Ex-Morgan Stanley Executives Bring Expertise to Crypto Trading
A cryptocurrency derivatives exchange led by eight former Morgan Stanley executives claims it is the world’s fastest.
Phemex says its “user-oriented” approach has led to the creation of an ecosystem where traders can buy and sell contracts with confidence.
The platform offers latency speeds of under one millisecond, and the company claims that its infrastructure can handle more than 300,000 transactions per second.
Reliability is another crucial concern. To this end, it offers 99.9999% availability. Given that some of the more established exchanges in the marketplace have suffered outages whenever Bitcoin has made major price moves, this could prove crucial for users who have been left disgruntled by disruption during crucial moments of volatility.
Eleven trading pairs (seven derivatives and four spot) are offered with up to 100 times leverage, connecting the United States dollar with Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Chainlink, Tezos (XTZ), Litecoin (LTC) and GOLD.
A different approach
Spot trading can often command high fees in the crypto world, but Phemex has adopted a new approach that could be an attractive proposition for traders who perform transactions frequently.
The company claims that it is the first exchange to offer zero fees for spot trading. It has shifted toward a membership model, with users signing up for a subscription. The plans begin at 9.99 USDT a month, and longer-term plans are available at 19.99 USDT for three months and 69.99 USDT for a whole year. Members can then benefit from unlimited trades across BTC, ETH, XRP and LINK, the ability to place conditional orders, hourly and unlimited withdrawals (standard users can only withdraw three times a day), as well as 30-day premium trials (one per each month of premium paid) to give away to friends.
Exchanges are rightfully facing scrutiny for their security practices. Phemex has built its own infrastructure, known as the Hierarchical Deterministic Cold Wallet System. As a result, every user is given an independent deposit address, with all of their assets kept in cold storage, not connected to the internet. Offline signatures and human scrutiny ensure that Bitcoin collections and transfers are secure, the team notes.
Customer support is available 24/7 in multiple languages, and Phemex has also sought to create an atmosphere where users can get in touch with their questions and feedback. To this end, the company’s CEO Jack Tao regularly encourages people to get in touch with him via Telegram and Twitter.
Phemex’s launch last November hit headlines in the mainstream media, with Tao telling Reuters at the time: “The internet has made it possible to communicate and transfer information. So a public blockchain enables instant transfer of value.”
Headquartered in Singapore
Within a few short months, Phemex says it managed to amass more than 150,000 users, with peak trading volumes exceeding $1 billion in February 2020. According to the exchange, all data surrounding its activity has been verified by the likes of CoinMarketCap, CryptoRank and CoinGecko.
New features are currently in development, with Phemex planning to launch contracts backed by traditional financial products such as commodities, metals, energy, forex and interest rates.
In June, the team announced they have formed a partnership with Banxa, a fiat-to-crypto gateway solution. Now, credit and debit card holders can purchase BTC, ETH, and USDT using the Banxa gateway on Phemex’s Buy Crypto page.
The same month, Tao took part in a live Ask Me Anything session on Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel. During the chat, he explained how Phemex has been setting itself apart from other crypto exchanges and what it takes for blockchain projects to get listed on such platforms.
The executive also pointed to how crypto users deserve and expect an experience similar to the ones offered by mainstream banks — well-designed apps that run quickly, with customer support that doesn’t involve listening to a robot.
“We know financial products and how to make it right in terms of customer service,” Tao said.
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