CEX.IO Review 2021 – Scam or not?

CEX.IO the once cloud mining provider has become one of the most popular crypto exchanges by now, offering cross-platform trading options on multiple devices with high liquidity for the most popular cryptocurrency and fiat pairs. You can buy and sell cryptocurrencies as well as place orders on Cex.io from around the world. Margin trading is also offered on the platform.

About Cex.io

CEX.IO was one of the first Bitcoin trading platforms that appeared on the market. It was founded in London in 2013 as a BTC exchange and cloud mining provider. Its mining pool known as Ghash.io was so big it held 42 percent of the total network mining power at some point. Ghash.io closed its operations in 2015 and CEX.IO continues to operate solely as a Bitcoin exchange. Users from all around the world can trade on the platform, as the company provides services in 99 percent of the countries and 25 states in the USA. The company is a registered Money Services Business which enables them to provide official cryptocurrency exchange services for US citizens as well.

The company has been founded by Oleksandr Lutskevych who is also the current CEO of Cex.io Ltd. Lutskevych has over 15 years of experience on the IT tech and games industry, before the launch of Cex.io he was working as a developer and consultant besides being a private entrepreneur in his own projects. He holds a master’s degree in Cybernetics from Kyiv National University.

Review Contents

• Verification
• Fees
• Trading, Order Types and Trading Pairs
• Supported Countries
• Supported Payment Methods
• Ease Of Use
• Customer Support
• User Experience
• Exchange Security
• FAQ – Frequently asked questions about Cex.io
• Conclusion

 

Verification

Verification process on CEX.IO is very simple, and the exchange offers a detailed Verification guide to get the users familiar with the process.

There’s always someone from the support to answer the questions posted below the guide, which is a great alternative to opening tickets.

 

Requirements for Identity verification are following the industry standards:

• Personal information (name, gender, date of birth, place of birth, address and a phone number)
• Government-issued document (ID card, passport, driver’s license)
• Proof of residency (utility bill with the user’s name and address or a bank statement)
• Selfie and note with an ID document
• Social media profiles (not mandatory, but can make the verification quicker)

To pass the verification process you have to take a selfie of yourself, holding your ID document along with a handwritten note with the date of the submission and a text that ‘I am a Cex.io customer.’ This handwritten note is to ensure all accounts are opened on behalf of the individual submitting the documents and not based on stolen passports, so it is to ensure the integrity of the platform.

The verification process doesn’t take long but and it can take up to 24 hours depending on the interest of the public.

When it comes to trading, there are four different account types on CEX.IO with the following limits:

• Basic verification with ID – deposits are limited to $1000 per day and $3000 per month. In addition, there is no option to use SWIFT or ACH bank wire transfer with basic verification.
• Verified with address – unlimited total deposit is available with bank wire transfer funding option however deposits are limited to daily $3000 and monthly $30000 with credit card purchases and $200,000 / $500,000 with bank wire purchases.
• Enhanced verification – no limits for bank wire transactions, but credit card deposits are limited here as well up to max $100,000 per month with the enhanced verification where you need to provide selfie and bank statement.
• Corporate accounts – after providing company related documents, the account setup is the same for enhanced verification.

What makes the CEX.IO different from the competition is the ability to deposit funds with the payment cards.

Similar to the identity verification, the exchange has a Payment card verification guide with detailed instructions and a how-to video.

When the card is verified, users can deposit or withdraw the money in all supported currencies.

You can see the limitations of deposits and withdrawals here.

The exchange supports the following fiat currencies:

1. United States Dollar (USD)
2. Euro (EUR)
3. Russian Ruble (RUB)
4. Great Britain Pound (GBP)

Supported digital currencies include:

BTC, ETH, BCH, DASH, LTC, XRP, XLM, TRX, BTT, MHC, ONT, ONG, ADA, NEO, GAS, ATOM, BAT, XTZ, MATIC, WABI, LINK, ZRX, HOT, USDT, COMP, LAMB, DOT, ZIL, UNI, YFI, SNX, KNC, BAL, CRV, SUSHI, YFII, REN, OCEAN, KAVA, GZIL, TON, GLM, USDC, GUSD, AWG, FUN, UTK, 1INCH, RENBTC, RSR, MANA, LRC, DNT, CVC, XSGD, ZWAP, HAPI, MKR, UMA, OMG, COTI, AWS, AAVE

Fees on CEX.IO

The fee model on CEX.IO is one of the priciest in the market with a 7 percent fee for the direct trading with the exchange.

Their fee schedule for the peer-to-peer trading is based on the maker-taker model following the monthly trading volume in BTC. Both the maker and taker fee is lowered as the monthly volume grows. Taker fee is between 0.10%-0.25%, while the maker fee is 0.16%-0.00%.

Deposit and withdrawal fees vary between 1.2 and 5 percent of the amount transferred. You can see the complete fee schedule here. The fees are depending on the amount you transfer, the currency and which payment method you choose. It worth taking the extra time to go through the fee schedule before deposits and withdrawals due to the flat fees some method can be expensive depending on your circumstances. Generally speaking credit card payments are more expensive, but quicker payment options, while bank transfers are cheaper but also it takes more time to get your money.

When it comes to margin trading fees, they are fixed at 0.2 percent open fee, 0.04 percent rollover fee. There is close fee for any currencies on Cexbro – Cex.io’s margin trading platform and also you do not need to pay deposit or withdrawal fees in case of margin trading.

