Bybit vs Phemex: Which Is The Best Exchange Today? 👀
Jack Moreau
Aug 2023
9 min read
Fact checked
Are you curious about whether to use Bybit vs Phemex? Our team has conducted extensive research on these two exchanges to determine which one comes out on top. We analyzed factors such as signup and KYC processes, available countries, trading fees, product offerings, and user experience. Read on to discover which exchange reigns supreme!
Bybit and Phemex are two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the market today.
Bybit was founded in 2018 by Ben Zhou and is registered in British Virgin Islands as Bybit Fintech Limited while headquartered in Singapor. Phemex was founded in 2019 by Jack Tao and is headquarted in Ankara.
Bybit exchange
Both exchanges offer a wide range of services, including spot trading, futures trading, and staking, and cater to users in multiple countries around the world.
Bybit is available in over 200 countries with service restricted countries including the US, the UK, Singapore, Quebec and Ontario, while Phemex is available in over 200 countries, with restrictions for countries like Hong Kong, China, Bermuda, Seychelles.
Phemex exchange
Bybit specializes in offering advanced trading options, including perpetual contracts, futures, and inverse contracts, with up to 100x leverage for various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. Bybit offers over 250 cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, SOL, while Phemex supports a wider range of over 350 cryptocurrencies.
In contrast, Phemex offers over 140 contract trading pairs that are margined in USDT, with leverage of up to 100x. Both exchanges have a strong emphasis on security, reliability, and user experience. Bybit has quickly grown to a userbase of over 10 million based mainly in Europe and Asia, while Phemex has over 5 million users globally.
Phemex app
Both exchanges are available as IOS and Android apps and have over 1 million downloads, with Bybit having a rating of 4.2 based on over 60,000 reviews and Phemex having a rating of 4.5 based on over 10,000 reviews.
Bybit vs Phemex Signup & KYC
Bybit and Phemex are two popular cryptocurrency exchanges that offer similar services to users. However, they differ in their KYC requirements and signup process.
The signup process on Bybit is easy and straightforward as users can register with their phone number or email. They can begin trading without KYC, but without KYC verification, users on Bybit are limited to 20K USDT daily withdrawal and 100k USDT per month.
Bybit signup
Bybit requires users to complete KYC verification in order to participate in earn, one click buys and fiat deposits. For those that want to complete it, the process to verify an account can take up to 48 hours.
Bybit KYC levels
Phemex does not require KYC verification for all users and users without it have unlimited crypto deposits and trading. Signing up to Phemex takes 30 seconds and users can then deposit cryptocurrencies and begin trading.
For those that want to complete KYC verification in order to get access to more features, they will also need to upload their ID and a photo of themselves.
KYC on Phemex
The full KYC verification process takes a few minutes to complete and users have to provide their country of residence and address, upload an ID card or passport plus upload a selfie of themselves. The process can be completed within 5 minutes if the documents have been uploaded correctly
Bybit vs Phemex Products & Services
Bybit and Phemex are two exchanges that both offer a wide range of trading services to their users.
Bybit offers spot, futures, margin, perps and options trading, while Phemex offers spot trading, perpetual contracts using USDT, USD and crypto as collateral, margin trading with 5x collateral and copy trading.
Bybit spot trading
In terms of derivatives, Bybit offers perpetual or quarterly contracts settled in USDT, BUSD and cryptocurrencies, while Phemex offers perpetual contracts using USDT, USD and crypto as collateral. Both Bybit and Phemex offer additional features to their users.
Bybit derivatives
Bybit offers trading bots and leveraged tokens, while Phemex offers earn products, learn and earn and a launchpad. Users who want to earn on their assets can do so via staking, lend and borrow, and a variety of vaults on Bybit.
Bybit earn
Bybit also has its own NFT marketplace and its own Web 3 wallet in Trust Wallet, while Phemex offers a launchpad for new token sales.
Bybit NFTs
The user experience on Bybit and Phemex is quite good overall. Bybit offers a great user experience with loads of trading products that will satisfy the needs of professional traders. The interface, however, is very cleverly designed and is easy to navigate even for beginners.
Bybit supported cryptocurrencies
In comparison, Phemex has a high-level user experience both in terms of the usability of its platform but also by offering a competitive set of product features. KYC is not required for basic trading, and the experience of using their product is smooth and seamless.
