How To Trade Altcoins With Leverage

To trade altcoins with leverage or margin you need to know which exchange to choose and what to look for. Leverage trading can be very profitable and a lot of fun. But before you start, you need to know which exchanges are the best.

In this article, I’ve reviewed the best exchanges to trade altcoins with margin. If you are from the USA I recommend that you read our margin crypto trading USA guide instead. Check the table below if you want to compare the exchanges, or read the full reviews.

To get a better idea of how to trade altcoins with leverage I’ve made a quick guide later in this article.

What is altcoin leverage trading?

Altcoin leverage trading, in general, is very simple and it’s no different in crypto. All you need to know is when you trade with margin on a crypto margin exchange you can take on bigger positions. We are going to make an example to explain this easier. Let’s say that you have 1000$.

If you trade your 1000$ with 10x leverage, you will be able to trade the market with a 10,000$ position. 1000 x 10 = 10,000.

Very straightforward, but how does this work? Where does the money extra money come from?

Your trading exchange has backup liquidity providers that have one job only, and that is to give you extra trading capital. When you trade altcoins with leverage, it works the same way.

Your altcoin exchange has a deal with a liquidity provider that is backing them up with extra cash. When you trade margin you are trading your own money and the altcoin exchange’s money as well.

Don’t worry, they will not be mad if you lose their money, because you can’t. You will only be able to lose your own money and that’s it. Think about one thing though.

Your initial 1000$ will act as a risk for your 10,000$ position.

Why trading altcoins with margin is risky because your own can easily get wiped out from big market moves, so you have to be careful. Margin is your own money you put up as a risk. If you lose your margin you lose your money and the position is closed.

It’s called that your position gets liquidated.

Where can I trade altcoins with leverage?

You can trade cryptocurrency with margin on the exchanges listed below. All of them have been tested and my personal favorite is Binance. This is only because they offer more coins and that way I have more options to trade.

However, ByBit offers excellent ways to use margin for cryptocurrencies as well. Make sure you read through the entire review before you pick an exchange.

Also, remember to use a stop loss when you trade with margin because the cryptocurrency market can move pretty fast.

1. Binance – Best for beginners

Leverage on Binance

Maximum leverage:

• 125x

When you trade altcoins with margin on Binance you can adjust your margin as you like it.

This is a very good feature of Binance because it lets you be flexible.

Sometimes it might not be the best idea to blast on with maximum margin due to risk factors.

Maybe the volatility in your altcoin is a little too high or you haven’t spotted the right setup.

In this case, you can lower your margin until the right setup comes by.

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To trade altcoins with margin on Binance you first have to open a margin wallet and a futures wallet.

This is very straightforward.

Simply click the wallet button in the top right corner to activate both wallets.

When these wallets have been opened you unlock the margin on Binance.

Now when you go to the spot marked and choose your interface it will look like this.

Here you have the choice to trade altcoins with margin using your margin wallet or your futures wallet.

As you can see, the futures wallet has a lot more margin.

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Changing altcoins is very easy on Binance.

All you have to do is to navigate to the leverage button in the top left corner and adjust to your preferred level.

Binance has made it super easy for their altcoin traders to change leverage on the go.

When you click this button you will get a new window in the middle of your screen.

Simply drag the dot to your preferred margin and click confirm.

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Altcoins on Binance

The number of altcoins traded on Binance is:

• 184

This paper was released on the 31st of December 2019.

I’m sure Binance has plans to increase the number of altcoins traded with leverage during 2023.

You will never run out of altcoins to trade.

If you miss one opportunity somewhere, you can be sure something is happening elsewhere and all you have to do is change altcoin.

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Deposit methods on Binance

Currently accepted deposit methods on Binance:

• Credit Card
• Cryptocurrency

Buying altcoins with a credit card makes things very easy on Binance and you don’t have to waste any time.

Just deposit and start with your favorite altcoin.

