FinTech News
Bitfinex Drops $10,000 Minimum Equity Requirement
Even as cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity, there are still questions about the accessibility of those assets. From volatile values to confusion over buying and trading, those wanting to invest in crypto have often had to jump through a few hoops. However one platform is now attempting to open its doors by significantly lowering its capital requirements.
This week, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex announced it was doing away with its $10,000 minimum equity requirement. In a Medium post the company explained that the decision was made in response to trader demand. As a result Bitfinex says that everyone will have access to “the world’s most advanced trading platform.”
In a statement, Bitfinex CEO Jean-Louis van der Veld said, “We simply could not ignore the increasing level of requests for access to trade on Bitfinex from a wider cohort than our traditional customer base.” He went on to note, “For the last six months we have been working hard to ready our platform for a new wave of customer accounts and are now in a position to open Bitfinex to a wider audience. By dropping our minimum equity requirement, the only limits are now set by the traders themselves.”
As for what recent improvements van der Veld is referring to, the company says its upgraded its support center with more answers to common questions coupled with faster issue response and resolution times. Similarly the platform will now provide education on every token it lists. Bitfinex has also enhanced its Know Your Client (KYC) portal to create a “more frictionless” process in the “near future.”
Despite doing away with its minimum equity requirement, Binfinex users may still incur fees if their deposits are below a certain threshold. For example Bitcoin deposits of less than $1,000 USD will be subjected to a 0.0004 BTC fee. Other fees may also apply for withdrawals, order execution, margin funding, and more.
Bitfinex’s decision to lower its minimum equity requirement puts them in a position for real growth. As it stands the platform has an average daily Bitcoin trade volume of $38 million, putting it in second place (albeit a distant second) behind Binance according to a recent Bitwise report. By opening their platform to many more traders, it stands to reason that they can easily gain ground and help close that gap. Of course this success will only come if the upgrades the company boasts make its infrastructure as stable and capable as they claim. In either case Binfinex is proving to be one crypto platform worth watching.
