PrimeXBT vs BitMEX: Which is better in 2024?

After years of domination in crypto derivatives trading, BitMEX in 2018 got one serious competitor, PrimeXBT. Its first day of launch has grown exponentially in terms of daily volume and new client registration.

BitMEX and PrimeXBT are the two most widely known and used crypto margin trading platforms throughout the world.

It is tough for a trader to choose between BitMEX and PrimeXBT at first look. But, comparing both exchanges on different factors will help you to find noticeable differences. So, let’s compare and find out the right exchange for you.

The following factors are around which both these exchanges will be compared.

  • Leverage & trading pairs are available
  • Trading fee
  • Liquidity 
  • Trading platform 
  • Order types and order book
  • Deposit limits & deposit options
  • Security features 
  • Customer support options
  • Supported countries

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BitMEX vs PrimeXBT Overview 2022

Features BitMEX PrimeXBT
📖 AML & KYC Yes No
💰 Supported Coins 27 10
🚀 Maximum Leverage 20X 20X
⚖️ Taker Fees (Futures Market) 0.075% 0.05%
⚖️ Maker Fees (Futures Market) 0.010% 0.05%
🔧 Withdrawal Fees Yes, varies blockchain to blockchain Yes, varies blockchain to blockchain
➡️ Deposit Fees 0 0
📱 Mobile App Yes Yes
📝 Demo Account No No
💳 Spot Trading No No
📈 Futures & Margin Trading Yes Yes
🎁 Joining Bonus N/A 35% Deposit Bonus

Founded in 2018 and launched its services on Feb 4th, 2019, PrimeXBT has cemented its position as one of the leading crypto margin trading platforms.

It offers over 30 trading assets across cryptocurrencies, forex, commodities, and indices.  PrimeXBT is known for its highly stable platform and lowest trading fees in the industry. (Read our detailed PrimeXBT Review here)

Founded in 2014, BitMEX or Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange is the pioneer of crypto margin trading. The exchange specializes in perpetual swaps and traditional futures contracts.

It gets an average daily trading volume of $2 billion, which is 2-3 times more than its nearest competitor. And, is also the world’s largest bitcoin futures market by volume. (You can check our detailed review of BitMEX exchange here)

Get a 35% additional bonus on the deposit of any amount of BTC on PrimeXBT. Meaning, if you put 1 BTC to trade on PrimeXBT, you will get an additional 0.35 BTC to trade. So in total, 1.35 BTC when you register using this exclusive deal for Inwara readers.

Leverage & trading pairs available for comparison

PrimeXBT offers nine different crypto trading pairs on five different cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS, and Ripple (XRP). It offers leverage of up to 100X on all five cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, BitMEX offers perpetual swaps in Bitcoin (XBT), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP). And traditional futures contracts in Bitcoin (XBT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Cardano (ADA), EOS Token, Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), and Tron (TRX).

It offers up to 100X leverage of XBT perpetual swaps and traditional futures. Up to 50X on ETH and XRP perpetual swaps.

It offers up to 20x leverage on other coins, except LTC and ETH traditional futures, where it is 33.33X and 50X, respectively.

Verdict: PrimeXBT has a clear edge as it offers futures contracts on all major crypto coins and that too with 100X leverage

Trading Fee Comparison

PrimeXBT follows a flat fee per trade pricing structure. It charges 0.05% per trade on all crypto trades. This rate is applicable for both makers and takers.  

For margin financing, it follows the same flat-fee pricing model. It charges a 0.083% daily funding rate for both long and short positions. 

Whereas, BitMEX follows a maker-taker fee model. For perpetual swaps and XBT traditional futures, it charges a taker 0.075% for every trade and offers a rebate of 0.025% to the maker on every trade. 

For other traditional futures contracts, it charges a taker 0.25% on every trade and offers a rebate of 0.05% to the maker on every trade. Verdict: PrimeXBT has the lowest trading fee that too with a simple pricing structure

(Winner: PrimeXBT)

Looking for BitMEX alternatives? Checkout these exchanges similar to BitMEX in terms of features and security.

Liquidity Comparison

Since its launch, PrimeXBT has recorded a consistent upward trajectory in daily trading volume. Currently, the average daily trading volume hovers around $545 million and has tie-up with 12 major liquidity providers for providing a seamless trading experience.

Whereas, BitMEX being the leader in the segment, has an average daily trading volume of $2 billion, and its BTCUSD market is the most liquid in the world.

In the past, BitMEX was accused of fudging its liquidity numbers, but nothing was proved later. 

Verdict: BitMEX here steals the show, but PrimeXBT too has enough liquidity to provide you the best market price and fast order execution, irrespective of the order size. 

(Winner: BitMEX)

Trading Platform Comparison 

As one spends 90% of the time on the main trading platform while trading, it is important to have a clutter-free and intuitive platform. 

