Contents
What is Poloniex
Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange that’s established in 2014 during the early stages of the cryptocurrency boom. This platform enables you to buy and sell digital cryptocurrency assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and other popular altcoins.
However, during the early stages of it’s operational history, Poloniex suffered a high profile hack in march 2014. It lost about 12% of its BTC holdings, which amounted to about $50k worth of bitcoins at that time. However, in a show of good faith and great corporate governance, Poloniex reimbursed the losses using company profits.
In light of recent events that have compromised the security of Poloniex, the developers have implemented increased security measures. This exchange guarantees that users are safe and secure when doing their transactions on the Poloniex platform. They ensure that the vast majority of customer information and deposits are stored offline in secured cold-storage. This minimizes the risk of data breach and exposure to online hackers.
Who Can Use Poloniex?
Like most big exchanges, Poloniex is a global exchange that can be accessed from almost all countries around the world. However, they do have several limitations, usually due to regulatory concerns.
Currently, Poloniex can be accessed by anyone except those living in these countries
- Cuba
- Iran
- North Korea
- Sudan
- Syria
- The United States
Users from other countries can trade and invest in the Poloniex exchange without any restrictions.
Residents of those countries mentioned above can still access Poloniex using VPN and other identity-masking methods. However, this is not recommended because Poloniex might crack down on this practice. Besides that, If there is any legal dispute regarding you, your assets, and Poloniex, the authorities will not be able to help.
Because of that, if you’re a resident of those countries mentioned above, it’s better to find other global exchanges that specifically service your geographic area. Or even better, find a local exchange that’s certified and backed by trustworthy investors/companies.
Poloniex Key Features
Poloniex has several notable features that sets it apart as one of the ‘big boy’ cryptocurrency exchanges. These features include
- Access to tons of crypto tokens to trade. Currently, you can trade over 60 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Tron, Eos, and Monero
- Low transaction fees. Poloniex currently has one of the lowest trading fees compared to other big-name crypto-exchanges
- Margin trading. Poloniex enables you to use margin trading with up to 2.5x leverage. This is beneficial if you’re a seasoned trader and wants to make money quickly
- Access to Poloni DEX and IEO Launchpad. These two features enable you to invest in the hottest new blockchain projects. This feature makes use of Poloniex’s decentralized counterpart, Poloni DEX.
- Quick and easy to use. Poloniex does not force you to pass KYC checks before being allowed to trade inside the platform. You can sign up using your email and start trading immediately.
As you can see, Poloniex has multiple features that enables you to seamlessly buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies.
Poloniex KYC
As we’ve said before, Poloniex does not force you to submit identities and go through a KYC process to trade inside the exchange. However, going through the KYC process is advantageous, especially if you’re a high volume trader. This is because of the 2 level account system in Poloniex.
Level 1 is for users that have not gone through the KYC process and simply created an account at Poloniex by inserting an email and password. Users with level 1 verification accounts can access unlimited trading features, unlimited deposits, but only $10000 daily withdrawals.
For an account that doesnt need KYC, this is a heck of a lot of features. If you’re not a big volume trader that needs frequent withdrawals, the level 1 account would be sufficient.
Level 2 verification on the other hand is for users that are successfully cleared by the KYC process. This level of verification allows customers to withdraw up to $500000 per day, use margin trading features, and get faster resolutions from customer service when you lose access to your account.
The inclusion of margin trading and faster resolutions feature is a godsend for seasoned traders. Because of that, we recommend getting the level 2 verification if you’re trading any significant amount of money on the Poloniex platform.
To get a better idea of the difference between the 2 levels of KYC in Poloniex, have a look at the table below.
