BigONE
BigONE Review 2023: An Expert's Comprehensive Analysis
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Overview
General
Fees
Customer service
Requirements & Accessibility
Pros
Cons
Key Takeaways
● Massive trading volume ● Decent selection of cryptocurrencies ● Apps (for iOS and Android devices) ● Loans feature
Origins
Introduction
Our Deep Dive series on the world’s top 100 crypto exchanges continues, with today’s pinpoint scrutiny directed at BigONE – a multifunctional platform that not only supports buying and selling of crypto assets but also offers some of the most in-demand investment instruments in the cryptosphere today.
The exchange offers multiple assets and trading options on its platform alongside advanced tools to enhance the trading experience.
But does it fulfill all that traders demand in a model crypto exchange, or is it a pretender to the throne? Join us at CoinScan as we investigate to find out!
History
BigONE’s journey into the world of crypto exchange began in 2017 in the Netherlands. The exchange was co-founded by Li Xiaolai- a renowned Chinese Bitcoin investor and a key player in the cryptocurrency world.
Aiming to build a ‘crypto exchange for all citizens’ of the world in the ever-dynamic Digital Age, the exchange proceeded to open subsidiary offices in other regions, including:
The exchange has been actively working to recruit users since launch, with employees sent to various regions of the world to lead product activation in those regions – primarily targeting Europe, North America, and Asia.
One notable aspect of BigONE is that a lot of information about their operational activities is discrete, meaning they don’t share much about their fundraising, partnerships, marketing, or events with the public.
For example, the exchange was reported to have raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funds from China Growth Capital to help it facilitate the development of more advanced features and services and enhance marketing activities to widen market reach.
It's an odd choice considering most exchanges disclose most of their achievements as a form of promotion but doesn’t seem to have affected its growth much.
User Experience
Ease of Use and Design
The first aspect of ease of use is the exchange’s relatively easy registration process. Creating an account on the platform is straightforward, as it only requires an email or a mobile number, and a password.
Once a user confirms their email or mobile number, they are required to verify their identity to access any service or trading tool on the platform.
On user experience, the exchange is well-designed with an easy-to-understand layout coupled with easy-to-locate feature placements. Every section is labeled appropriately, with options like trade, stake, learn and invest sections clearly separated.
BigONE also boasts a professionally-designed platform, with all the tools including the chart provided by TradingView. Users have the option to customize the view, with the ability to change symbols and intervals as well as use drawing tools to understand the markets.
It also enables easy installation of the indicator from many sources. There is also the “enter full screen” mode as well as access features such as stop-loss.
The platform also benefits from a well-designed mobile app (on iOS and Android) that has a super-intuitive interface, simple layout, speed, and efficiency. With the app, users can do everything they would do with the web-based version- without compromising on any feature, which is a big plus.
Unlike many of its direct competitors, the BigONE platform also comes with abundant learning features, helping newbies to get a proper grip on cryptocurrency. The learning tools not only allow users to learn how to trade on the platform but also get a general knowledge about existing markets, trading tactics, the effects of taking certain positions, and more.
To make it even better, the exchange hosts a dedicated learning platform that is accessible to all users.
Finally, the news center gives users regular updates, events, and the latest market news that is likely to affect the market either positively or negatively. An excellent source of info to help traders make better decisions. Big win for BigONE here.
Usage and Popularity
BigONE is a crypto exchange with some of the most advanced trading and investing features in the industry today – giving users multiple trading options to choose from, supported by tools that improve their trading experiences.
First, the exchange allows users to buy and sell digital assets instantly, which is by far the most popular feature on the platform. With its wide range of digital assets on offer for instant purchase, the platform should be the perfect destination for those who just want to dip their toe by owning popular crypto like BTC and ETH.
However, it limits this possibility somewhat by making it mandatory for every user to verify their account before they are allowed to conduct any activity- even the most basic.
Probably the most unique offer on this platform is the statistics feature, which provides insights into the performance of each coin. Users are able to see:
All of which can help them make the most effective trade decision.
For those who want to experience more than just regular Spot Trading, BigONE has futures market and margin trading options, with the latter coming with the potential to max returns of between 3x and 100x, depending on the instrument traded.
There are also Staking Opportunities, for those who want to make extra income with their digital assets. However, the normal staking feature is limited to just a few coins, and the exchange retains the right to modify the list anytime.
To earn passive income by staking popular assets such as BTC, ETH, BCH and XRP, a user will need to go for the exchange’s fixed savings option. Other earning sources on this platform are:
There is also the Crypto Borrowing feature on BigONE, which allows users to borrow funds in a matter of seconds. The product – with repayment periods from between 1 month to 3 months – is designed for traders who believe they can pull-off some great trades but lack the capital to do so.
