9 Best Crypto Margin Platforms For 2022
The cryptocurrency market has seen a surge in demand for leveraged trading platforms that offer margin, derivatives and futures markets. Crypto margin trading can be a great way for advanced traders to increase their potential profits by controlling a larger position size by borrowing funds. In this article, we compare and review the best exchanges to margin trade crypto. The methodology to find and compare the best margin exchanges will examine the overall features, markets, supported pairs, margin trading fees, ease of use and security.
Best Crypto Margin Exchanges In 2022
Based on our reviews, these are the best places to trade crypto with leverage:
- Bybit (best overall margin trading platform)
- Binance (biggest crypto margin exchange)
- Kraken (best for US margin traders)
- KuCoin (great for crypto leverage trading pairs)
- Huobi (top for Ethereum margin pairs)
- Prime XBT (best for traditional markets)
- FTX (best for leveraged crypto tokens)
- BitMEX (best platform for ease of use)
- Deribit (best Bitcoin margin platform)
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What Does Margin Trading Crypto Mean?
Crypto leverage trading is a tool for investors to open a long or short position that is much larger than their own capital by leveraging borrowed funds in a transaction. This allows the person to maximize potential profits by increasing their buying power using a small amount of money. For example, a trader that enters a trade with 100:1 leverage can hypothetically trade a $10,000 position size with $100.
Crypto Leverage Trading Platforms Reviewed
1. Bybit - Overall Top Cryptocurrency Margin Exchange
Bybit is a top-rated margin platform for trading cryptocurrency with leverage due to its seamless user experience. Traders can long or short coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS and XRP with up to 100x leverage. The mobile app is by far one of the best on the market with its highly intuitive navigation and charting. The popular platform offers 4 main markets to trade which include a spot exchange, inverse perpetual, USDT perpetual and inverse futures.
https://bybit.com
Founded in 2018 and registered in the British Virgin Islands, the Singapore-based trading exchange is currently not regulated in any country and is one of the best no KYC crypto platforms that does not require ID verification to begin trading. Since its inception in the market, Bybit has amassed over 3 million users worldwide in a relatively short period of time. At the time of writing, Bybit has a 24-hour trading volume of 18 Billion. Based on traffic and reported trading volume, Bybit is an advanced trading platform that is ranked #4 in the world at the time of writing.
As for the user experience, Bybit has an advanced, modern, and intuitive trading terminal. there are multiple-chart modes to view different charts on the same screen, light & dark modes and Tradingview charts. Moreover, there is an abundance of trading tools, indicators, and chart patterns that can be overlaid will suit a wide variety of trading strategies.
To manage trade risk, there are several order types that can be used. These include a 'limit order', 'market order' and 'conditional order' that offers good flexibility and control using price-based triggers. There is also the option to control the duration of each order using triggers such as Good Until Cancelled, Immediate Or Cancel and Kill Or Fill. What sets ByBit apart is the ability to set up take-profit and stop-loss orders in one click.
When it comes to transaction costs, Bybit's fees are based on a maker-and-taker model with discounts for high-volume traders. For perpetual and futures trading, the transaction fees are 0.01% and 0.06% for makers and takers. When compared to FTX, the fees are very reasonable and offer good value for money.
In short, Bybit is a world-class platform for crypto margin trading pairs with leverage. For serious crypto traders at the top of their game that want to trade on an advanced platform with an intuitive mobile app, Bybit is a top platform for day trading compared to other crypto margin trading exchanges.
2. Binance Futures - Biggest crypto margin trading exchange
Binance is the largest digital currency exchange service in the world that provides a platform for trading cryptocurrencies. The platform has seen a meteoric rise since being founded in 2017 and has launched Binance Futures which specializes in margin, derivatives and futures trading. Binance supports one the highest number of trading pairs with 90 contracts including USDT and Coin-margined assets to speculate on. At the time of writing, Binance Futures has a recorded crypto margin trading volume of over 100 Billion within the last 24-hour period and 20 Billion in open interests. In addition, new users on Binance that create an account can claim up to $50 for free using a Binance referral code.
