Trading without verification: a review of the CoinEx cryptocurrency exchange

In 2021, the international cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx added the ability to purchase cryptocurrencies for rubles via the AdvCash payment system.

We registered on CoinEx and made a deposit. We report on the exchange’s features: a built-in market-sentiment indicator, withdrawals without verification, and a button panel for selecting leverage.

Overview of CoinEx

CoinEx is a cryptocurrency exchange with a spot market and perpetual futures contracts. The platform was founded with the support of mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain.

The crypto exchange has been operating since 2017 and is part of the ViaBTC Group ecosystem. In addition to the exchange, the ecosystem includes the ViaBTC mining pool, the ViaWallet cryptocurrency wallet, and the CoinEx Smart Chain blockchain.

On CoinEx, 258 cryptocurrencies are traded in pairs with stablecoins, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and the platform’s internal token CET.

Holders of CET can pay part of trading fees with it. There are 4.18 billion CET in circulation. CoinEx curbs token inflation: on 20 February the exchange burned 1.08 billion locked CET. On 11 May the market value CET buyback exceeded $400 000.

Users can earn passive income — providing liquidity to the exchange’s automated market maker and lending for margin trading.

Registration and Security

To register on CoinEx an email address is required: the exchange will send a verification code to it. After setting a password, the user gains access to the trading interface.

Before trading, enable two-factor authentication: bind a phone number or connect Google Authenticator.

Users can reinforce account security:

• enable transaction confirmations by email. The exchange will send an email for each withdrawal;
• set an anti-phishing code. CoinEx will append it to emails. The presence of the code indicates the authenticity of the email.

Security settings can be changed only after email confirmation.

CoinEx keeps logs of user logins. In the security settings, the time and place of login, as well as device type, operating system, browser version and IP address are displayed.

CoinEx does not require KYC. Unverified users can withdraw up to $10 000 per day; verified users up to $1 million per day.

Card Purchases and Deposits

With a bank card you can buy Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, USDT (ERC-20), USDC and Tron. The minimum purchase is $100 or equivalent in local currency.

Transactions are processed by the payment systems Mercuryo, Simplex, MoonPay and Advcash. They support the Russian ruble, Kazakhstani tenge, US dollar, euro, Israeli shekel and another 27 currencies.

CoinEx does not charge a deposit fee. We funded an account for test trades: we deposited $50 in USDT TRC-20 to avoid Ethereum network fees.

CoinEx credits funds to the spot account. To trade futures, you must transfer crypto to the perpetual account: select the coin in the assets list and click “Transfer.”

Markets and Trading Pairs

CoinEx supports spot trading in pairs with USDT, USDC, BTC, BCH, ETH and CET. For popular pairs like BTC/USDT margin trading\ with up to 5x leverage.

In the futures market perpetual contracts are available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BSV, BCH, XRP, EOS and TRX in two types:

• USDT-M with deposits in USDT, for example BTCUSDT;
• COIN-M with deposits in the traded asset, for example in TRX for TRXUSD.

For BTCUSDT and BTCUSD contracts, leverage goes up to 100x; for the others, up to 50x.

In the header of the site there are quick-access buttons for trading:

• Market — all pairs on CoinEx;
• Exchange — spot trading;
• Contracts — perpetual futures contracts.

Trading Interface

The spot and futures trading pages are similar. The only difference is the information on the trading panel.

The CoinEx trading interface includes the following elements:

• left: a list of trading pairs or contracts, the trade history for the selected pair and the trader’s account status. For futures trading, the list shows USDT-M and COIN-M contracts.
• center: information about the pair or contract, a price chart, the trading panel and the user’s order book;
• right: market sentiment indicator and the order book.

CoinEx does not allow customizing the trading interface: to view active orders you must scroll down and lose sight of the chart. This can be a plus for beginners: you cannot accidentally delete the chart or the trading panel.

Market Sentiment and AMM

There is a native market sentiment indicator on CoinEx that shows the balance of buy and sell volumes over the last 1000 trades.

The indicator works across all CoinEx trading pairs. It can help when trading assets with low volume — it shows trader sentiment for the week.

Note these interface elements separately:

• the row with maker and taker fees. Usually exchanges show them on a separate page, which makes calculating the break-even point of a position challenging;
• the lever panel with an isolated and cross margin toggle. On mobile, tapping the buttons is more convenient than moving a slider.

Financial Account and AMM

Users of CoinEx can fund a financial account or a liquidity pool to earn passive income.

The financial account is a loan facility for borrowers on CoinEx. At the time of writing, the weekly APY on USDT is 14.2%. Over the past 7 days, issuing margin loans in USDT yielded income akin to a 14.2% annual deposit.

AMM — automated market maker for quick crypto exchanges. CoinEx uses AMM as a separate trading instrument and as a means to populate the order books. When depositing into the liquidity pool, AMM users share 50% of this market’s trading fees. On CET markets they receive 100% of the fees.

Trading Fees and Withdrawals

The size of the exchange’s trading commissions depends on the trader’s monthly volume and the number of CET on the account.

Trading commissions for spot trading:

Trading commissions for futures trading:

Minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts for crypto, as well as withdrawal fees, depend on the asset and the blockchain on which it resides.

Minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts for popular cryptocurrencies:

For details on trading commissions and withdrawal fees — on CoinEx site.

Affiliate Program

CoinEx operates an affiliate program. Participants receive a portion of referral trading commissions. The amount depends on the VIP level — the amount of CET on the referrer’s account:

• VIP0 — up to 1000 CET — 15%;
• VIP1 — from 1000 to 10 000 CET — 20%;
• VIP2 — from 10 000 to 100 000 CET — 25%;
• VIP3 — from 100 000 to 500 000 CET — 30%;
• VIP4 — from 500 000 to 1 000 000 CET — 35%;
• VIP5 — from 1 000 000 CET — 40%.

Referrers can set a kickback percentage and share part of the referral rewards with invited users. Example: Alice at VIP5 invited Bob and set a kickback of 50%. Then Bob will receive 20% of his own trading commissions.

Participants can create up to 20 referral links with different kickback percentages.

Referrers receive rewards for a year from registration on CoinEx. They can join the CoinEx Ambassador program and receive up to 50% of trading commissions indefinitely. CoinEx also pays ambassadors up to 500 USDT per month for marketing tasks.

CoinEx added a graphical analytics tool for the referral program to help participants make decisions about promotion.

Conclusion

CoinEx — one of the few exchanges with liquid pairs that does not require verification. The platform supports 258 cryptocurrencies. It is suitable for beginners, professional traders and miners:

• newcomers get a simple trading interface and built-in market-sentiment indicator;
• professional traders — discounts on trading fees depending on trading volume;
• miners — deposits with no transaction fees when using CoinEx Chain.

We found only two drawbacks:

• the trading interface is not customizable. Traders see either the chart or the active orders table;
• localisation issues. The exchange is still working on translation. Until it is finished, it is difficult to understand the purpose of some buttons.

Note the market-sentiment indicator on CoinEx. Its closest equivalents are third-party services for comparing long and short positions.

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