8 Best Crypto Margin Platforms For 2022
Updated: May 17th, 2022
In the last 12 months, the cryptocurrency market has seen a surge in demand for cryptocurrency trading platforms that offer margin, derivatives and futures markets to use leverage. 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.
Our Pick
Best exchange for
Leveraged Tokens
FTX
Visit FTXHedgewithCrypto Score
4.7/5
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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.
Based on our reviews, these are the best places to trade crypto with leverage:
- FTX (best for leveraged tokens)
- Bybit (best for charting features)
- Binance Futures (best for reputation)
- Kraken (best for US traders)
- Huobi (best for Ethereum margin trading)
- Prime XBT (best for traditional markets)
- BitMEX (best for ease of use)
- Deribit (best for Bitcoin margin trading)
FTX is a well-established and reputable cryptocurrency trading platform for 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 market.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.7/5
0.02% / 0.07%
Global (USA allowed)
Crypto only
5% off trading fees
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit FTXRead our full FTX Review
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 trading terminal.FTX is well regarded for being innovative with its features, markets and listing of new coins to trade. The current range of 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 that is feature-rich and includes the majority of services available on the desktop version. The app is fast and easy to navigate and excellent for monitoring derivative positions and overall portfolio performance.
The fees on FTX use a taker and maker structure that are 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 mobile app, FTX is our best-rated margin trading platform for non-USA residents.
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.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.7/5
0.06% / 0.01% (leverage), 0.1% (spot)
Global (USA not allowed)
Crypto only
Deposit bonus up to $3,000
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit BybitRead our full Bybit Review
Founded in 2018 and registered in the British Virgin Islands, the Singapore-based trading exchange is currently not regulated in any country and does not require KYC 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 24hour trading volume of 18 Billion. Based on traffic and reported trading volume, Bybit is a serious trading platform that is currently ranked #4 in the world.
Aside from the variety of trading products on offer, the best feature of Bybit is the trading platform. Notable features include:
- Seamless trading experience with Tradingview charts
- Advanced matching engine for rapid trade execution speeds
- Take profit and stop loss orders attached to positions
- Dual price mechanism to reduce price manipulation by whales
- Competitive fees with rebates for market makers
A significant advantage of using Bybit as opposed to FTX, Huobi and Binance Futures is the trading fee rebates without having to stake any coins. Traders that provide liquidity to the exchange (i.e. limit orders) will earn a 0.025% rebate. This is beneficial for individuals that want to reduce account margin trading fees. The fee rebate encourages traders to provide liquidity to the exchange which increases market depth and benefits all participants on the exchange.
In short, Bybit is a world-class platform for margin trading cryptocurrency 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 trading platform for day traders and scalpers.
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 margin trading volume of over 100 Billion within the last 24-hour period and 20 Billion in open interests.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.6/5
0.02% / 0.04%
Global (USA not allowed)
Crypto only
20% off trading fees
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit Binance FuturesRead our full Binance Futures Review
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 advanced margin trading tools and charting 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. Binance is a highly reputable exchange that is secure and offers deep liquidity across 90 margin trading pairs. Combined with 24/7 global customer support and excellent charting features, Binance is one of the better places to trade crypto with margin.
Kraken makes the list of best margin platforms for cryptocurrency as it is one of the few exchanges that offer margin trading and is licensed within the United States. 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 the crypto market.
Note: Margin and futures trading on Kraken is restricted to US-qualified traders only.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.6/5
0.16% / 0.26%
Global (USA Allowed)
USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, JPY & AUD
None available at this time
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit KrakenRead our full Kraken Review
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 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 futures trading 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 margin trading fees.
Related: Best trading platforms for crypto staking.
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.
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.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.5/5
0.2% / 0.2%
Global (USA not allowed)
57
None available at this time
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit HuobiRead our full Huobi Review
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 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 margin trading crypto.The trading fees on Huobi leveraged pairs are based on a maker and taker model that start from 0.2% and 0.2% respectively. Compared to its biggest competitors such as FTX, Bybit and Binance Futures, the trading 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.
Prime XBT is a popular Bitcoin 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 up to 100x.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.3/5
0.5%
Global (USA not allowed)
N/A
None available at this time
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit Prime XBTRead our full Prime XBT Review
PrimeXBT 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 social trading platforms such as eToro, profitable traders can benefit from the social margin trading module by earning a passive income from the follower's trading fees.
Aside from this, PrimeXBT is best-known for its advanced trading engine and charting platform. Powered by Tradingview, traders can access all the 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.
BitMEX is a peer-to-peer crypto margin trading platform that offers high leverage contracts that are bought and sold in Bitcoin. Since their inception in 2016, the XBTUSD perpetual swap contract on BitMEX has been one of the most heavily traded products in recent years.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4.1/5
-0.025% / 0.075%
Global (USA not allowed)
N/A
None available at this time
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit BitMEXRead our full BitMEX Review
Beginner 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 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 for margin trading 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 has been agreed upon, a large portion of traders has moved across to other margin platforms such as FTX and Bybit.
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.
HedgewithCrypto Score
4/5
0.00% / 0.05%
Global (USA not allowed)
Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC
None available at this time
Ease of use
Reputation
Deposit methods
Fees
Visit DeribitRead our full Deribit Review
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 the provide liquidity to Deribit do not pay any fees for BTC and ETH perpetual futures contracts. While there is no fee rebates available, a 0% fee when using limit orders is great value for money.
Similar to BitMEX, the crypto 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 margin trading fees.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FTX | 319 | 0.02% / 0.07% | Rating | 5% off trading fees | Visit FTX | FTX Review |
  Bybit | 81 | 0.06% / 0.01% (leverage), 0.1% (spot) | Rating | Deposit bonus up to $3,000 | Visit Bybit | Bybit Review |
 Binance Futures | 100+ | 0.02% / 0.04% | Rating | 20% off trading fees | Visit Binance Fu... | Binance Futures Review |
 Kraken | 94 | 0.16% / 0.26% | Rating | None available at this time | Visit Kraken | Kraken Review |
  Huobi | 348+ | 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 |
  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 |
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.
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 plan to trade on 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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Kevin GrovesKevin is the founder and chief editor at HedgewithCrypto which he started in 2019 and has reached over 1.5 million visitors worldwide. He is passionate about cryptocurrency as an emerging technology and is heavily involved in the fast-growing fintech space. An experienced trader growing his portfolio since 2013, he has a strong understanding of investing in the crypto market using exchanges, brokers and derivatives platforms.