Binance Futures is accessible through the main Binance website. For existing Binance users, funds can be transferred from a spot wallet to a margin account. The available markets to trade include:
- Perpetual or Quarterly Contracts are settled in USDT or BUSD.
- Perpetual or Quarterly Contracts settled in Cryptocurrency.
- Binance Leveraged Tokens
- Binance Cryptocurrency Options
The trading interface includes all the best charting software and features offered by Tradingview. The backend system is based on a powerful matching engine that can process up to 100,000 orders per second. This allows traders to execute order rapidly with minimal latency. Other benefits of using Binance Futures include the variety of order types that can be used to manage risk and entries such as market, limit and stop limit orders.
Binance has a mobile trading app for iOS and Android devices which is highly intuitive, easy to use, runs smoothly and performs all the basic functions expected of a crypto margin trading app. The app includes live Bitcoin and crypto prices, the ability to execute orders, manage each digital asset, view P&L and search trade history.
Overall, Binance is one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges overall and a good option for leverage trading via its Binance Futures platform. Binance is a highly reputable exchange that is secure and offers deep liquidity across 90-crypto margin trading pairs. Combined with 24/7 global customer support and excellent charting features, Binance is one of the better crypto margin trading exchanges in the industry.
3. Kraken - Best Crypto Margin Trading Exchange For USA
Kraken makes this list of best platforms which is licensed within the United States and has a crypto margin trading platform. With over 9 million customers worldwide and supported in 190 countries, not only is Kraken one of the best exchanges for buying and selling crypto, but users can also access up to 5x margin. This enables the opportunity to go long or short-sell the crypto market.
Note: Margin and futures markets on Kraken are restricted to US-qualified traders only which is a downside for international users looking for crypto margin trading exchanges.
In total, there are currently 36 cryptocurrencies that can be traded with margin which include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Compound and many others. This is a reasonable selection of coins that comprises the most popular assets by market capitalization and emerging DeFi tokens. Users can buy Bitcoin or other coins directly on the exchange and transfer them to a margin account for crypto margin trading.
The fees using margin differ slightly from the futures market. Placing a margin trade (i.e. using borrowed funds) will incur an opening fee of 0.02% with a rollover fee of 0.02% every 4 hours. For trading futures on Kraken, the entry-level fee for up to $100,000 in monthly trading volume is 0.02% and 0.05%. This is slightly cheaper than Binance Futures and FTX. But these platforms offer coin staking for BNB and FTT respectively to earn additional discounts on the crypto margin trading costs.
Kraken futures and margin trading fees.Overall, Kraken is a reputable option for qualified margin traders, however, the strict eligibility requirements exclude most retail traders. While the fees are competitive, there are better exchanges that have a larger selection of trading pairs.
4. KuCoin - Reliable Margin Exchange For Altcoin Pairs
KuCoin is our pick for the best crypto margin trading platform when it comes to looking for a wide selection of pairs to speculate on. Since it was established in 2017, KuCoin has amassed more than 20 million users worldwide. It is one of the best altcoin trading exchanges with a wide selection of markets including a spot exchange, futures markets, margin trading, leveraged tokens, zero-fee crypto swaps, staking rewards, crypto lending services to earn interest on crypto assets and even purchase cryptocurrencies using a credit/debit card.
Traders are spoilt for choice with a dedicated margin trading platform. There is the option to speculate on crypto margin pairs with up to 10 times leverage to long or short. One of the great reasons KuCoin is a leading margin exchange is the wide selection of pairs to trade. There are currently more than 220 margin pairs with BTC, ETH, USDC, and USDT as the base collateral currencies. This gives users the flexibility to alternate between pairs to find a crypto margin trading opportunity. Moreover, the platform features cross-margin and isolated positions to manage account risk.
Intermediate traders can also access its futures platform which has a dedicated platform. Users can trade over 110 coins with leverage up to 100x. Similar to Bybit, FTX and Binance Futures, this platform has perpetual futures contracts without expiry dates. The benefit of the Futures exchange is there are two modes available for new traders and experts.
