Overview and History
One exchange that may not be known by most newcomers but have a distinct reputation for the more seasoned crypto traders is an exchange called Bilaxy. It is a new exchange that started operating only in April of 2018. They are a crypto exchange registered in Seychelles which hosts a number of different crypto exchanges most known of which is BitMex.
They currently self-report daily volume of around $1.5B daily but normalized studies report a more modest adjusted volume of $100m daily. This is still not bad for an exchange. However, Bilaxy is notorious in the space for listing non listed tokens ahead of others. Notorious in a sense that they list it before others even without the knowledge or consent of the crypto company. This drives volume to them since users who want to buy or sell ahead of the official trading platforms can do so. This has caused other companies to pause the token’s transfer functions in some cases to avoid their token being listed here when they plan to debut else where.
They currently offer 173 different coins across 206 trading pairs. They have a BTC, USDT, ETH and even BNB market. This shows they are very willing to list even a competitor’s native token (BNB). They have bilingual support for both English and Chinese. According to SimilarWeb, the majority of their volume comes from the US, Turkey and France.
Bilaxy Main Exchange
Currently, Bilaxy only offers spot trading on their exchange. So far, there are no plans of incorporating leverage trading such as margin trading or futures trading. However, users that want to do leverage trading can do so in the form of Leverage tokens. These are ERC20 tokens that mimic the leveraged movements of the token. RIght now, they have BULL (BTC 3X Long), BEAR (BTC 3X Short), ETHBULL (ETH 3X Long), ETHBEAR (ETH 3X Short) leveraged tokens available.
Bilaxy’s user interface is simple and straightforward. You have the order books on the left side, main chart on the middle and the token list and trade history on the right. The only chart type they offer is the TradingView chart which is the most universally available type there is.
Bilaxy API
Bilaxy’s API availability covers all of the functions you would need for API trading. This is helpful for traders that use bots for their trading.
Bilaxy Mobile App
Bilaxy offers a trading app for both iOS and Android. The iOS version is still currently on beta. It works through a beta testing app called TestFlight. You will need to download both TestFlight and Bilaxy. Despite this still being in beta, the app works. To see the chart, just click the line chart icon at the top right. Just like the website, it is simple and straightforward.
Fiat Gateways
At the moment, Bilaxy does not offer any fiat gateways. This means they are a pure crypto to crypto exchange and that only accepts deposits in crypto.
KYC
With regulations around crypto getting stricter and stricter, KYC is a necessary step. Without KYC, you can still deposit but you cannot withdraw any. If you’d like to withdraw, you will need KYC1 which just requires you to input your name and ID number that is government-issued such as passport, national ID card or driver’s licence. This allows up to 200 ETH or equivalent daily withdrawals. KYC level 3 requires selfie holding ID and handwritten note. This increases daily withdrawal limit to 1,500 ETH or equivalent.
Fees
Trading Fees
Bilaxy charges a 0.15% trading fee. This is the same for both maker and taker fees. This rate is not bad but isn’t the best either. Other exchanges will have a lower maker fee to incentivize people to put more liquidity into the platform but not Bilaxy. Bilaxy does offer a 50% discount on trading fees when you use their BIA token to pay for fees.
Deposits and Withdrawals
All deposits on Bilaxy are free. On the other hand, withdrawals will have a withdrawal fee. This fee is deducted from the total amount to be withdrawn. It varies per token. Major tokens like BTC, ETH, and USDT will have withdrawal fees of 0.0007 BTC, 0.01 ETH and 5 USDT respectively. These fees are higher than that of other exchanges.
Bilaxy Token
Bilaxy does have its own utility token called BIA. The token was offered in August of 2019. They raise $660,000.
BIA derives the value of its token from multiple sources. It main utility is being used as a trading fee discount. Users gets a discount when they use BIA instead of other tokens. In the first year, discount is at 50% which is halved every year until the 4th down to 6.75% and there will be no more discounts on year 5 onwards.
Bilaxy plans to use 20% of its net profits to buyback and burn BIA tokens. Since Bilaxy has a capped total supply, it will be deflationary. Buyback will happen until 50% of total supply is finally burned.
BIA tokens will also be used as a form of gas once the Bilaxy’s decentralized exchange goes live. This allows token holders to help govern and make decisions about listing. There have been no dates yet on when this will be operational.
Bilaxy Customer Support
Bilaxy offers 24/7 customer services through multiple channels. They can help you via telegram but their primary way is by submitting an email request. They will respond to your email within a couple of hours to a few days. They also have a FAQ section which is a great resource especially for new users and beginners.
Operation Security
Bilaxy has adopted different security technologies such as distributed server clusters, distributed storage to ensure system security. Equipped with multi-level firewall and advanced distributed architecture, strict monitoring procedures, Bilaxy aims to provide the most secure platform services for global traders.
Wallets in the platform have adopted multiple security levels of storage solution in line with the storage scale. Hot wallets only hold a small amount for daily withdrawal, more than 95% of user assets are kept in secure cold storage to ensure asset security. Bilaxy also gives some extra security features detailed below:
2FA – This has been a standard form of account protection. This involves using a separate device that generates a unique code or combination every few seconds. You will be asked to enter this upon signing in.
Email verifications – Whenever you would like to log in or withdraw funds, an email with a code will be sent to your email address. Enter this code to continue the transaction.
Hot and Cold Wallets – This is a standard procedure that separates revolving funds (hot wallet) and most user funds (cold wallet). The cold wallet is disconnected from the internet so it is less likely to be hacked. It is akin to banks not having all of their money locked in a giant safe. They only hold what they expect to be transacted that day.
Conclusion
At first Bilaxy seems to be just another exchange. However, with their aggressive token listing strategy, they are able to lure in users who would like to take buy or sell their tokens ahead of time. This is definitely a good user acquisition strategy. The website design may be simple but it works well. On the downside, some of its fees are quite high especially for withdrawing USDT. In the end, Bilaxy draws a certain kind of user which happily use their service.