Futures trading on Phemex
Liquidity on Bybit and Phemex is also quite impressive. Bybit's liquidity is in the top 10 category with daily spot trading volumes frequently exceeding $1 billion. Phemex's average daily spot volume is over $100 million.
Derivatives on Phemex
In terms of leverage, Bybit offers a max leverage of up to 125X on futures, while Phemex offers up to 100X leverage on perpetual contracts and up to 5X leverage on margin trading. Overall, both Bybit and Phemex offer a great range of trading services to their users with impressive liquidity and user experience.
In the world of cryptocurrency trading, choosing the right exchange can make all the difference when it comes to fees. Let's take a closer look at Bybit and Phemex, two popular exchanges with competitive fee structures.
These fees are already quite competitive, but Bybit also offers the opportunity to lower fees through monthly trade volume thresholds. For example, spot, perps, and futures fees can be lowered if monthly trade volumes exceed the minimum threshold.
Bybit spot trading fees
Phemex charges an euqally competitive 0.1% spot fee for makers and takers, a futures maker fee of 0.01%, and a futures taker fee of 0.06%. Similar to Bybit, Phemex also offers the chance to lower fees through monthly trade volume thresholds. For spot and futures trading on Phemex, fees can be reduced if monthly trade volumes exceed a certain amount.
Phemex spot fees
Both Bybit and Phemex thus offers the exact same fee structure for both spot fees and futures. These are very competitive trading fees that few exchanges on the market can compete with.
If you're looking for an exchange that offers a variety of deposit methods, Bybit might be the one for you. They support over 10 fiat currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, RUB, MXN, BRL, ARS and TRY.
Fiat deposit on Bybit
Bybit also offers multiple deposit options including Bank Transfer, SEPA, FPS, QiWI, Advcash, PIX, and Wire Transfer. The deposit fees on Bybit differ between fiat currencies with wire transfer being more expensive ($25) while other fiat currencies have free bank deposits.
If you're only interested in crypto deposits, then Phemex will also get the job done for you. While Phemex does not support fiat deposits, they do offer the ability to buy crypto via credit card or bank account.
Buy crypto with card Phemex
Keep in mind that buying via credit card may come with additional fees from the third-party provider. So, if you're looking to buy crypto easily and don't need the option of fiat deposits, Phemex is definitely worth considering.
When it comes to withdrawing funds from Bybit and Phemex, there are some notable differences.
Bybit offers fiat withdrawals for a wide range of fiat currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, BRL, RUB, TRY and others while Phemex does not currently offer any fiat withdrawal options. However, both exchanges allow for cryptocurrency withdrawals with varying fees depending on the blockchain.
Bybit fiat withdrawal fees
Bybit offers zero fee bank withdrawals for TRY and BRL, but their high USD wire transfer fee of $25 may not be appealing to some users. Those who wish to withdraw EUR and GBP can do so via SEPA and Faster Payments (FSP) for less than 0.2% in commissions.
Their withdrawal fees for Bitcoin and Ethereum are reasonable with fees such as 0.005 BTC and 0.005 ETH respectively, but their SOL and USDT fees may seem steep to some users with 0.01 SOL and 10 USDT fees per withdrawal.
On the other hand, Phemex's withdrawal fees for BTC and ETH are even lower at 0.0004 BTC and 0.001 ETH respectively. Their SOL withdrawal fee is on par with Bybit at 0.01 SOL but their USDT withdrawal fee for Tether USD is lower at 4 USDT.
In conclusion, both exchanges have a strong emphasis on security, impressive liquidity and a great user experience for beginner as well as advanced traders.
Bybit has quickly grown to a userbase of over 10 million based mainly in Europe and Asia while Phemex has over 5 million users globally.
Bybit specializes in advanced trading options including perpetual contracts, futures, and inverse contracts with up to 100x leverage for various cryptocurrencies, while Phemex offers over 140 contract trading pairs that are margined in USDT with leverage of up to 100x.
In terms of fees, both exchanges offer very competitive spot fees at 0.1% for makers and takers with the opportunity to lower fees through monthly trade volume thresholds.
Bybit offers a variety of deposit methods, including 5 fiat currencies and multiple deposit options, while Phemex only supports crypto deposits.
When it comes to withdrawing funds, Bybit offers fiat withdrawals for USD, BRL, and TRY, while Phemex does not currently offer any fiat withdrawal options.
Overall, our team uses both Bybit and Phemex and we recommend both exchanges as they have done a great job across the board.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