Referred to as KuCoin Futures, it has a simplified crypto margin trading experience for novices to enter long or short positions on digital assets such as BTC, LINK, TRX, XLM, and DASH, and up to 100x leverage. In addition, KuCoin is renowned for its crypto bot platform which can be applied on the Futures platform. There are in-built trading systems that can be applied with margin to automate a trading strategy.
When it comes to fees for margin and futures trading, it follows a maker/taker model that starts at 0.02% and 0.06% respectively. The fees are very competitive in the market and the same as FTX Exchange - our top-rated pick. Similarly, there are futures trading fee discounts for holding KCS tokens. Overall, KuCoin is an excellent platform for margin trading crypto with dedicated user interfaces for margin and Futures, with competitive fees and a great selection of pairs.
5. Huobi - Top For Ethereum Margin Pairs
Huobi Global has been providing a safe and trustworthy place to buy, trade, store, earn and sell 348 digital currencies. The exchange services tens of millions of users in more than 195 countries worldwide and is currently ranked #5 for the top cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges based on margin trading volumes behind Binance, OKEx and Bybit.
https://www.huobi.com/Huobi offers a variety of cryptocurrency markets that can be traded using the same user account. Individuals can speculate on digital currencies using the Spot Exchange, Margin Exchange, Futures Market, Options and USDT-Swaps with leverage up to 125x. The emergence of crypto margin trading allows customers to hedge spot their positions by short-selling Bitcoin to balance a portfolio and exposure to market conditions.
The benefit of using Huobi for crypto margin trading is the ability to access other features, products and services on the same exchange such as staking and earning interest on cryptocurrencies. Funds can be seamlessly transferred between wallets to take advantage of other services in between margin trading.
Screenshot of the Huobi interface for crypto margin trading.The crypto margin trading fees on Huobi leveraged pairs are based on a maker-and-taker model that starts from 0.2% and 0.2% respectively. Compared to its biggest competitors such as FTX, Bybit and Binance Futures, the fees on Huobi are reasonable. Overall, Huobi is a reputable and secure exchange that will suit intermediate to advanced traders that can manage leveraged positions.
6. PrimeXBT - Best Crypto Margin Trading Exchange With Traditional Markets
Prime XBT is a popular crypto margin trading exchange that allows speculating on traditional financial products. Traders are able to trade a broad spectrum of markets including Forex (FX), cryptocurrency, commodities and indices using Bitcoin as collateral – a feature that not many cryptocurrency exchanges offer, combined with high leverage of up to 100x.
https://primexbt.comPrimeXBT offers a feature called Covesting that allows users to copy-trade other traders. The software can be useful for beginners on the platform to search for and follow the trades of the most successful and profitable investors. Similar to the top social trading platforms in the crypto market such as eToro and KuCoin Social, profitable traders can benefit from the social crypto margin trading module by earning a passive income from the follower's trading fees.
Aside from this, PrimeXBT is best known for its advanced margin trading engine and charting platform. Powered by Tradingview, traders can access all the crypto margin trading tools such as drawing lines, rectangles, horizontal, Fibonacci retracement, arrows, text and so on. The platform allows multiple charts to display one asset across multiple time frames, or keep an eye on a few different assets at the same time.
The margin fees on PrimeXBT are a flat 0.5% per transaction for buy and sell orders. There is also an overnight finance fee which varies for the different cryptocurrencies based on the liquidity providers. The overnight fee is not ideal for margin traders that hold long-term positions. The flat rate of 0.5% is also quite high when compared to FTX, Bybit and Binance Futures.
Overall, PrimeXBT provides a world-class platform that is suited to a wide range of investors and traders. The exchange is recommended for traditional traders that want to gain exposure to a variety of markets using Bitcoin as the base asset. The only downside is the fees which are not very competitive against the top margin exchanges listed above.
