ten, maybe I got lucky, but over the span of 3 days, the Phemex support nailed every test I threw at them. Obviously, I conduct these tests incognito, pretending to be a customer who needs help so they do not know it is for a review.
Phemex provides support via their Help Center, which is well populated with articles and guides and pretty helpful. My only criticism here would be that it would be nice to have more step-by-step guides, images, and tutorials, especially for those that are new and looking to learn how to trade.
The support team is available via email, live chat, and the Telegram community can also be quite helpful.
Here were my findings when I tested their support:
Over 3 days I contacted their chat support multiple times, spreading the messages out in the early morning, afternoon, and late at night. I contacted them over ten times using different names, IP addresses, and email addresses, feeling like that annoying customer that everyone hates. I was very impressed that every single time I was connected to a live agent in under 1 minute. Pretty impressive, indeed.
Many of my requests needed to be escalated to their email team, and I also reached out to their email team without prompt from the live chat, each time I received an email response in under half an hour. The quality of support was also really good, all the agents had a good understanding of the platform and products offered. Serious kudos to the Phemex support team 🔥
Phemex also deserves a shout-out for their outstanding job with the Phemex Academy, and the hundreds of blog posts and articles that prioritize crypto education.
It is great to see platforms that care about the industry enough to go out of their way to provide education. The Phemex Academy is a great place to learn how to trade, or just brush up on general crypto knowledge. The content here is well-written and of high quality.
Phemex Top Benefits Reviewed
The trading engine utilized by Phemex is among the best available, suitable for institutions and retail traders. It is highly efficient and capable of handling large orders and trading volumes. The enticing copy trading and lucrative trading contests are a popular attraction, bringing many serious and professional traders to the platform, while also providing an impressive number of resources and support to attract beginner traders looking to learn the craft.
What can be Improved
There are a limited number of contracts available for trading at the moment, but there are plans to add new derivatives products soon. The Earn and Launchpad platforms will also need to be expanded with more offerings and active campaigns if Phemex wants to compete with some of the more fully-featured and robust platforms.
Phemex Review Conclusion
Phemex is clearly motivated and working hard to become a household name for crypto exchanges, looking to play on the top of the mountain with the other major players in the space.
Since becoming regulated and landing in the US market, the platform has done an impressive job expanding and rolling out new features and functions. The platform is growing in popularity and adoption among serious traders for a good reason with the lucrative copy trading and contests and powerful trading engine. While the platform is still young and has some growing to do in terms of product and market offerings, if they can continue their current expansion and trajectory, I would not be surprised to see Phemex place firmly as a top ten exchange.
See our Coinbase review to learn more about the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Phemex is a cryptocurrency exchange used to buy and trade cryptocurrencies, offering both spot and derivatives trading. There are also popular features supported on the platform such as Earn and Copy Trading. Phemex is located in Singapore, was established in 2019, and is a regulated and reputable trading platform.
Phemex is safe and a legitimate cryptocurrency platform. They are registered as a Money Services Business with FinCEN and legally operate in all the jurisdictions in which they are supported.
The team behind the platform have over 40 years of combined experience with 8 former Morgan Stanley executives on the team, along with many team members with background and experience in Blockchain.
Yes, Phemex is FinCEN registered and available in the US.
While the advanced trading concepts and features of the platform are better suited for experienced traders, Phemex is a great place for beginners looking to learn how to trade thanks to their free Phemex Academy and hundreds of blog posts and articles that teach everything from crypto 101 to advanced trading. The platform also offers demo accounts to practice trading risk-free.
As Binance is the #1 exchange in the world, Phemex is not better than Binance. Binance is the preferred platform by most traders due to its comprehensive, robust features and offerings.
Phemex is better than Binance for copy trading and KYC-free trading. See our Binance review to learn more about the platform.
Coinbase is one of the best exchanges for beginners and is a more user-friendly place to simply buy and store crypto. Phemex is better than Coinbase for those looking to trade futures, copy trade, trade KYC-free, and access earn features.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.