Bitfinex review

Bitfinex is built for serious traders. Launched in 2012 and operated by iFinex, it offers some of the deepest order books in crypto alongside margin trading, derivatives, peer-to-peer lending and an advanced interface that rewards experience. It has never been the friendliest first exchange, and it has never tried to be.

Its defining event was the 2016 hack, when roughly 120,000 Bitcoin was stolen. Bitfinex socialised the loss across users and issued recovery tokens that it later redeemed in full. The story closed in early 2025 when a US court ordered the bulk of the recovered coins, around 94,643 BTC seized from the hackers, returned to Bitfinex, a rare and near-complete recovery.

Bitfinex shares ownership with Tether through iFinex, which cuts both ways: it gives the exchange a central role in the USDT ecosystem and deep stablecoin liquidity, but it has also drawn years of scrutiny over Tether's reserves and transparency. In late 2025 Bitfinex made trading dramatically cheaper, dropping spot maker and taker fees to 0%, where they previously sat at 0.1% and 0.2%.

KYC is required across a tiered system, and the platform does not serve US customers. The honest summary: Bitfinex is a powerful, liquid venue for advanced non-US traders, with a colourful history it has largely put behind it, but its tooling and Tether ties make it a poor fit for nervous beginners.