7. FTX - Best Margin Exchange For Leveraged Tokens
FTX is a well-established and reputable trading platform for crypto margin trading. The exchange has surged in popularity in recent years and differentiates itself from its competitors by offering a wide variety of indices and leveraged tokens that can be traded on the futures or options platform for crypto.
Led by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the team behind FTX has built a professional derivatives and leveraged products exchange that is designed for professional trading firms, intermediate traders and beginners alike. Ranked 3rd in the world based on margin trading volumes that exceed 21 Billion every 24 hours, FTX is our best-rated crypto exchange for margin traders in several countries outside the USA including India, UK, Australia and Singapore.
FTX is known for creating the world’s first cryptocurrency index futures that allow its users to capitalize on the rise or fall of a particular index in the form of a futures contract. Index futures can be traded directly from within the FTX exchange platform.
Screenshot of the FTX crypto trading terminal.FTX is well regarded for being innovative with its features, markets and listing of new coins to trade. The current range of crypto margin trading products offered on FTX include:
- Futures – users on the platform can trade futures on coins such as BTC, ETH, EOS, XRP, and USDT. Each coin has three futures contracts: a contract that expires this quarter, a contract that expires next quarter and a perpetual future.
- Leveraged Tokens – tokens that can be bought and sold with up to 3X leverage that requires no margin requirements.
- Options – contracts that give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy or sell at a future strike price. Often referred to as 'calls' and 'puts'. Advanced traders can use options to hedge their open positions against price volatility.
- MOVE – contracts that represent the absolute value of the amount the price of a coin moves over a time period.
- Spot – trades that follow the underlining price of the asset without margin or collateral
FTX has been designed for beginners and professional cryptocurrency traders on the platform by offering a simple, easy to navigate and intuitive user interface. The user interface is outstanding when it comes to browsing trading pairs, entering positions, managing trades and reviewing trade history.
The selection of order types on FTX is excellent and will suit a variety of traders. The available orders include limit order, market order, stop market, stop limit, trailing stop, take profit and take profit limit.
The FTX mobile app is second to none in that is feature-rich and includes the majority of services available on the desktop version. The app is fast and easy to navigate and is one of the best crypto apps for monitoring derivative positions and portfolio performance.
The fees on FTX use a taker and maker structure that is 0.02% and 0.07% respectively. In comparison to other platforms, the fees are competitive and can be reduced by staking the platform's native token FTT. Staking FFT tokens will provide a maker fee rebate (i.e. using limit orders) as low as -0.0030%. The barrier for entry to receive the fee discount is 25 FTT to effectively reduce FTX maker fees to zero.
Overall, taking into account the features, supported markets, fees, and its excellent mobile app, FTX is a highly-rated crypto margin trading platform for non-USA residents.
8. BitMEX - Best Crypto Margin Trading Platform For Veteran Traders
BitMEX is a P2P crypto margin trading platform that offers high-leverage contracts that are bought and sold in Bitcoin. Since its inception in 2016, the XBTUSD perpetual swap contract on BitMEX has been one of the most heavily traded products in recent years.
https://www.bitmex.comBeginner and advanced users can buy and sell contracts for cryptocurrencies (not the actual coins themselves) combined with leverage up to 100:1. The exchange refers to itself as an advanced margin trading platform, however, the user interface is quite dated and there are better alternatives to BitMEX with modern trading platforms and mobile apps. Regardless, professional traders are equipped with adequate crypto margin trading tools, indicators and order types such as market, limit and stop-limit to execute and manage positions.
BitMEX offers inverse perpetual swap contracts against USDT on 24 assets which include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Tron, Ripple, Litecoin, EOS and Bitcoin Cash. The amount of leverage varies for each crypto margin trading pair. There is even a testnet available for users to practice trading on BitMEX without allocating funds. The testnet is essentially a crypto demo platform that mimics the real environment.
BitMEX is currently ranked 13th in the world in terms of trading volume, with a reported 2.2 Billion being transacted within the last 24 hours. This is a significant fall from grace over the last 12 months. BitMEX was the largest market maker and most widely used derivatives exchange for crypto contracts. Unfortunately, BitMEX however has been caught up with illegal crypto margin trading and anti-money laundering violations with US regulators. While a settlement was agreed upon, a large portion of traders has moved across to other margin platforms such as FTX and Bybit.
