The IC verdict
FTX is a crypto derivatives exchange backed by Alameda Research, offering 80+ futures contracts, options, leveraged tokens, MOVE contracts and prediction markets with up to 101x leverage.
The complete analysis
FTX is a crypto exchange that offers derivates trading markets. But this is only a fraction of what the platform provides. It has a wide array of volatility products, derivatives, and leveraged tokens. The platform also offers many invaluable features to professional trading companies and traders.
In the brief time that FTX has been around, it has established itself among the best derivatives exchanges based on trading volume. This detailed FTX exchange review will guide you through various products, functionalities, supported marketplaces, FTX login, and FTX fees.
What is FTX Exchange?
FTX Exchange was established in May 2019 and endorsed by a renowned quantitative crypto trading company called Alameda Research. The exchange made its mark in the crypto trading industry by providing derivatives and a wide range of volatility products as well.
In December 2019, Binance funded FTX further increasing the influence of FTX in the crypto trading scene.
The trading firm is designed by the traders themselves and it aims to become an exchange that is intuitive for new traders and powerful for seasoned traders.
FTX Products and Services
FTX offers numerous tradable instruments with some of them being unique to the platform. Let us look at these markets in detail.
- Futures
These are derivatives instruments that obligate the involved parties to trade assets with a prearranged price and date. Trading in futures also offers the benefits of leverage. FTX allows you to leverage up to 101 times on the majority of the derivatives contracts on the exchange.
A notable aspect is FTX includes futures even for less popular cryptos with low marketcaps.
Importantly, most of these digital assets can't be traded by futures contracts on other platforms. This has helped to attract unique types of traders, investors, and speculators to the FTX Exchange.
Currently, FTX Exchange supports the futures contract of more than 80 cryptocurrencies. BitMEX, which is among the best crypto exchanges for trading derivatives, only supports futures contracts for about 13 digital coins.
You should also note that FTX allows investors to trade Perpetual Futures. Perpetual Futures are futures contracts with no expiry. Instead, the value of the Perpetual Futures is regularly updated to match the value of the asset.
- Options
Options are derivatives that are identical to futures. The difference between them is that the contract holder is not obligated to buy the underlying asset when it expires. Instead, options provide you with the right but it's not mandatory to go ahead with the purchase of the underlying asset.
Presently, FTX only supports Bitcoin options. You can opt to design your options contract and ask for a quote on the exchange. You will receive your first offer in less than 10 seconds. You can then decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
There is also an option to wait longer to find out if better offers will show up later. If you don't accept any offer within five minutes, the Request for Quote disappears.
- Leveraged tokens
Leveraged tokens are financial tools that are unique to the FTX blockfolio. They're ERC-20 digital assets that portray the actual value of the underlying digital coin.
For example, BULLUSD is a BTC token that is 3X long. This means that for every 1% that BTC increases per day, the financial instrument's value goes up by 3%. On the other hand, if BTC decreases by 1%, the BULLUSD value will decrease by 3%, in that order.
Currently, FTX has four major types of available leveraged tokens:
- BULL - +3X
- BEAR - -3X
- HALF - +0.50X
- HEDGE - -1X
For instance, if the value of EOS rises by 1% in a day, then:
- EOSBULL will increase by 3%
- EOSBEAR will decrease by 3%
- EOSHALF will increase by 0.5%
- EOSHEDGE will decrease by 1%
The BULL, BEAR, HALF, and HEDGE tokens typically rebalance themselves during the day to maintain their target leverage. In turn, this means that if you make a profit, these tokens will reinvest your money. If you make a loss, these tokens will automatically part of the position to decrease its leverage.
This helps you to avoid the risk of liquidation when trading with leveraged assets. In addition, since the rebalancing is automatic, it helps to save the trader time and effort from managing their exposure manually.
- MOVE contracts
MOVE contracts are another volatile product from the FTX blockfolio. These contracts represent the amount moved by an asset in a particular timeframe. For example, if ETH moves $150 in one day, the MOVE contract will be valued at $150.
Traders can opt to open a long position on MOVE contracts if they think that the value of an asset can move in either direction significantly. If they think that the asset's value will remain stable, they can opt to open a short position.
MOVE contracts are provided for three trading periods: daily, weekly, or quarterly. These contracts can also be traded via leverage.
- Prediction markets
Prediction markets operate similarly to a traditional betting setup. Rather than speculating on a financial asset, you will speculate the possible outcomes of a real event. If your prediction is right, you will make a profit. If the prediction is wrong, then you will lose the stake.
Such prediction markets are usually a great of trading outside the normal crypto exchanges.
FTX Login Process
The following process will guide you in account creation and how to log in to your user account. The process is quite easy to follow and straightforward.
- Select the "Register" button located at the top right side of the homepage.
- Complete your name as well as the email address, and generate a password.
- Check your email for a confirmation email from FTX.
- Verify your email address through 2FA.
- Select "Account Security" and choose whether to authenticate using Google or SMS.
- Complete the KYC process and you're good to go.
FTX Fees
The FTX exchange doesn't charge deposit or withdrawal charges. It does not charge futures settlements as well. Leveraged tokens have redemption and execution fees of 0.1%. the exchange also charges a daily management fee of 0.03% on these trades. When you leverage 50X, these fees could size up by 0.02%.
!00X leverages could size up the trading charges to 0.03%, which can be recovered from the FTX insurance fund. FTX has put low trading fees for investors and traders trading huge volumes. As the cryptocurrency industry is highly volatile, you should check here often to learn of the most recent figures.
Conclusion
FTX is a crypto derivatives platform which means that you can't trade real assets. Instead, you will trade a derivative product that shows the value of the asset. It can either be in terms of a contract or a token that reflects the price of the asset.
The exchange offers plenty of benefits to traders, including 20+ perpetual swaps and 101X leverage. It has become so popular that people have created "FTX Vs Coinbase" and "FTX Vs Binance" debates. This is a great sign considering that the exchange has only been around for a few years.
The composite breakdown
Composite score will appear here once all six factor scores are scored by the editorial team. Per our methodology we do not publish a composite based on partial factor data.
What's good, what isn't
Pros
- Up to 101x leverage on most derivatives contracts
- Futures contracts for more than 80 cryptocurrencies
- Unique products: leveraged tokens (BULL/BEAR/HALF/HEDGE), MOVE contracts and prediction markets
- No deposit or withdrawal fees
- Low trading fees designed for high-volume traders
Cons
- Crypto derivatives only — no spot trading of real assets
- Options trading currently limited to Bitcoin
- Complex product set with steep learning curve for new traders
- Daily 0.03% management fee on leveraged tokens