The loan comes with a fairly good interest rate too. For example, a 10,000 USDT loan will attract an interest rate of 1 USDT. It’s worth noting that very few exchanges offer this feature, so this is a big tick for BigONE!
The platform accepts both credit and debit card payments, which can be used to purchase digital assets instantly, and the exchange also supports fiat currencies.
BigONE caps its impressive list of services with a 70% commission rebate from referrals. Users can earn passive income by simply referring people to register on the platform. The rebate commission is way better than most competitors.
With all these impressive use cases, BigONE has managed to achieve some significant milestones.
The exchange has 299 coins and 388+ trading pairs on its platform - and registers a daily trading volume of $921 million, with its most active traded pair of BTC/USDT returning an average daily trading volume of $542 million. The variety of available coins may not be the best but is still decent.
Moreover, while other platforms offer a wider range of assets to buy, BigONE’s list is curated to mostly include coins with the biggest potential for growth.
BigONE may be available worldwide, but it’s not open to US investors – which is no huge surprise largely due to the regulatory barriers from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Customer support
Good customer support is essential for any business, and BigONE has provided some modest customer support processes.
Users can reach the support through its 24/7 Live Chat feature, email, and social media pages/channels.
However, just like many exchanges, it doesn’t provide a phone number to reach its customer service team (but this is no big surprise).
Fees and Promotions
Fees
The exchange charges a lot of different fees based on a user’s trading activities.
The first fee is the maker/taker fee, which is billed at a flat rate of 0.20% for a basic account known as the ‘Bronze Level’ (this is within the industry average).
The good news is that a trader can reduce this fee even up to 0.06% maker and 0.07% taker fees when they upgrade to Challenger Level- the highest trader level.
To pay a lower fee, a user will need to promote their account by completing identity verification, trading more, making more referrals, buying more assets, and participating in more activities on the platform. The model may look complex, but the fee is relatively fair for a model exchange.
Other fees include withdrawal fees- determined by the coin type and the market conditions. At the time of writing, the platform charged 0.0005 BTC for Bitcoin withdrawals.
However, it does not allow fiat withdrawals, which is a big downside. Readers can click here for more about BigONE fees.
Comparison
How does BigONE stack up against one of the biggest exchanges in the world today? Lets see the similarities and differences as we compare it to none other than Coinbase itself.
Similarities
Differences
If you are looking for an exchange with a wide range of trading features and a focus on institutional investors, then BigONE offers all of these in a nice package. However, those looking for an exchange with a high daily trading volume and support for a wide range of fiat currencies will likely favor Coinbase.
Safety Essentials
Security
BigONE is a step ahead of the pack with its security and protection of user assets. The platform applies 2-factor authentication (2FA), Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedure, and Multi-Sig Cold Wallets – all implemented at once before a user conducts any activity.
For the security of digital assets, the exchange claims to store 98% of all the digital under its custody in secure cold wallets. The remaining 2% of the assets are stored in a hot wallet, allowing easy access to facilitate daily trading activity.
This makes the user funds safe and inaccessible from bad actors like hackers who are often ready to exploit hot wallet vulnerabilities.
It also claims to only allow authorized persons to manually access cold wallets, but on condition that all the legal processes have been followed and satisfied. Good stuff here from the exchange.
Controversy
Controversial issues can be detrimental to the image of a business and unfortunately BigONE doesn’t come out here unscathed.
The site was suspected to have faked its average trading volume when it reported a parabolic rise in trade volume by a whopping 6,300,000% in just 3 days, raising eyebrows among data aggregating firms and analysts alike.
While such incidents can damage the reputation of an exchange, BigONE seemed to have overcome it and continued with its activities toward its global business mission.
Proof of Reserves
BigONE claims to have 100% Proof of Reserves for all the assets under its custody- meaning that it keeps all users’ funds in reserves and won’t use them without express permission.
Unfortunately this claim cannot be verified here as currently BigONE hasn’t revealed any identity of a third-party auditor that audited their reserves.
Third-party auditing is the most sure-proof and trusted way to show proof of reserves.
They would do well to provide this information so that users of the site can feel more comfortable.
Conclusion
BigONE ticks nearly all the boxes as a model crypto exchange, from services offered, to user experience, security, and customer support.
The only black spots on the exchange are its sometimes confusing fees and lack of phone numbers to reach its customer support.
There is also the issue of the verification process, which is unnecessarily applied to even basic accounts- meaning a user can literally do nothing on the platform without verifying their identity. But these are generally small issues, and the exchange can work on them going forward.
Overall, it’s a platform worth checking out, especially for a user who wants to explore options with trading instruments.