SnapEx Overview
SnapEx is owned and operated by a Snap Technology Limited which is registered in Singapore. They have since expanded to a number of offices in Seychelles, South Korea, Japan & Malaysia.
Since their launch back in 2018 their user stats appear to have been growing quite nicely. For example, in 2019 they saw growth of over 900% in their daily active users as well as a 600% increase in their trading volume.
SnapEx is a derivatives exchange which means that you are trading price movements in the underlying cryptocurrency. This is unlike traditional physical crypto exchanges where you will hold the coin itself.
They have developed a platform that is relatively simple to use on both a web browser and a mobile device. There are also some unique features about this platform that we will go over in a bit.
Given that SnapEx is based in Asia, they have their biggest markets there. These include regions such as Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea etc. Nevertheless, the site has been translated into 8 different languages.
Do take note though that there are some regions where they do not accept traders from and that includes the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA.
Is SnapEx Safe?
This is perhaps one of the most important questions that any trader will ask of an exchange. Given that they are trusting them with their cryptocurrency, it is something we actively look into.
Well, there are a number of areas that we regularly look into to assess this.
Wallet Security
SnapEx operates a “cold” and “hot” wallet procedures. Basically, the bulk of the user funds are stored in a “cold” environment which is disconnected from the internet. This means that they cannot be accessed in any way by hackers.
These cold wallet funds are also secured behind a multisignature wallet which means that a number of people at the SnapEx exchange will have to sign the transaction in order to release these funds.
Then, in order to meet withdrawal requests, SnapEx operates the “hot” wallet part of the infrastructure. A much smaller percentage of these funds are kept in the hot wallet in order to reduce the exposure to potential hacks.
Finally, in order to ensure that all withdrawal requests from users are legitimate, there are limits that were put in place in terms of amount per request and the number of times one can request a withdrawal.
Communication Security
When you are accessing the SnapEx website you will notice that you are connected using 256 bit SSL encryption. This means that all communications that you send them will be fully hidden from hackers.
This is also a great way for you to spot any potential phishing attempts. If you land on a website and it does not have the secure lock in the browser tab then you can be sure that you are on a phishing page and should leave immediately.
User Side Security
Often security starts with you – the user. That is why SnapEx also provides some user side security tools in order to further protect your account.
One of these is two factor authentication. This means that whenever you are logging into your account they will ask you to confirm it on another device such as your mobile phone.
Assets & Instruments
As mentioned, at SnapEx you are trading leveraged instruments. This means that you are trading crypto on the margin and are only putting down a small percentage of the notional on the trade.
So, as a practical example. If you are trading with a 5% margin this means that you are only investing 5% of the total position size. It also means that your position has 20% leverage. A certain movement will be increased by a factor of 20. At SnapEx the max leverage is 100x.
The derivative instruments at SnapEx are also quite unique. While other exchanges offer their traders Futures instruments and perpetual swaps, SnapEx has developed an instrument akin to a CFD (contract for difference).
With the SnapEx trades, you will have no expiry rate and there are no funding rates. Your position will be marked-to market on a daily basis based on the moves during the day. It can be held overnight but you will incur an “overnight” fee (more on that below).
When it comes to the assets that you can trade at SnapEx they include the following:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- EOS
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
All of these assets are crossed with Tether (USDT). You should also note that the minimum trade amount for each order is 5 USDT – easy for those starting out.
SnapEx Fees
Fees are no doubt one of the most important considerations for any trader just before they use a platform. They are, after all, the factor that will determine your long term profitability.
At SnapEx, they operate a pretty simple fee system. Unlike on an exchange that has order books, you don’t have maker / taker commissions on the orders that you place. You have a simple flat percentage fee of 0.15% that is charged when you enter each trade.
Once you have entered this trade and the 0.15% has been deducted, you will not have to pay the same fee on the way out. This is not the case at other exchanges that have fees on all transactions be it when opening a trade or closing it.
If we were to compare this fee to some other exchanges, it is about the same as exchanges such as Bybit etc. For example, at Bybit your taker fee is 0.075%. So, if we were to add these two up they are 0.15% when opening and closing a trade.
However, given that there are no order books you don’t have the opportunity to place what are called “maker” orders where you are creating liquidity in the books. So, you do lose out on potential maker rebates that you get on other exchanges.
In terms of other trading fees, you also have what are called “overnight” fees. These are basically just fees that are charged for holding a position overnight. The Overnight Fee will be charged at 6:00am GMT+8 daily.
Deposit / Withdrawal
When it comes to crypto deposits, these are completely free. However, when you are withdrawing you will be charged the following rates:
- USDT Omni: 10 USDT
- USDT ERC20: 5 USDT
- BTC: 10 USDT
These are actually quite high and are more than we have seen on other exchanges. Even if they are taking a portion of the fees in order to cover miner costs then it is much more than is required.
If you are going to be using their OTC service in order to buy the cryptocurrency then you are also likely to have pretty high fees here. When we checked they were about 5%. However, these fees are not charged by SnapEx but by the payment processors that they use.
Average Price Line
Something else that is unique at SnapEx is what they call their “K Line”. This is basically the internal price that SnapEx uses to reference all contracts on the platform.
This is basically a price line that is the average of the prices on 3 other exchanges. These exchanges are Okex, Binance and Huobi. They determine the weighting based on the total volume of said exchange.