Therefore, PrimeXBT has given a special focus to this while designing its platform. It uses its own trading technology and is packed with advanced functionalities, making it suitable for both beginners and professionals. 

It boasts a highly sophisticated and customizable workspace with multi-screen support. Also, the platform is integrated with advanced charting software, different technical tools, indicators, widgets, and drawing tools.

Further, it also has its native mobile application that supports trading while on the go.

BitMEX, on the other hand, is a bit old school. Although the platform is very intuitive and simple, it is not suitable for beginners. At times, the platform suffers from overload errors, login errors, which severely impact the trading experience. 

Also, it offers limited access to different trading tools, indicators, and advanced charting features. 

(Winner: PrimeXBT)

Order Types & Order Book Comparison

PrimeXBT offers five different order types, including few advanced order types. It includes market order, limit order, stop-loss order, OCO (one cancels the other), and protection order.

BitMEX offers seven different order types, including limit order, market order, stop-limit order, stop-market order, trailing stop order, take profit limit order, and take profit market order.

In crypto margin trading, the order book plays a very crucial role in placing successful trades. And, it is important to have a clean, simple, and easy to read order book. 

PrimeXBT’s order book design meets all those standards. It provides a high-frequency trading experience with a simple order book designed to handle the high-pressure environment without any order slippages.

Whereas, BitMEX lags in this front. Its order book is too flashy and excessive blinking, causing stress and potentially wrong interpretation of data. And, users often encounter the dreaded order submission error, which makes it unreliable at times.

(Result: Tie)

In Confusion? You can checkout our recommended PrimeXBT exchange alternatives for margin trading

Deposit options & limit comparison

Both PrimeXBT and BitMEX are a bitcoin-focused exchange, and their primary deposit currency is BTC. 

BitMEX does not support any fiat currency on its platform, whereas PrimeXBT allows you to deposit BTC by exchanging fiat through a credit card.  PrimeXBT requires a minimum deposit amount of 0.001 BT in terms of deposit limits, whereas BitMEX has no fixed deposit limit.

(Winner: PrimeXBT)

Privacy & security features comparison

PrimeXBT uses some of the advanced security protocols available in the industry. It includes 2FA (Google Authenticator) to prevent unauthorized access, mandatory bitcoin address whitelisting, cold storage with multi-sig technology, DDOS protection, encrypted SSL to secure website traffic, and passwords are cryptographically hashed, and many more.

BitMEX also follows the best security practices to ensure the platform’s security and stability. It includes the multi-signature deposit-withdrawal scheme for wallet security, and system security guaranteed by Amazon Web Services’ world-class security. The platform’s security and stability are coded in kdb+, a database used by major banks in high-frequency trading. BitMEX also uses secure channels for communication and multiple forms of authentication for system access.

However, once in the past, BitMEX had a system lapse when it accidentally leaked its customer data, including names and email address.

In terms of privacy, both exchanges support anonymity and do not require KYC and identity verification. Verdict: PrimeXBT follows a comprehensive security protocol and also no history of any system lapse

(Winner: PrimeXBT)

Customer support comparison

One of the important features that every trader looks for, how good is customer support?

Being a new exchange, PrimeXBT gives a special focus on customer support. It has a dedicated page on its website as Help Center, where it lists all FAQs and offers a descriptive product overview.

Apart from this, it offers 24/7 live chat and email support and social media support (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Telegram).

BitMEX on the other hand provides only email support and has no live chat feature. However, you can also contact BitMEX through its different social media accounts (Wechat, Twitter, Weibo, and Telegram).

It also has a detailed FAQ page explaining all the product and platform features.

In terms of response time, PrimeXBT fairs much better, having a response time ranging from a few seconds to minutes. But in BitMEd, it takes a few couple of minutes to an hour for a query to get resolved. On social platforms also, good feedback on customer support is missing.

(Winner: PrimeXBT)

Conclusion

In this comparison guide, the major differentiating factors between them come out to be their trading platform and customer support. And, BitMEX loses out on both fronts.

For a trader, and given the nature of crypto margin trading, it is essential to use a robust and stable trading platform. And, PrimeXBT delivers on that promise. Its trading platform is user-friendly and does not test your trading skill level to operate.

Regarding BitMEX, apart from a few teething issues in their services, it is also a great option for traders. However, you should always select an exchange that fulfills most of your trading requirements.

Our #1 Recommendation

  • Upto 200x Leverage on BTC & ETH

  • Upto 1000x Leverage on Forex

  • Upto 35% Bonus on your BTC Deposit amount using Below Link

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Jack Bailey

I am John, a veteran trader turned into a trading coach. Especially in the realm of cryptocurrency derivatives which is now booming and expected to grow big.