Okex is a Belize-based cryptocurrency and digital assets exchange that was founded in 2014 by a company called Star XU. The company’s operations are running out of Hong Kong and it has received some serious backing. Originally, the exchange was based in China, but it moved to Hong Kong, along with its sister OkCoin, after the trading of ICO tokens was banned by the Chinese government. Now, the exchange has focused on the international market and boasts an impressive roster of investors including VenturesLab, which is co-founded by Tim Draper. He is a renowned American venture capitalist and crypto proponent who made a number of successful early investments in companies like Tesla, Hotmail and Baidu.
Other investors in Okex include prominent Chinese VCs like Longling Capital, Ceyuan Ventures and the Giant Network Group.
Introduction
The Okex exchange was inspired by OkCoin as a brand that would target more skilled and advanced crypto traders. OkCoin is a simpler alternative that’s more focused on the buying and selling of ICO tokens and cryptocurrencies whereas Okex delivers a more sophisticated offering to its clients and is quite similar to traditional financial securities exchanges. Today, Okex is recognized as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and it claims to have a daily turnover of about $1.5 billion just from its Bitcoin futures product.
However, there have been some doubts regarding Okex fraud, along with other prominent Chinese-owned crypto exchanges, about whether the actual turnover figures are as high as they have been reported. In fact, there have been claims of manipulation and exaggeration due to which people have termed Okex fraud.
Okex had also introduced its ‘utility token’ cryptocurrency like other major Chinese exchanges including Huobi Pro and Binance in early 2018. The token could be used on the exchange platform for settling trading fee or for other activities. Proprietary utility tokens seem to have become the latest trend for crypto exchanges and this pattern was established by Binance’s ICO that shot the exchange into the biggest one international within a month of its introduction. It is rumored that Okex also wishes to launch its own Ethereum-like public Blockchain platform, but no official announcement has been made.
The Okex Trading Platform
When it comes to the trading platform offered by Okex, you will come across two options; an in-browser trading platform and a desktop client software that can be downloaded. The desktop-based platform is relatively more advanced and powerful because it can handle most of the strain and is less likely to freeze or face processing difficulties. The Okex platform also has a more professional nature, which means that it places a great deal of demand on hardware as compared to an average crypto exchange.
The exchange platform is sophisticated and well-designed and is very much similar to the trading platforms of high quality traditional financial markets. One major feature is a charting package that was developed by sister exchange OkCoin and parent company. Anyone with some trading experience would certainly appreciate this feature.
The Okex Exchange Markets
The standard crypto-to-crypto trading is offered by the Okex exchange, which is most common for crypto exchanges and also in fiat to crypto trading. Unfortunately, the only fiat currency that’s supported by Okex for now is the Chinese Yuan. As far as the tokens and cryptocurrencies are concerned, the exchange supports more than hundred options and also continues to add new options regularly.
The platform also offers margin trading and the maximum 20:1 is available, which is the highest that any cryptocurrency exchange offers or even offered by a CFD broker. Since cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, margin trading is limited to 20:1 where this market is concerned. Futures trading is also offered by Okex for Ethereum, Bitcoin and EOS with monthly, weekly and bi-weekly contracts being offered. The exchange also offers leveraged margin trading where futures contract are concerned. Algorithmic trading tools have also been added to the range of additional functionalities provided by the exchange.
Okex Fees
The rock bottom trading fees charged by Okex was also one of the reasons that rumors of Okex fraud became widespread. The exchange has some of the lowest trading costs in the cryptocurrency market. The fees are charged based on the average 30-day trading volume, but even at the upper end, they are on the lower side. The highest trading fee charged for low volume accounts is about 0.15% make fee and the taker fee is set at 0.2%. This goes as low as 0.02% for makers and 0.05% for takers, respectively. Such low fee does not make Okex fraud; it is a legitimate platform that offers low fees as an incentive to its clients.
Okex Fairness and Security
Since it is one of the major crypto exchanges in the world and is backed by major capital, it would be rightfully assumed that Okex’s cybersecurity architecture is in accordance with the best standards in the industry. Amongst the security measures in place, Okex lists GSLB, has cold storage multi-signature wallets and distributed server clusters.
However, claims of Okex fraud once again sprang up in October 2017 when account holders on the exchange complained that their accounts were hacked and cryptocurrency was stolen. The exchange claimed that this was the responsibility of account holders because they hadn’t secured their accounts and made logins and passwords accessible.
Okex Customer Support
Customer support is offered by Okex through a phone line as well as an email-based ticketing system, along with social media channels and several messaging apps. There have been complaints about slow response times or failure to resolve problems by the customer support team.
Okex Pros and Cons
The fact that Okex has low fees, offers fiat to crypto support, an extensive range of pro trading options like futures, horde of cryptocurrencies, leverage trading and a high-level trading platform makes it a reliable option. But, Okex fraud rumors exist due to mixed reviews regarding its customer support and low fees. Nonetheless, Okex is a well-backed and reliable trading platform that aims to provide solid services to its clients.