If you prefer you can have your own altcoins transferred to your wallet on Binance.

This is how it looks to buy altcoins with your credit card.

In this example, I chose Ripple or XRP as it’s called on many exchanges.

All you have to do is to click the drop-down menu and choose altcoin.

Then click buy.

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Trading interface on Binance

One of the really good benefits of trading altcoins with margin on Binance is their interfaces.

Most altcoin exchanges don’t have as well-developed infrastructure as they do.

First, you have a simple interface.

This is a basic but very handy trading interface.

In the middle to the left, you have your alternatives for changing the margin.

In the upper right corner, you can choose between altcoin markets, and in the middle to the right, you can see all the last orders coming in from the order book.

Definitely a good interface for beginners to intermediate-level altcoin traders.

You have your regular limit and market orders as well and it’s very easy to navigate around the platform.

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Next up is the advanced trading interface.

This trading interface is more suited for more advanced altcoin day traders or swing traders.

Up top to the left, you have more indicators to choose from and you can also draw on the chart.

This is a very good tool when you want to create trendlines or check different levels on your altcoins.

As usual in your order selection to the right, you have the option to change leverage while trading your altcoins.

Overall I’m very happy with the interfaces on Binance.

It’s well suited for all altcoin traders, both beginners, and advanced.

It requires a good platform and Binance definitely passes this test.

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Fees on Binance

Fees on Binance are very competitive.

The basic fee for trading altcoins is 0.10% for market takers.

Market takers are traders who take from the order book.

If you use the market order when you are trading, you are a market taker, because you are taking someone’s order from the order book.

Easy.

This fee is for any altcoin trader with VIP 0 level and gets reduced the higher your VIP level is.

To increase your VIP level you need to increase your monthly volume traded.

Depending on your size you can analyze this every month to see your VIP level.

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Something unique about Binance is that you can trade with their native cryptocurrency to lower your fees.

Their altcoin is called Binance Coin or BNB for short.

When you are trading on the BNB market, your trading fees are reduced by 25%.

Having a low trading fee is saving a lot of capital on your trades.

Especially for large altcoin traders.

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Binance rating

I really enjoy trading on Binance.

Their selection of altcoins is huge and you can almost always find something to trade.

Having different trading interfaces is very good.

On Binance almost every altcoin trader will find what they are looking for.

My rating for Binance is definitely 5/5 stars and I have nothing to complain about.

If you would like to learn more about Binance, you can also visit our Binance review.

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2. Bitmex – Best for day traders

Leverage on Bitmex

The maximum leverage on Bitmex is:

• 100x

The maximum margin for trading altcoin is 50x and is one of the highest out of all the altcoin exchanges today.

Not many exchanges let you trade with margin up to this level and that’s why Bitmex can be profitable but very risky.

I don’t always use all of the margin, but when I see the right setup I never hesitate.

Another reason why it’s good to have more margin to choose from is that it lets you put up less margin on the trade.

This basically means you don’t have to transfer all your funds to trade altcoins with higher volumes.

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To change leverage on Bitmex you simply drag the dot on the margin bar and choose your preferred margin.

Very easy and flexible. You can change this in an instant if you want to trade more volume or if you want to lower your risk.

It also has an ROE meter above the leverage level where you can see your estimated return on equity.

This is calculated with the altcoin margin included. It will calculate the % with your margin and show you massive numbers when you hit a good trade.

You don’t have to activate any wallet or do anything special before starting out.

It’s very fast and smooth and that’s something I really like.

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Altcoins on Bitmex

Numer of altcoins with leverage traded on Bitmex:

• 7

Bitmex might not strike you with all altcoin pairs but they do offer some of the highest levels of leverage when trading altcoins.

If your favorite altcoin is on this list Bitmex is definitely for you.