Trading, Order Types and Trading Pairs on CEX.IO

CEX.IO has a nice trading interface and offers the following orders:

• Market order
• Limit order
• Stop order

Large trading volume gives users plenty of opportunities to buy, sell and trade, compared to the exchanges with a smaller volume. The CEX.IO API is great, and it gives users control over their accounts by using custom software geared to meet their needs. The company supports trading with derivatives and futures and also offers margin trading in a number of trading pairs. Cexbro is currently in beta testing which offers CFD trading for cryptocurrencies for the selected testers. CFD, or Contracts-for-Difference means you can trade with digital currencies without actually owning them, only speculate on the price movements. CFDs let you trade with cryptos with low fees and quick execution. The trading interface is fully customizable with the charts and the various tools for analysis. Risk management tools help you to protect your profit or limit potential losses. It is also possible to try the demo account, so you can paper trade with your ideas without risking any money at the beginning.

Currently offered pairs are:

• BTC/USD
• BTC/EUR
• ETH/USD
• ETH/BTC
• BCH/USD
• BCH/BTC

The margin trading is possible with up to 100x leverage.

Supported Countries

All countries except: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guam, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United States Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Supported Payment Methods

• Bank Wire Transfer: SWIFT, SEPA, ACH
• Credit Card
• Qiwi, Skrill, Epay

Ease of Use

The website looks good, and all relevant info is always just one click away. The trading interface is easy to use, and generally, the entire platform is very user-friendly. The page load speed is excellent as well.

There are two main parts of the website: buying crypto instantly with Credit Card and a separate section for trading with various coins. Those who do not want to take a deep dive into cryptocurrency trading can easily use the instant buy feature, which is a real shortcut to buying crypto. You just select the fiat and crypto you would like to use for buying, enter the amount you would like to purchase, and after adding some basic details for verification you receive 

your coins instantly.

The trading feature on Cex.io has more features along with multiple deposit and withdrawal options, this is also the place where you can sell bitcoins and other altcoins. The trading interface is still easy to understand and very user friendly.

The exchange also has mobile apps for both Android and iOS, which are available for download here. With the mobile applications, you have full control over your trading account as beyond analyzing market data and monitoring price changes you can also place and cancel orders and deposit BTC and LTC to your account. In order to link your account to the downloaded mobile app in a safe and secure way, once you got the app from Google Play and App Store you an generate a QR code on your profile page that you can scan with your phone and this will instantly link your Cex.io account to the app.

Customer Support on CEX.IO

This company can be proud of their support team. They answer quickly, with detailed information and you can find them everywhere – on the platform and outside it.

The support team even addressed the complaints on the review websites such as TrustPilot, showing that the company cares about the clients and, of course, its reputation. The team also answers to user complaints on the wide internet, whenever they find someone complaining or being frustrated, from time to time the support team answers in comments in various sites to ease the pains of their customers.

A small downside comes in a form of the canned responses, but even when this is the case, the response is detailed and provides all the information required by the user. In case you have a specific question, beyond the canned response the support team goes beyond and try to solve your problem as quickly as possible.

User Experience

The majority of complaints online is related to the hidden fees and high exchange rates. CEX.IO really struggles with online reviews and has somewhat bad reputation only due to the problem with the fees. Everything else works like a charm, but users are quick to judge, which could cost the company in the long run. 

And indeed, their price is above the market average when it comes to buying bitcoin, however, you need to factor in the convenience part that Cex.io has a very streamlined process with verification and automated instant purchases with a credit card, which on the other hand costs more. If you opt to use bank wire deposits, you can mitigate some of the costs applied by the exchange.

Security

The security seems good on the Cex.io exchange. Two-factor authentication and a security question are used for account protection.

The majority of coins are stored in a cold wallet. The exchange also offers SMS and email alerts. PGP encryption isn’t used in emails.

The latest hacking incident happened in 2013 when the exchange was young, and it ended with a loss of $7,000 for one of the users. The vulnerability was immediately patched, and since then there were no problems.

FAQ – Frequently asked questions about Cex.io

• Is Cex.io safe?
• Does Cex.io require ID?
• Is Cex.io a wallet?
• How do I withdraw money from Cex.io?
• How long does it take to withdraw from Cex.io?
• Can I buy bitcoin at Cex.io using credit card?
• How do I transfer Bitcoins from Cex.io to my wallet?
• Does Cex.io accept prepaid cards?
• Does Cex.io work in the USA?
• Can I trade bitcoin at Cex.io?
• How do I buy bitcoins at Cex.io?

CEX Review Conclusion

CEX.IO is on the market for quite a while and has a pretty high trading volume. Their instant cryptocurrency buying option offers a great start for newbies who are just getting around in the crypto market. For experience trader, their trading platform offers all the features and order types along with substantial liquidity that would be needed for a completely good trading experience. 

The exchange definitely could do better in terms of communicating (or even lowering) their prices. The fees are above compared to many other exchanges and there is a relevant number of consumer complaints about this for CEX.io.

But still, they offer their services in a huge number of countries, have high trading volume and support various FIAT payment methods to enable people around the world to purchase Bitcoin and other altcoins all around the planet. If you do not find something better in terms of fees or you need to buy coins instantly, you should definitely give CEX.io a try.

Pros

• Reliable order execution
• Supports Wire Transfer and Credit Cards
• Instant buy option of coins

Cons

• Premium on prices
• Support’s canned responses
• Verification process is a bit demanding

Go to Cex.io