FTX Exchange Definition

Mar 1, 2022
FTX Exchange Definition

What’s FTX Trade?

FTX Trade is a number one centralized cryptocurrency change specializing in derivatives and leveraged merchandise. Based in 2018 by MIT graduate and former Jane Avenue Capital worldwide exchange-traded funds dealer Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX provides a spread of buying and selling merchandise, together with derivatives, choices, volatility merchandise, and leveraged tokens. It additionally offers spot markets in over 100 cryptocurrency buying and selling pairs resembling BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, and its native token FTT/USDT.

Bahamas-based FTX and its FTX US affiliate have overlapping administration groups however separate capital constructions. U.S. residents can solely commerce via FTX US.

Key Takeaways

  • FTX is a centralized cryptocurrency change specializing in derivatives and leveraged merchandise. It helps mostly traded cryptocurrencies.
  • FTX’s key product choices embody futures, leveraged tokens, choices, MOVE contracts, and spot markets.
  • FTX is predicated within the Bahamas and doesn’t serve U.S. residents, who can commerce on FTX US as a substitute.
  • FTX and FTX US are associates with overlapping administration groups however separate capital constructions.

Fundamentals of FTX Trade

FTX’s big selection of merchandise and easy-to-use desktop and cellular buying and selling apps draw crypto traders of all talent ranges, from learners to seasoned professionals or, in crypto jargon, from newbies to whales. The FTX platform provides a complete vary of order sorts, from primary market orders to extra complicated trailing cease orders.

FTX aggressive futures and spot markets buying and selling charges ranged from 0.04% to 0.07% for market takers, primarily based on the maker and taker mannequin, as of January 2022. In the meantime, leveraged tokens carried a creation and redemption payment of 0.10% and a every day administration payment of 0.03%. FTX helps 9 fiat currencies that traders can deposit and withdraw through a wire switch: the U.S. greenback, euro, British pound, Australian greenback, Hong Kong greenback, Singapore greenback, Canadian greenback, Swiss franc, and Brazilian actual.

FTX does not cost deposit or withdrawal charges for many crypto belongings. All bitcoin withdrawals larger than 0.01 bitcoin are free. Withdrawals of lower than 0.01 Bitcoin per day are charged a payment of 0.1% after the primary one, which is free. Fiat forex withdrawals valued at greater than $5,000 USD are free, as is one withdrawal per week under that quantity.

FTX US buying and selling charges for market takers ranged from 0.05% to 0.4% as of January 2022. Non-fungible token (NFT) charges are $1 to record an NFT utilizing its self-service software and a couple of% charged to the vendor from every sale or commerce. Wire switch charges are 1% of U.S. greenback deposits and withdrawals, with a minimal of $5 and a most of $35. There are not any deposit charges for blockchain transfers. FTX US pays the withdrawal blockchain charges for all tokens besides ERC20/ETH and OMNI.

FTX US clients should confirm their identities to qualify for full entry underneath know your buyer (KYC) guidelines. KYC Tier 1 clients are restricted to single deposits of $2,999, every day deposits of $10,000 and ACH deposits of $500 for any rolling 10-day interval. KYC Tier 2 clients are restricted to single deposits of $20,000 and ACH deposits of as much as $30,000 per 10-day rolling interval.

Key Merchandise

FTX’s key merchandise embody futures, leveraged tokens, choices, MOVE, and spot markets.

Futures: Merchants can take each lengthy and quick bets on main cryptocurrencies utilizing over 100 quarterly and perpetual futures pairs with margins of as much as 101x. Stablecoins, resembling USD and tether (USDT), are used as collateral to open and preserve positions.

Leveraged Tokens: FTX provides ERC20-based tokens that present merchants as much as 3X leveraged publicity towards the underlying buying and selling pair. As an illustration, if a dealer opens a BULL/USD – 3x lengthy Bitcoin token and Bitcoin rallies 10% from the time of buy, the leveraged token would achieve 30%. FTX’s leveraged tokens haven’t any margin requirement.

Choices: Merchants can speculate on future value course and hedge towards their open positions with a spread of name and put choices that give the holder the best however not the duty to purchase or promote at a future strike value.

MOVE: These contracts permit merchants to wager how far the value of a cryptocurrency will transfer over a time interval, regardless of the course, primarily making them a play on volatility. So long as the value of the underlying cryptocurrency strikes over a particular greenback quantity—both up or down—the contract generates a revenue.

Spot Markets: FTX provides over 100 totally different spot buying and selling pairs, offering publicity to main cryptocurrencies, resembling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Chainlink, and Ripple’s XRP.

FTX US provides almost 60 cryptocurrency and forex spot buying and selling pairs, together with possibility contracts denominated in 0.01 Bitcoin and 0.1 Ether, cryptocurrency swaps, and Bitcoin mini futures. It additionally operates a market for non-fungible tokens.

FTX provides futures pairs with margins as much as 101x to lengthy or quick main cryptocurrencies, permitting merchants to reap the benefits of comparatively small value actions.

Regulation

FTX is included in Antigua and Barbuda and headquartered within the Bahamas after transferring from Hong Kong in September 2021. Its FTX Digital Markets Ltd. unit is regulated by the Securities Fee of the Bahamas. The change doesn’t provide providers to U.S. residents.

U.S.-based crypto merchants can entry FTX US—a registered cash providers enterprise with FinCEN. In October 2021 FTX US accomplished its acquisition of LedgerX, rebranding it as FTX US Derivatives. FTX US Derivatives is licensed as Derivatives Clearing Group, Swap Execution Facility and Designated Contract Market by the U.S. Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC).

Administration and Capital Buildings

FTX and FTX US have overlapping administration groups. Each corporations record Sam Bankman-Fried as chief government officer and co-founder Gary Wang as chief expertise officer.

FTX closed a $400 million collection C enterprise capital funding spherical in January 2022 valuing the corporate at $32 billion. Taking part traders included Temasek, Paradigm, Ontario Academics’ Pension Plan Board, NEA, IVP, SoftBank Imaginative and prescient Fund 2, Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, Steadview Capital, Tiger World, and Perception Companions. All traders concerned in that funding spherical concurrently participated in a collection A funding spherical for FTX US valuing that firm at $8 billion.

FTX Trade will not be regulated in the US. U.S.-based merchants can solely entry associate entity FTX US.

Superstar Affiliations

As a part of their advertising efforts, the dad or mum corporations of FTX and FTX US in September 2021 signed Golden State Warriors level guard Stephen Curry to a long-term promotional partnership, offering the NBA star an fairness stake in FTX.

In August 2021, the identical corporations introduced a long-term promotional partnership with enterprise capitalist and tv persona Kevin O’Leary offering the “Shark Tank” host fairness stakes in FTX and FTX US together with pay in cryptocurrency.