Features | Level 1 | Level 2 |
Spot Trading | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Deposits | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Standard Withdrawal Limit | $10,000 per day | $500,000 per day |
Withdrawal Limit with 2FA | $50,000 per day | $1,000,000 per day |
APIs | ✔ | ✔ |
Trollbox | ✔ | ✔ |
Staking Rewards | ✔ | ✔ |
2FA | ✔ | ✔ |
Buy Bitcoin with Cards | ✔ | ✔ |
Lending | ✔ | ✔ |
Custom Withdrawal Limits | ✖ | ✔ |
Margin Trading | ✖ | ✔ |
Identity Verification | ✖ | ✔ |
Futures | 10x leverage | 100x leverage |
2FA Recovery | Limited | ✔ |
Manual Password Resets | Limited | ✔ |
Manual Fund Transfers | Limited | ✔ |
Funds Recovery | Limited | ✔ |
ATO Prevention | Limited | ✔ |
Help Accessing Account | Up to 2 months | Up to 4 days |
LaunchBase | ✖ | ✔ |
In addition to level 1 and 2 accounts, large volume traders, professionals, and institutions can apply to open a Poloniex plus silver, gold, and market maker accounts.
These Poloniex Plus accounts are identical to normal accounts but with numerous added benefits. These benefits include lower trading fees, inclusion of premium features, an account manager standing by to ensure impeccable customer service, whitelisting priority, and even higher withdrawal limits.
To get a better idea of the added features for Poloniex Plus silver and gold, take a look at the table below.
Poloniex Margin Trading
Margin trading is basically trading with borrowed funds instead of your own money. When you place a margin order, all the money you’re using is borrowed from others offering their funds in the form of P2P loans.
With the addition of margin trading on Poloniex, you will get access to three separate accounts to store deposited funds: Exchange, Margin, and Lending.
Exchange account will hold the funds used for regular trading. A margin account holds collateral used to secure loans used in margin trading. Lending accounts will hold funds you can loan to others who want to use margin and will earn an interest on.
Poloniex Trading Fees
Poloniex has one of the lowest trading fees in the industry. The fees you have to pay to Poloniex include spot trading fees, margin trading fees, and withdrawal fees.
The trading fee in Poloniex is very straightforward. You just need to pay a flat fee depending on whether you’re a taker or a maker and your 30-day trading volume. The higher the volume, the lower the fees.
VIP status, that is customers that are enrolled into Poloniex plus silver, gold, and market maker tiers pay 0% for maker fees and less than 0,04% for taker orders. To get a better idea of the fee structure, see the table below.
Maker Fee | Taker Fee | 30-day Trade Volume |
0.090% | 0.090% | Less than USD 50,000 |
0.075% | 0.075% | USD 50,000 – 1,000,000 |
0.040% | 0.070% | USD 1,000,000 – 10,000,000 |
0.020% | 0.065% | USD 10,000,000 – 50,000,000 |
0.000% | 0.060% | More than USD 50,000,000 |
0.000% | 0.040% | Poloniex Plus Silver |
0.000% | 0.030% | Poloniex Plus Gold |
-0.020% | 0.025% | Poloniex Market Maker |
Poloniex Withdrawal Fees
Poloniex does not charge anyone for depositing cryptocurrency, because of that, there are no deposit fees. However, Poloniex does charge a withdrawal fee that’s luckily quite cheap.
Keep in mind that the fee depends on the coins that you’re about to withdraw, some might be more expensive compared to the other. You can see the fees for popular cryptocurrencies below, for a more complete breakdown of the withdrawal fees, check out their website.
Coin | Withdrawal Fee |
Bitcoin (BTC) | 0.0005 BTC |
Dogecoin (DOGE) | 20 DOGE |
Ethereum (ETH) | 0.01 ETH |
Dash (DASH) | 0.01 DASH |
Litecoin (LTC) | 0.001 LTC |
Tether (USDT) | 10 USDT (OMNI) / 1 USDT (ETH) / 0 USDT (TRX) |
Monero (XMR) | 0.0001 XMR |
Ripple (XRP) | 0.05 XRP |
Tron (TRX) | 0.01 TRX |
How to Deposit to Poloniex
Poloniex is a cryptocurrency only exchange, if you want to deposit using fiat, you need to use Simplex. First, we will cover how to deposit cryptocurrencies to Poloniex, it’s very simple.
