The User Experience of Futures Trading on Three Crypto Exchanges

Disclaimer: The text below is an advertorial article that was not written by Cryptonews.com journalists.

Before we get started, let’s first check the background information: As a beginner investor who has just joined the crypto sector and tried entry-level products like spot trading on several exchanges, I now plan to venture into the futures market and earn more profits by trading futures. Today, let’s check out how I opened a futures position on three crypto exchanges (Binance, KuCoin, and CoinEx) and see which platform provides the best functions (PS: personal experience & for reference only).

I. Binance

Let’s begin with the futures segment of Binance, which primarily covers crypto futures that include USDT-M Futures (linear contracts), Coin-M Futures (inverse contracts), Binance Leveraged Tokens, and Binance Options. More specifically, users can trade USDT-M Futures and Coin-M Futures directly on the Binance webpage. To trade Binance Options, however, investors must also download the Binance app. As for Binance Leveraged Tokens, since there are no operating guides, novices who are not familiar with leveraged tokens might get confused at the very beginning.

Here, I went with USDT-M Futures and entered the BTC/USDT futures market. As shown in the picture below, the left side of the page shows the current market conditions and the order book, while users can select the margin model and order type on the right side of the page. On Binance, users can place 7 types of orders, including Limit, Market, Stop Limit, etc., and choose to buy long or sell short. After opening a position, they can check open orders and trade history at the bottom of the page.

It should be noted that users must go through KYC authentication before trading futures on Binance. Moreover, to get started with Binance products & services (e.g. crypto deposits, trades, and withdrawals), both old and new users must first complete KYC authentication.

Overall, as a world-leading crypto exchange, Binance offers a full range of crypto futures and a well-designed webpage. However, there are no operating guides, and users need to spend extra time learning how to trade futures on the exchange. At the same time, to trade futures on Binance, users must complete KYC authentication. Additionally, they should also be careful with the platform as it faced many user rights protection issues, including manipulation of the candlestick chart and malicious liquidation of positions.

II. KuCoin

KuCoin’s crypto contract segment now features futures contracts and leveraged tokens. The futures page of KuCoin is pretty similar to that of Binance — the current market conditions and order book are on the left, and the margin model and order type are on the right. Meanwhile, KuCoin also provides a wide range of functions, ranging from the Contract Calculator to Take Profit & Stop Loss. However, on KuCoin, traders can only place limit/stop orders.

KuCoin only provides less than 100 USDT-margined futures markets, which indicates a lack of diversity. In addition, USD 280 million worth of assets were stolen from KuCoin in September 2020, which marked the biggest crypto hack that year. Therefore, before joining KuCoin, investors should carefully examine the platform’s security.

III. CoinEx

On CoinEx, all crypto contracts are futures. Users can trade linear/inverse contracts (the equivalent of USDT-M Futures and Coin-M Futures on Binance and KuCoin ). Users can click on [Futures] in the navigation bar to start trading futures.

The futures page of CoinEx is simple and straightforward, with clear-cut segments. Unlike Binance or KuCoin, CoinEx offers four types of futures: limit orders, market orders, stop-limit orders, and stop-market orders. It should also be noted that CoinEx placed the Futures Tutorial on the top of order settings to help users learn how to trade futures by simply watching the tutorial video and completing the quiz. The Futures Tutorial allows users to get started with futures trading on CoinEx quickly and conveniently.

CoinEx also offers functions like TP & SL and a contract calculator. Moreover, the platform allows users to close positions with one click. Overall, CoinEx’s futures page is more straightforward than that of Binance or KuCoin, and is easier on the eye. Additionally, CoinEx does not require futures traders to go through KYC authentication, which is more convenient for people like me who do not plan on completing any KYC authentication anytime soon. To open a position and start trading futures on CoinEx, users only have to log in to their CoinEx account and transfer assets into the futures account.

It is worth mentioning that CoinEx has always been noted as an extremely secure platform in the industry. The exchange has never been hacked in the past 5 years since its inception. As a reassuring exchange, CoinEx is backed by strong products & technologies, as well as enhanced asset security.

In conclusion, after comparing the futures provided by the three platforms, Binance provides a comprehensive, professional futures segment that features a large number of markets but requires KYC authentication, which is bad news for beginner traders or users in a country/region where KYC authentication is not allowed. In addition, Binance has suffered many scandals. On the other hand, futures products provided by KuCoin and CoinEx are both beginner-friendly, with a full range of basic functions and easy operations. Yet when it comes to security and ease of use, CoinEx is the obvious winner.