Pros
- Lots of Listings
- Low Trading Fees
- Staking Rewards
- Crypto Futures
- Well Established
Cons
- Chequered History
- Not for USA Users
Poloniex is one of the oldest Bitcoin exchanges in the cryptocurrency industry. The platform started operating in 2014 and has enjoyed a checkered trading history.
Despite this, Poloniex has continued to attract customers due to its low trading fees and is a gateway into Tron blockchain’s series of decentralised services.
This Poloniex review will cover every aspect of the well-known exchange, including accepted payment methods, fees, and the geographical areas where users can buy and sell bitcoin on the platform.
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Poloniex Overview
Poloniex was launched in 2014 by
Tristan D’Agosta in Delaware, US. The platform’s popularity grew due to its low trading fees, sizable support of crypto assets, and zero requirement for verification. The lack of a proper know-your-customer (KYC) framework was due to less regulatory pressure to verify the real-world identities of customers at the time.
However, as its services expanded, Poloniex initiated a standard KYC procedure in December 2017 in response to growing regulatory pressure. The platform has also beefed up its lineup of tradable crypto assets, with investors able to trade over 350 coins on its platform.
Although Poloniex began as a US entity, the crypto exchange split from Circle -its parent company- in 2019 in a bid to serve more global customers. This has also shut out US customers from using the platform. Poloniex was later acquired by Justin Sun, the famed Tron blockchain founder, a year later while expanding its operations internationally.
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Who is Poloniex for?
The platform is suitable for beginners and advanced users as it is easy to use and offers multiple trading options – including crypto-to-crypto trades, crypto-to-fiat trades, and margin and futures trading. The platform comes with one of the lowest trading fees in the emerging crypto market.
Poloniex is packed with features, including a newly launched digital collectible service called ApeNFT Marketplace. This platform allows both digital art lovers and creators to list as well as buy and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This comes with zero transaction fee and is powered by the hugely popular peer-to-peer (P2P) network, BitTorrent File System (BTFS).
The Bitcoin exchange also operates a decentralized swapping service called SunSwap. This allows investors to exchange Tron-based decentralised finance (DeFi) assets and also provides liquidity.
Poloniex is highly secured as it offers users two-factor authentication (2FA), offline storage, and address whitelisting.
Poloniex Fees
With regards to fees, Poloniex has one of the lowest trading fees in the crypto market. Its maker/taker fee percentage ranges from 0.145%/0.155% for trades below $50,000 after a 30-day period. However, holders of the Tron token (TRX) can enjoy a discount of up to 0.1015% or 0.1085% for maker and taker fees, respectively.
Investors can buy crypto directly with fiat; however, this comes with a $50 minimum deposit and a $50,000 maximum deposit monthly. Purchases can be made with debit/credit cards, ApplePay, and bank transfers. The transactions are processed through the Simplex platform. This option comes with a 3.5% transaction fee or $10.
Poloniex Features
Poloniex has been one of the building blocks for blockchain-based assets trading since launching in 2014. When Circle initially acquired it for $400 million, the platform was meant to rival the hugely popular Coinbase platform. Although it couldn’t attain this goal, the platform is still one of the most liquid exchanges in the crypto space. Below, we go through some of the top features of using the Poloniex exchange.
Low Fees
Fees are a crucial aspect of an investor’s trading consideration, and Poloniex offers one of the lowest fee systems. Poloniex charges an enviable Level 1 fee of:
- 0.145% for makers
- 0.155% for takers. This is based on a 30-day trading volume.
However, investors can enjoy even much lower markup fees by holding as little as $49 in the TRX token. This would see the trading fee slashed to 0.1015% and 0.1085% for makers and takers respectively. This fee system gets lower with more volume trades executed.
Crypto purchases with fiat are charged 3.5% through the Simplex platform.
User-agnostic
While a number of cryptocurrency exchanges are focused on beginners, others may be more suited for advanced investors. Poloniex combines the best of both worlds as it is easy to use for crypto newbies and offers advanced trading options through its margin and future trades for seasoned investors. This makes it a well-rounded Bitcoin exchange that any investor can rely on.
NFT Trading and Coin Swaps
Starting from its in-house NFT marketplace called ApeNFT, users can execute most of their digital collectibles trades without visiting a secondary platform. Even more exciting is that ApeNFT charges zero transaction fees for buying and selling digital collectibles.
