OKX Review: Key features

Too many options could be daunting for someone just getting into crypto. Although there are such a range of finance choices with OKX, the platform is arranged in a simple and welcoming way. With a multitude of cryptocurrency pairs, fiat-to-crypto gateway, it is easy to see why OKX has become one of the biggest exchanges around. The high amount options you have at your disposal are reason alone to add OKX to your repertoire of exchanges:

• Fiat-to-crypto on-ramp: OKX supports 400+ trading pairs and allows you to use Apple Pay, Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Alipay, WeChat pay, etc, to convert your fiat into crypto. They also support 30+ cryptocurrencies from Canadian dollars (CAD), Chinese yen (CNY), euros (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), Hong Kong dollars (HKD), Chilean peso (CLP), and many more.
• Margin trading: Using margin trading with up to 125x leverage, with perpetual, futures and options trading as well, there are a good amount of tools users can use to trade.
• Finance options: A plethora of finance options with Earn, which lets you earn passive income on your crypto holdings, Loan, Jumpstart token staking feature, mining pool, OKX bridge feature, OKB utility token, OKX Cloud, OKX Blockdream Ventures, the options available are vast and some of the widest in the industry.
• Extra security options: With mandatory 2FA authentication, mobile verification, Google Authenticator options, anti-phishing code, OKX’s claims of making security a priority are sound.
• Decentralized exchange option: Along with standard DEX trading, OKX’s decentralized platform offers swap trading, liquidity pools, farm pools, decentralized wallet, OKX has tools for those who would rather exchange in a decentralized fashion.

Overall, OKX will let you plunge deep into the cryptocurrency ecosystem with options you can experiment with. The platform attempts to become a ‘one-stop marketplace’. In many ways, OKX has succeeded in that regard.

History and Founding

Built by OKCoin, an early Chinese exchange, the Hong Kong company OKX moved to Malta in 2018. The government shared many values that correspond to developing a cryptocurrency exchange. Malta has a reputation for having sound regulations for digital assets and blockchain, making it a prime destination for OKX to further its mission to ‘strive to eliminate financial barriers, evolve the global economy, and change the world for the better.

In November 2018, OKX won the Crypto Exchange of the year at the first edition of Malta Blockchain awards, edging out other finalists like Binance.

The company released major upgrades in 2020 that keep in line with this mission, releasing 170 upgrades. These upgrades include many of the ones that have been mentioned already, like Jumpstart that supports promising projects and the OKX Chain genesis block, as well as things like trading rewards, P2P trading, CTC lending, and so on.

As of 2021, 410 employees work to provide OKX services that reach millions of users in over 100 countries. With daily BTC futures trading volume around USD 1.5 billion, users now have a wide array of tools. With their continuous upgrades to support their high trading volume, OKX continues to build what they deem as the ‘next-gen financial ecosystem.

OKX Fees

Order maker fees are very low, even being free for VIP users who make transactions of more than USD 5 million. For most users of the exchange, this fee is 0.08%, one of the lowest in the industry. By comparison, many exchanges offer at least 0.1% fees. Along with this, OKX has different fees for spot, futures, perpetual swap, and options trading. You can find their fee structure here.

What’s neat about the fee tier structure is that it highlights which one you’re on, so you know exactly what fees you will be paying.

The deposit and withdrawal fees are some of the lowest in the industry as well. You can see it compared to other exchanges in these graphs.

If you have been trading in crypto for a while, transferring your coins to a hardware wallet and having lower fees makes a noticeable difference, with no funding fees required for OKX in terms of withdrawals. Of course, be wary of the fees that the blockchain network charges you.

For a more detailed and comprehensive view of OKX’s withdrawal fees, you can visit this website.

OKX has shown a willingness to evolve and lower fees. In January 2020, OKX lowered the fees on BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, and USDT-ERC20. This is a good sign for anyone concerned about fees, since this event has indicated that OKX are willing to lower fees if they can, even as they handle more cryptocurrency volume.