The benefit of this is that you are getting the full transparency and there is no possibility that SnapEx is shifting their prices in order liquidate traders. This is a tactic that many other exchanges have been accused of.
SnapEx Platform
A tradesman is only ever as good as the tools at his disposal. This is why the type of trading platform that an exchange has on offer is so important.
At SnapEx, they have a pretty unique trading platform. As mentioned above, there is no order books so this frees up a lot of space when it comest to the user interface. The UI is itself quite well laid out and relatively intuitive.
The first thing that you will note is that you can choose how many charts you want on a single screen. You can set it to have up to 6 different charts on a single screen – great for if you want to monitor different markets.
Below is the layout how it looks when a singular chart is chosen. On the left you have all of your market selectors where you can switch between the different cryptocurrencies. Below that, you have a snapshot of your margin as well as the option to switch between demo and real accounts.
Then in the middle of the platform you have the trading charts. For those who know a lot about trading they will notice that these are tradingview charts. These are highly effective tools for those who conduct technical analysis with a plethora of indicators and studies.
Then, just to the right of the chart you have your order form where you will be managing all your live and pending orders. Below that you have a small description of the asset being traded as well as some key market stats. Finally, just below the chart you have an overview of your open positions, pending orders and order history.
Mobile App
Sometimes you may be away from your desk and you can’t place those trades or monitor your open orders. Thankfully, SnapEx has developed a pretty functional mobile app.
In fact, given that their major markets are in Asia, the bulk of their users trade with mobile devices so they have developed quite a functional app. This is available on both iOS and Android.
Taking a look at the User Interface, it is quite well laid out and easy to use. You have functions such as instant order execution as well as the ability to monitor a number of different markets. You can also do some account management things here including deposits / withdrawals.
Currently the app is only available in English in the Google Play store whereas it is still in Chinese in the iTunes store. Looking a bit closer into the ratings on Google play it seems as if the app is reasonably profitable. They have 4.1 stars from all of those who have reviewed.
Customer Support
We have had to deal with a number of exchanges over the past 4 years and one of the most frustrating things that we can find is when they have a slow or ineffective customer support function.
So, it is a really important criteria for us. This is why we took the time to look over and test the customer support options at SnapEx.
We tried out the live chat function however we were not able to get through to an agent. We were asked for an email address and more information on our type of request but we were not able to get through to an actual agent.
However, after submitting the chat request our query was sent on to their customer support team as an email. When dealing with them on email we were helped timeously which is no doubt a plus.
While the live chat was not as responsive as we would have liked, you could easily jump into their sizable telegram channel and reach out to their support team there. The team there was quite helpful and were able to chase up a ticket that we had lodged a day earlier.
SNAP Points
I have mentioned the SNAP points before but these are perhaps one of the most interesting ways for you to not only reduce your fees but earn a host of other goodies.
You can think of SNAP Points as VIP points that are earned for completing a number of tasks on the SnapEx platform. These include the likes of signing up, verification of an email address. You can also earn some SNAP just from simple trading tasks like placing your first order, trading over 5,000 USDT, 25,000 USDT etc.
These SNAP points actually have a monetary value and can be exchanged for USDT. 100 SNAP points is the equivalent of 1 USDT. Once you have generated 10,000 SNAP points then you can exchange these for $100.
If you have not generated the 10,000 SNAP points yet then you can still use some of these SNAP points to offset the cost of transaction fees. As mentioned in the order form section above, you will just need to select the “SNAP deduction” and that should work to bring down your fees.
Refer & Affiliate Program
If you have enjoyed your trading experience then you can make money by referring others to the platform. The first way of doing this is through the simple invite link or code. Using this will earn you up to 35% of lifetime revenue on that referral.
If this is something that you would like to do then you have to head on over to “Invite” in your main menu. There you will see information about the referral program as well as a link below that. This is the link that you can send to your friends. Alternatively, you can just ask them to copy your invitation code.
If you are more of an influencer and you have a pretty big network of traders then you can join their affiliate program. This is one of the most lucrative in the space and pays up to 50% commission on tier one traders.
And, it’s not just what you can earn on the platform. There are a number of benefits that they have included for their affiliates. This includes some of the following:
- Commission Levels: Based on the amount of trading volume that you refer, your commission structure will adjust. They have three levels that give you 40%, 45% and 50%.
- Indirect Commission: You will earn 10% on the commission generated by traders of your own referrals.
- Signup Bonuses: SnapEx will also provide your traders with signup bonuses that could help augment their trading capital.
- Marketing Support: They will provide you with a whole host of custom marketing materials that could help increase your promotional efforts. This includes banners, landing pages and unique links.
- Instant Payment: You can get your marketing rebates instantly and the moment that your referral makes a trade.
Bottom Line
Overall, we were pretty impressed with SnapEx. Their unique offering gives traders another choice when it comes to leveraged trading platforms. By not relying on order books, they can offer a more seamless execution environment.
We also liked the fact that they have made it easier for new traders to get involved in crypto. This includes such things as their low trade & deposit requirements as well as their K line price charts (great for transparency).
We also really did appreciate the amount of development work that went into building that mobile app. This will no doubt go a long way to properly cementing their market share in the Asia region.