Its decentralised exchange swapping facility called SunSwap allows investors swap several tokens for one another. On Poloniex, the TRX token features prominently in most of its activities and more tokens are swapped for the decentralised token. However, other popular variants like Tron’s Tether (TRC-20), wrapped TRX (WTRX), ETH, BNB, amongst others also have a huge presence on the platform.
On SunSwap, investors are also able to provide liquidity in special liquidity pools (LPs). With this, investors allow others to borrow or lend their digital assets and return them at a later time with an attached interest. A variant of the token they provide liquidity is issued to show their ownership. Providing liquidity is one of the top ways investors generate multiple income revenue in the crypto space.
Poloniex Staking
Staking is another major service on Poloniex. Essentially, this service entails locking up access to crypto assets in order to secure the network. In return, users who pledge their coins are rewarded with newly minted coins of the underlying network. This is similar to an interest-yielding savings account in your local account.
Staking is especially peculiar to the proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain networks largely due to the lack of enough network validators. By locking up the coins, it provides enough cover for criminals who may want to get access to the network.
However, Poloniex Staking comes with a slightly different spin. While staking entails not having access to the staked coins, the Poloniex staking system is much more fluid and flexible. On it, users are able to trade, withdraw, and deposit without any restrictions. The
Poloniex Staking is limited; only five coins can generate passive income from staking. This includes Cosmos (ATOM), Tron (TRX), BitTorrent (BTT), WINk (WIN), and Tron blockchain’s algorithmic stablecoin (USDD). Each coin comes with its own set of minimum deposit amounts and daily snapshots. Rewards are paid out mainly daily or bi-weekly following multiple snapshots on the staked account.
Although largely free, staking the ATOM token comes with a 25% staking fee requirement.
Supported Cryptocurrencies on Poloniex
Poloniex’s long-standing reputation as one of the early crypto exchanges has seen it build out its asset library over the years. The Tron-focused centralised exchange currently allows investors to buy, sell, and exchange over 350 crypto assets using the spot option, margin, or future trading. Each of these assets comes with multiple trading pairs aside from the regular fiat option. Some of the popular names include:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Solana
- Cardano
- Avalanche
- Polygon
- Decentraland
- Fantom
- Flow, etc.
Less popular altcoins have also found a home on the Poloniex as well. The Bitcoin exchange is one of the hotbeds for memecoins and other fast-rising alternative currencies. Some of them are:
- Baby Shiba Inu
- Steem
- SunSwap
- Dogelon amongst others
Poloniex Payment Methods
Poloniex supports a sizable amount of payment solutions, however, this is broadly split into fiat deposits and crypto or on-chain deposit. Fiat deposit is one of the most popular means for investors to fund their accounts due to the use of conventional payment channels and solutions.
Poloniex support crypto-to-fiat purchases using:
- Credit/debit cards (Visa and Mastercard)
- ApplePay
- Bank transfers
Users can easily fund their account with as many as 50 fiat currencies ranging from popular names like USD, EUR, and GBP to exotics like RUB, TWD, and TRY. All fiat deposits are processed using the Simplex platform, and users are charged a statutory 3.5% in fees, and Poloniex takes an additional 0.75% in fees as well.
On-chain deposits entail sending crypto from another exchange or platform to the Poloniex exchange. This can easily be executed within minutes and entails capturing the wallet address of the recipient platform and pasting it on the forwarding wallet. Poloniex allows users to deposit 50+ on-chain while fiat purchases are available for 18+ cryptocurrencies.
Supported Countries
While Poloniex started as a US entity, the platform has since expanded its operations to serve a global audience. Given the growing regulatory pressure from US financial watchdogs, the Poloniex exchange has since stopped serving US customers since it pivoted out of the North American giant. However, the US is not the only country that is not supported, as there are several others. This is largely due to the lack of regulatory clarity or hostile position assumed by these countries on cryptocurrencies and trading them.
Below, we capture some of the countries the Poloniex exchange serves:
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- Spain and other EU countries
Trading Experience
Poloniex offers a cohesive trading atmosphere for both beginners and advanced investors. With its easy-to-use interface, investors can easily place a trade within minutes. Poloniex offers ‘Spot’ and ‘Futures’ trading.
Users can either trade spot by placing a market or limit order on the coin they intend to invest on and wait for the order to be filled. The primary goal is to buy and hold an asset till its price appreciates and this is the most popular trading choice for beginners making their first investments. The expected profit is relative and cannot be either amplified or predicted.
