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Malta-based OKEx, one of the largest crypto exchanges by volume, is increasing its margin trading leverage level from 3x to 5x for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and EOS.
The exchange says it will use its risk management system to power higher trading volumes and to allow the leverage level increase.
Trading pairs offering 5x margin trading leverage
BTC/USDT
ETH/USDT
ETH/BTC
LTC/USDT
LTC/BTC
ETC/USDT
ETC/BTC
EOS/USDT
EOS/BTC
By volume, OKEx is currently the second largest crypto exchange for spot trading, eclipsed only by Binance, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.
Top 100 Cryptocurrency Exchanges by Trade Volume
OKEx first launched spot margin trading last February for ETH/BTC, BTC/USDT and XRP/USDT.
Margin trading allows users to leverage their position and create a short position by borrowing tokens. While the practice is a boon for traders, it can lead to sharp losses.
Says Lennix Lai, financial market director of OKEx,
“The beauty of margin trading is to use debt to maximize the potential return. Yet, I would like to remind our users to trade margin with caution. Because margin would as well exaggerate your losses.”
The increasing number of spot margin trading options demonstrates how much crypto trading platforms are starting to resemble traditional brokerages where margin trading is the norm. A number of popular crypto trading platforms offer margin trading, including eToro, Kraken and Bitfinex.
Last year Poloniex removed margin trading for US-based customers.
BitMEX is the biggest crypto derivatives exchange, offering leverage up to 100x on its daily Bitcoin/JPY futures contract and the perpetual Bitcoin/USD perpetual contract.
Spot margin trading, however, is not currently supported by Binance or Coinbase Pro, two of the largest crypto exchanges.
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