If you’re using the app, you just need to follow 5 easy steps outlined below
- Tap the Wallet icon at the bottom left corner of your screen
- Tap Deposit
- Select the currency you want to deposit, then click on “Continue”
- Scan or copy your deposit address, and/or additional payment ID
- Visit the withdrawal page on your origin wallet or exchange, and enter your copied Poloniex deposit address
On the other hand, if you’re using the website version, you can deposit cryptocurrency by following these 4 simple steps outlined below
- Click on the Wallet section at the top right of your screen, or navigate here: https://poloniex.com/wallet
- Click on Deposit at the top right corner of the screen and then click the asset you wish to deposit
- Copy your Poloniex deposit wallet address and/or additional payment ID
- Visit the withdrawal page on your origin wallet or exchange, and enter your copied Poloniex deposit address
For those of you that don’t have cryptocurrency but would like to get into crypto, Poloniex has partnered with Simplex to enable users to buy cryptocurrencies with credit cards.
To top up your Poloniex wallet using Simplex, it’s very simple, just follow these steps
- Click “Wallet > Buy with Fiat” in the top right hand corner, or go directly to https://poloniex.com/cards/buy/.
- Determine how you want your card purchase to be denominated. You can choose from USD, EUR, AED, ARS, AUD, AZN, BGN, BRL, CAD, CHF, CLP, COP, CRC, CZK, DKK,DOP, GBP, GEL, HKD, HUF, ILS, INR, JPY, KRW, KZT, MAD, MDL, MXN, MYR, NAD, NGN, NOK, NZD, PEN, PLN, PHP, QAR, RON, RUB, SEK, SGD, TRY, TWD, UAH, UYU, UZS, VND, ZAR. You can still purchase even if your card is issued in another currency, but you might incur an FX / international use charge from your bank.
- Choose the asset and amount of crypto you want to purchase – the fees and total charge will be displayed underneath.
- Adjust the amount of crypto you are interested in purchasing and proceed when you are ready.
Make sure that you read the notes and disclaimers before proceeding with the transaction. You’ll also need to verify your identity during the Simplex checkout process. Because of that, you’ll need to make sure you have a valid form of ID ready during the process.
How to Withdraw from Poloniex
Withdrawing money from Poloniex is very easy. However, you need to make sure that you’ve read the instructions and notes, some currencies have additional memos, fields, and requirements. Before making a transfer, pay attention to these rules and exceptions to ensure smooth processing.
If you’re using the app version of Poloniex, you’ll only need to follow these 4 steps to withdraw your cryptocurrency
- Tap on the Wallet icon at the bottom left corner of your screen, and then Withdraw.
- Select the currency you wish to withdraw.
- Enter the destination address, and/or additional payment ID and the amount you wish to send.
- Enter your password to confirm.
If you’re using the web based version of Poloniex, follow these instructions instead
- Click on the Wallet section at the top right of your screen, or navigate here: https://poloniex.com/wallet
- Click on Withdraw at the top right corner of the screen and then click the asset you wish to withdraw.
- Enter the destination address, and/or additional payment ID and the amount you wish to send. If you’d like to remove all your funds, you can click Max Amount to do this easily.
- Click Continue, and review your withdrawal before confirming via the Withdraw [Asset] button.
Poloniex Trading Bots
Poloniex is purely a cryptocurrency exchange, because of that, it doesn’t offer any trading bots on it’s platform. However, you can still use trading bots inside Poloniex by creating your own trading bot or using third party modular trading bots that are compatible with Poloniex.
These third party trading bots are reportedly compatible with Poloniex so try them out and see if they work for you
- Cryptohopper
- Bitsgap
- Coinrule
- Bituniverse
However, keep in mind that third party trading bots are always susceptible to manipulation. Keep a close eye on your trading bots and immediately disconnect/delete them and regain complete control of your account. Don’t let these third party bots gain access to important keys and authorization status that can let them automatically withdraw or deposit money.
Well, you get the gist, don’t let them do anything that’s suspicious and not related to trading inside that platform.