However, for more adventurous investors with real-life trading experience, Poloniex offers margin and futures trading options. This allows investors to trade with leverage.
Leverage is when an investor borrows funds from the exchange or broker to increase their position and possible profit when the market forecast is right. On the Poloniex exchange, leverage is set at a maximum of 100x. While leverage can be a great way to boost profitability, it can also lead to a huge loss in the event of a wrong forecast. As such, investors are advised to only use it minimally.
Fees Breakdown
Fees are a core component in the financial markets. They are basically the cost incurred from using a platform— i.e. trading fees, withdrawal, etc. Below, we highlight the key fee structure of the Poloniex exchange.
Trading Fees
| 1 | < $50K | < $49 | 0.1450%/0.1550% | 0.1015%/0.1085% |
| 2 | < $50K | > $49 | 0.1150%/0.1250% | 0.0805%/0.0875% |
| 3 | $50K – $1M | N/A | 0.1050%/0.1200% | 0.0735%/0.0840% |
| 4 | $1M – $10M | N/A | 0.0700%/0.1150% | 0.0490%/0.0805% |
| 5 | $10M – $50M | N/A | 0.0500%/0.1100% | 0.0350%/0.0770% |
| 6 | $50M+ | N/A | 0.0200%/0.1000% | 0.0140%/0.0700% |
First on the list is the trading fees the Poloniex exchange charges for executing market orders.
Poloniex offers one of the lowest trading fees in the industry based on 30-day trading volume criteria.
- For trades below the $50,000 benchmark, the maker/taker fees are set at 0.145% and 0.155%, respectively.
- Investors can also get a 30% trading fee discount if they execute less than $50 in TRX trades within that time frame.
- This would see it cap out at $0.1015% and 0.1085% for maker/taker fees.
- However, the fees are depreciative depending on how much in trades an investor can execute within the one-month window.
Futures Trading Fee
The platform charges a futures trading fee of 0.01% or 0.075% in maker and taker fees. This is inexpensive compared to other platforms. Spot Fees (Maker/Taker) are within 0.145%/0.155% for trades less than $50k. For Futures Fee (Maker/Taker), users are given
30% discount for TRX trades within 30 days, at a percentage of 0.01%/0.075%.
Deposit Fee
Poloniex supports the on-chain deposits of 50+ cryptocurrencies into a user’s Poloniex trading account. However, the centralised exchange states that it does not charge for this activity.
Purchase Fee
Buying crypto on Poloniex with fiat currencies is processed mainly by Simplex – a crypto payment provider. However, this comes at a cost. Simplex trades are charged 3.5% or $10 (whichever one comes faster). An extra 0.75% fee is charged by Poloniex for enabling these fiat-to-crypto purchases. This is mainly done through a bank transfer, crypto/debit card, and ApplePay.
This is apart from the likely charges the user’s bank or card issuer may charge for the crypto purchase.
Simplex also charges a fee for selling crypto for fiat. This is set at 0.5% for a bank transfer, and investors can only sell BTC and USDTETH for direct cash.
Withdrawal Fee
Withdrawals on Poloniex are essentially free as the exchange does not charge a direct fee to the user. However, a miner or validator fee is paid to the underlying network for processing the transaction. This is not given to Poloniex, and the percentage largely depends on the network used to make withdrawal.
Conversion Fee
Poloniex offers crypto-to-crypto conversions. This is basically when one digital asset is exchanged for another in order to either withdraw or take up a new market position on the new coin. Crypto conversions also incur charges and on the Poloniex exchange, investors are billed according to its standard maker/taker fee schedule.
Poloniex Customer Service
Customer service is a key component of a business’s operations, as the support team serves as a roadmap for investors.
On Poloniex, the main support option is via a direct email message. Users need to fill in a contact form in the support centre stating their email address, subject, add a comprehensive message, and select a category where they have issues with. Poloniex also offers an option to attach a file for more detailed service.
There is also a live chatbot available 24/7 for short responses.
Investors can also reach out to the Poloniex exchange on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and on the blogging platform, Medium.
Security
Security on Poloniex adheres to the industry’s best practices. Investors have access to two-factor authentication (2FA), email authentication, as well as an identity verification process. However, the Poloniex exchange suffered a security breach, losing about 12% of the platform’s Bitcoin holdings. The lost funds have since been returned, and the exchange has taken a much more tough stance on its security measures.