9. Deribit - Best Bitcoin Margin Trading Platform
Deribit is a popular platform that has done a lot of things right to make our list of best margin trading platforms. The exchange allows traders to take advantage of up to 100x on Bitcoin and Ethereum futures that can be traded with leverage. The CEO of Deribit is a former options trader since the late 90’s and a Bitcoin enthusiast who has created the platform Deribit, which comes from the words derivative and Bitcoin.
https://www.deribit.com/Deribit offers one of the lowest fees when compared to other margin exchanges. The fees are 0% and 0.05% based on a maker and taker model. This means traders that provide liquidity to Deribit do not pay any fees for BTC and ETH perpetual futures contracts. While there are no fee rebates available, a 0% fee when using limit orders is great value for money.
Similar to BitMEX, the crypto margin trading experience on Deribit is quite dated and could use a refresh. Traders are well equipped with modern-day tools to perform technical analysis, however, Deribit does not have any glam offered by its larger competitors such as FTX and Bybit. For serious crypto traders, this won't matter too much to access deep liquidity and low crypto margin trading fees.
Leverage Trading Crypto Platforms Compared
We have assessed and compared each of the top margin platforms for crypto and ranked them based on important aspects such as user interface, margin trading pairs, leverage amount, fees, security and customer support.
| Exchange | Crypto Assets | Trading Fees | Rating | Promotion | Website | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bybit | 81 | 0.06% / 0.01% (leverage), 0.1% (spot) | Rating | Deposit bonus up to $30,000 | Visit Bybit | Bybit Review |
 Binance Futures | 100+ | 0.02% / 0.04% | Rating | Up to $100 welcome bonus | Visit Binance Fu... | Binance Futures Review |
 Kraken | 195 | 0.16% / 0.26% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit Kraken | Kraken Review |
 KuCoin | 700+ | 0.1% | Rating | Up to 500 USDT in bonuses | Visit KuCoin | KuCoin Review |
 Huobi | 600+ | 0.2% / 0.2% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit Huobi | Huobi Review |
 Prime XBT | 200+ | 0.5% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit Prime XBT | Prime XBT Review |
 FTX | 319 | 0.02% / 0.07% | Rating | 5% off trading fees | Visit FTX | FTX Review |
 BitMEX | 8 | -0.025% / 0.075% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit BitMEX | BitMEX Review |
 Deribit | Bitcoin, Ethereum | 0.00% / 0.05% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit Deribit | Deribit Review |
Frequently Asked Questions
Cryptocurrency margin trading refers to the practise of borrowing funds from a broker or exchange. The borrowed money is used as collateral to increase the capital amount to trade a larger position size. Using leverage can compound the outcome of the trade in either direction and potentially result in losses greater than the initial account balance.
Bitcoin inverse perpetual contracts against Tether (USDT) is the most popular and widely traded margin product in the world. BTC/USDT is offered on the most liquid cryptocurrency exchanges with the highest reported daily trading volumes and liquidity.
Binance Futures, OKEx, FTX and Bybit are the largest derivatives exchanges in the world that offer Bitcoin products that can be traded with margin. Within the last 24 hours, users on these platforms have have traded over $100 Billion at the time of writing.
Yes, Coinbase Pro allows its traders to speculate on the cryptocurrency markets using margin. Margin trading is available to U.S customers with up to 3x leverage on USD-quoted books.
Conclusion
Using crypto margin trading platforms is a fantastic way to earn money online. For beginner traders, we would recommend avoiding margin platforms and learning how to trade with no leverage. Losses can be compounded very quickly and result in account liquidations. Traders that are easily influenced by social media and FOMO into trades are most at risk.
If you're a margin trader and plan to use a leveraged exchange, remember to not hold your money on these exchanges for the long term and withdraw profits to a reputable crypto hardware wallet for safekeeping.
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