Design and Usability

OKX does not have the flashiest design. But if the platform’s mission is to ‘eliminate financial barriers’ and ‘evolve the global economy’ then its design is simple, neat, and gets the job done. The design is not the most aesthetic but it does not need to be.

If anything, this design choice might actually help. OKX has so many features that it might overwhelm new users if their design was flashier. For those who are looking to just dive right into the crypto world, the user interface eases you into the platform.

At the top left, you have the simpler trading options like buying and selling, which goes to the quick trade option. Through there, you can just quickly buy cryptocurrency with fiat by using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, and Interac.

Next to that, you have the markets that are shown. Although the markets tab appears to have simplified information about each coin, if you look at the top, you will see the sections labeled spot, futures, options, perpetual swap, options, OKX index and trading data. This provides comprehensive overview of the financial instruments that are on the platform.

If you go back to the main page, it gets progressively more sophisticated, with basic spot trading and margin trading.

The trading graphs are where you can see higher detail when it comes to aesthetics. Visually, OKX has one of the more pleasing trading platforms of any exchange right now. Along with having all the normal trading tools like drawing trend lines, the font and the graphs have a rounded-out design and the whole layout is just really nice to look at. If you are going to spend hours staring at a trading screen, this is definitely one of the better ones to keep your eyes on.

Next up, you have the Finance section with an earn option for interest rates, loan options, and a Jumpstart program where you can support token sales of new projects. Here is where you begin to see that OKX is attempting to be a place for finance in general for users and not just an exchange.

The Learn section gives you tutorials of their platform, which are extensive enough and simple to go through. It does a good job of easing you into cryptocurrency trading in general. Under Learn, OKX also publishes regular industry and market analysis and research under the company’s research arm, OKX Insights.

Where OKX gets intense is the ‘More’ section. Going beyond the mere functionality of an exchange, OKX hosts a varied array of tools. OKX is not kidding when they claim to be a ‘one-stop marketplace.’

These features create a sense of uniqueness about OKX. Because of the simplicity of the design, seeing these tabs do not feel overwhelming. Since the ‘More’ tab does not pressure the user, new users can go onto the site without feeling like any of these extra features are required. Experienced traders will notice they have plenty of options to utilize to their advantage.

Along with the low fees, these options are what make OKX unique as it has a whole toolbox waiting to be explored as you dive deeper into crypto.

• Pool – This utilizes a proof-of-work mining service with hedging.
• OKX Bridge – Allows you to transfer assets across multiple chains.
• Wallet – A secure wallet for managing trades, DeFi, storage for 36 cryptocurrencies as you are in charge of your keys with a mnemonic phrase and security.
• OKB – OKX utility token for an entire ecosystem of possible trades, token sales, and even passive income
• OKX Cloud – Don’t like other exchanges? Build your own. If you have the savvy, you can use the platform’s tech stack to build it. This feature really shows OKX’s commitment to being a ‘one-stop marketplace’. You can even build your own exchange with this project.
• Security of Funds – They have a hot wallet solution that offers more multi-layered security options compared to their cold wallet storage option.
• OKX Chain – A decentralized, blockchain ecosystem.
• Status – You can keep up with maintenance information here.
• Rewards – Where you can complete tasks to earn crypto rewards and free bitcoin.
• Referral – Invite friends to earn more rewards.
• Affiliates – Earn a minimum of 30% fees from invited trades.
• Happy Friday – A rewards program where you can earn 20% OKX income from derivatives and possibly receive gifts like iPhones.
• Broker – If you’ve got the skills, you can become a broker and earn high commissions.
• OKX Blockdream Ventures – A place to fund projects with high potential.

Okex Fee Structure

Fees are imposed on users on the basis of the trading option they choose. Okex fee structure is given below:

Trading fee: maker fee varies from 0.02-0.15% while taker fee vary from 0.05-0.2%

Deposit fee: fees vary

Withdrawal fees: fees vary