To keep its users secure, Poloniex installed the following security processes:
Session History
Poloniex keeps a backlog of every device (both mobile and desktop) that logs into a user’s trading account. This enables a user to either log out of a device he or she doesn’t recognise or allow it to continue operating.
Freeze Email Prompt
A freeze email prompt is automatically forwarded when a device signs into a trading account from a new IP address aside from the one the exchange recognises. The email address directs the client to freeze the account immediately to prevent losing their funds using a highlighted link.
16-digit Backup Account Password
Aside from the regular sign-in password, users can also set a recovery account login password. This is a secondary login passcode and can be used to also gain access to a trading account if a user forgets the main one.
2FA
2FA is one of the most popular security systems in the finance space. It essentially sends a one-time password (OTP), usually a time-bound six-digit code, to a registered mobile number, or it can be generated with authentication apps like Google Authenticator.
How to Trade on Poloniex
Getting started on the Poloniex exchange is quite easy. The entire signup and trading process can be completed within a 10-minute window. Using Cardano (ADA) for our demonstration, get started following these easy steps:
Sign Up
Navigate to the Poloniex exchange on a web browser and tap on the ‘Sign Up’ button. This would redirect you to the registration page, where you would need to supply an email address and set a unique, strong password.
Once these details have been inserted, tap on the ‘Click to Verify’ button and solve the captcha puzzle. Then select the terms & conditions button and tap on ‘Sign Up.’
Verify ID
New users need to verify their identities to unlock the full suite of the exchange. This is in line with global financial laws that stipulate that businesses install know-your-customer (KYC) processes in order to combat money laundering practices.
On Poloniex, users must upload a recent copy of their driver’s licence or a government-issued ID card. Once these ID documents are uploaded, the Poloniex team will begin verifying the details.
Deposit
The next step is to deposit in the newly created trading account. Users can buy crypto with fiat using their credit/debit card or a bank transfer. Poloniex has a low minimum amount of $50 to begin trading. This option comes with a 3.5% processing fee.
Another option is to transfer crypto from another wallet or exchange it to the Poloniex platform. To do this, tap on the ‘Deposit’ button and type in the digital asset you intend to receive. Copy the wallet address, scan the QR code, and paste it onto the respective platform. This option is free.
Insert how many coins to send and follow the on-screen prompts to make the deposit.
Start Trading
The final step is to begin trading the asset. To do this, type in the ticker symbol for the asset and click on the ‘Trade’ button to select the desired trading pair — in this case, Cardano (ADA). Insert the amount of assets to be purchased and select between either ‘Limit’ or ‘Market’ orders.
NOTE: ‘Limit’ lets investors set their expected purchasing price while ‘Market’ allows them to buy at the current market rate.
Once done, tap on the ‘Buy ADA’ or any other coin, and the asset will automatically appear in the Spot account.
Is Poloniex a Good Exchange?
Poloniex checks several key boxes investors are keen about. For a chequered exchange, Poloniex has shown tenacity even after losing 12% of its Bitcoin holdings.
It is also suitable for both beginners and advanced investors and offers respective services for them.
Another huge boost is its low maker/taker fees of less than 0.2%. This makes it a top option for cost-saving investors. With its substantial liquidity, Poloniex is a good crypto exchange for investors to trade digital coins.
Conclusion
Poloniex is one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its features have enhanced the platform’s reputation.
The platform comes with deep liquidity and offers users low trading fees. It is also suitable for both beginners and advanced investors.
Meanwhile, its security breach is a part of its history, and the exchange has done right by its investors.
However, it does not have enough regulatory cover in its operating regions. This means investors should be cautious about using the platform due to the risks involved.
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Poloniex FAQs
Can I trust Poloniex?
Despite its chequered history, Poloniex has not suffered another hack since upgrading its security architecture. The platform upholds the highest security processes and requires new users to fulfil KYC requirements in order to begin trading fully.
Did Poloniex shut down?
The Poloniex exchange did not shut down its operations at any point in time. Only its US operations ceased to exist after its acquisition by the Tron Foundation in 2020.
What countries can use Poloniex?
The following countries are supported: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Which countries can’t use Poloniex?
The following countries are not supported: Crimea, Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea, the Canadian province of Ontario, Sudan, Syria, United States of America and US Territories (such as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands).
Who is the owner of Poloniex?
Poloniex was initially founded by Tristan D’Agosta in 2014 in Delaware, US. However, the exchange has since changed ownership following its acquisition by stablecoin maker, Circle in 2019, and Justin Sun of Tron blockchain in 2020.
