OKX is one of the most popular platforms in the crypto trading world. The exchange constantly adds new features and offers spot trading, margin trading and futures trading. 

OKX overview

Everyone, except for the citizens of restricted regions, can trade on top of the exchange. Also, it’s really easy to pass OKX KYC, obtain Lv1 verification and withdraw as much as 100 BTC per day. 

You will need your actual ID only if you want to get the Lv2 verification and withdraw as much as 300 Bitcoins. 

So we’ll cover some of the exchange’s distinguishing features in this overview, because you’re likely to consider it as a platform for trading.

OKX trading & withdrawal/deposit fees

OKX trading fees differ from each other by several aspects, but once you log in, you learn that the two most distinguishing features that make fees different are types of trading and your status with the exchange.

Trading fees for different trading types

Talking about Perpetual Swap, Options and Futures trading where you don’t buy the coin at the moment of the trade, you pay the same Maker’s and Taker’s fees without being a VIP client. For example, with the Lv1 verification, as of writing, you pay 0.02% and 0.05% as a Maker and a Taker, respectively. The higher your verification level, the smaller the fees.  

The situation with more popular Spot trading, which implies buying or selling cryptocurrency at the moment of the trade, is somewhat different. This kind of trading is more popular, thus more expensive. With the Lv1 verification, the Maker’s fee is 0.1%, and the Taker’s fee is 0.15%. With the Lv2 verification, the Maker’s fee is 0.09%, and the Taker’s fee is 0.135%.

Trading fees for clients with VIP status

Now, let’s take a look at how OKX trading fees alter with changes in your status. Let’s deal with the definitions first. Who obtains a VIP status on top of OKX? 

As of writing, if you do spot trading and your trading volume tops 1 Bitcoin per month, you automatically receive VIP1 status and get 0.06% and 0.08% Maker and Taker fees, respectively. 

If your 30-day trading volume is more than 5 BTC, you get VIP2 status and 0.04% Maker and Taker fees. 

With the VIP1 level, your Maker’s and Taker’s fees for Futures and Options trading are 0.15% and 0.3%, respectively. As for Perpetual Swap, the fees are 0.01% and 0.03% for a Maker and a Taker, respectively. Spot trading would understandably cost you more, at 0.06% and 0.08%.

That being said, your VIP level fluctuates in accordance with your trading volume, and your fees also change in accordance with your VIP level.

OKX withdrawal/deposit fees 

In order to withdraw your money from the exchange, you will need to take several steps: verify your email, set up Google Authenticator, bind your email and set up your funds password. 

The problem with this is that you will be able to access withdrawal and deposit fees only when all of these settings are complete.

This became an obstacle for the writer of this piece. While working on it, she was trying to bind Google Authenticator for several days in a row, and the support team ultimately told her that it was a connection issue on her side and offered to remove the Google Authentication option from her account.

Normally, according to the information from the support desk, the OKX exchange doesn’t require a deposit fee, and it takes only one conformation on the Bitcoin blockchain to deliver your funds to the exchange. 

The withdrawal fee for Bitcoin (BTC) is 0.0005, for Litecoin (LTC) – 0.001 and for Ethereum (ETH) – 0.01. 

OKX trading types

OKX spot trading 

As we’ve briefly mentioned before, unlike perpetual swaps or futures, a spot trade refers to buying or selling the coin at the moment of the trade. You simply trade one currency for another, for example, sell USD for BTC, or buy XRP for ETH, etc. This kind of trading is the most popular option, especially with novice traders. 

On top of OKX, you can spot trade over a hundred tokens. For that, you will need to proceed to hover over the Trade tab at the top-left corner of the screen and choose “Spot Trading”. 

You will be redirected to the screen with the available pairs, spread and latest statistics.   

OKX margin trading 

In order to access the margin trading feature, click on “Trade” and choose “Margin Trading”. 

As a reminder of the fact that this feature is recommended for experienced traders only, the exchange justifiably welcomes you with a popup that warns you against position liquidations and risks of amplifying losses.

According to the website, while margin trading on top of OKX, you can execute positions with five times of your capital; the exchange will lend you the funds. To get familiar with maintenance margin details as well as the borrowing limits, you can proceed to the page with so-called position tiers.

To start trading on margin, you will first need to transfer your funds from your spot account to your margin account. Then, you will be suggested to borrow tokens. Afterwards, you can choose the “5X Leverage” option and start trading.

OKX futures trading

To access the futures trading feature, hover over the Trade tab and access the futures window. 

Right above the charts, you will see several contract types―weekly, bi-weekly and quarterly futures―that mean your funds might be delivered to you in a different amount of time, once per week, once in fortnight, etc.

According to the OKX explanation, “Traders can long or short a position to profit from the increase or decline of a digital asset’s price, or manage their investment risks by hedging.” 

In addition to that, “Traders only need to pay a small amount of margin according to the ratio of the contract position value to trade higher-value contracts.” 

Futures are settled in Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), Tron (TRN) and a few other popular cryptocurrencies. 

OKX perpetual swap trading

Initially, swap trading is an instrument used by financial institutions to hedge risks in price fluctuations.

Two parties agree to exchange future interest payments based on the principal price of the asset in the future. 

One of the parties agrees to pay a fluctuating rate, and the other agrees to pay the fixed rate. 

The payee is defined by the resulting price of the asset in the future.

The situation is somewhat similar with the OKX perpetual swap trading. Two parties agree to exchange the money under specific conditions, and the realized profit is delivered to the winning account every 24 hours.

According to the exchange’s guide, OKX perpetual swap is settled in crypto assets, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT), and has no expiry date, meaning you can win or lose every 24 hours as long as you keep the position open. 

In summary…

While choosing an exchange to trade on top of, one of the most obvious options might be OKX. It constantly adds new features and already offers you different kinds of trading, such as margin trading, spot trading, futures trading and perpetual swap trading. 

If you want to get started with derivatives trading and look for an easier interface than that of BitMEX OKX is probably a good fit for you.

FAQ

Do you need to do ID check on OKX?

You will need your actual ID only if you want to get the Lv2 verification and withdraw as much as 300 Bitcoins.

Does OKX require a deposit fee?

Normally, according to the information from the support desk, the OKX exchange doesn’t require a deposit fee, and it takes only one conformation on the Bitcoin blockchain to deliver your funds to the exchange.