• Cardano
• Bitcoin Cash
• EOS
• Ethereum
• Litecoin
• Tron
• Ripple

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Deposit methods on Bitmex

Deposit methods on Bitmex:

• Bitcoin

On Bitmex you can trade altcoin with leverage but you can’t deposit with a credit card.

You need to transfer the amount of Bitcoin you would like to trade with.

Though this is very easy and I never had any problem with this.

Simply click your Account button on the top left side of the screen.

The next step is to click deposit.

Copy your Bitmex address or scan the QR bar.

Very straight forward and nothing can go wrong.

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Trading interface on Bitmex

The interface on Bitmex has everything you need.

You have most of the orders you need, order book with order flow, last traded orders, and of course open orders.

The chart has all of the possible indicators and full functionality when it comes to drawing as well.

The interface might look a little scary in the beginning but trust me, you will learn this in less than a day.

In the top left corner, you have your order selection.

Choose between limit orders, market orders, or stop orders.

When you get comfortable using these orders you will be able to use very creative orders to improve your altcoin trading.

To trade altcoins with margin it’s very important to see your open positions.

This is possible as well, look to the bottom right corner and you will find your open positions.

On top of the page, you will find your indicators and this chart has everything you need.

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You have two more options for charting when trading altcoins with leverage on Bitmex.

There is an option to use Sierra Chart or NinjaTrader if you are familiar with these charts.

Sierra Chart is for both charting and entering the market.

NinjaTrader is only for charting.

Here is a screenshot of the Sierra Chart.

It’s a little different from the standard chart but it comes with different features of course.

If you are interested to try this chart, head over to your Account page and follow the instructions on how to download it.

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NinjaTrader looks like this.

There is also an installation guide for this package if you would like to try it.

I’m happy with the standard trading interface and I always prefer that one when trading altcoins with leverage on Bitmex.

Related: How to read crypto charts

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Fees on Bitmex

Altcoin trade fees are very competitive on Bitmex.

The standard fee for altcoins with margin is:

• 0.25%

Here is a table of the fees.

If you are only going to trade altcoins with margin on Bitmex you should focus on the taker fee.

The trading fee for the futures contract is 0.25%.

These are very low trading fees and that’s another reason to trade altcoins with leverage on Bitmex.

Related: Low fee crypto exchanges

Bitmex rating

I would definitely recommend trading on Bitmex.

It’s very easy to use and the interface will give you everything you need.

If you are going to trade the major altcoins you will be very happy to enjoy high levels of margin on BitMEX.

3. Bybit – Best for advanced traders

Leverage on ByBit

Maximum margin:

• 100x

Your maximum altcoin margin is 50x.

To trade altcoins with margin on Bybit, simply click the Trade button in the top left corner and choose “Inverse Perpetual”.

This will take you to their interface.

On the right side of your interface, you will find your order selection.

Here you will also find the leverage bar.

It looks like this.

To change your leverage just pull the dot on the margin bar and choose your preferred margin.

I like how easy Bybit has made it to change the margin.

Nothing can go wrong here and everything is very straightforward.

Altcoins on Bybit

The number of altcoins available for margin trading on Bybit is 3.

• Ethereum
• Ripple
• EOS

This is far from the biggest altcoin list out there but I’m sure Bybit has plans to expand this list in the future.

On the positive side, if you are trading these altcoins and are looking for margin, you’ve come to the right place.

It’s not common to offer a 50x margin on major altcoins.

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Deposit methods on Bybit

Current deposit methods on Bybit are:

• Cryptocurrency

You are not able to deposit with a credit card on Bybit but they have made it very easy to deposit with cryptocurrency.

Just head over to your Account section in the top right corner and click “My assets”.

This takes you to the deposit section and it looks like this.

To make a deposit, click the “Deposit” button.

Then copy the address in the pop-up window or scan the QR-code.

It’s very easy to transfer cryptocurrency to Bybit and I don’t have any problems with this.

After depositing you are minutes away from trading altcoins with leverage.

Related: How to buy crypto with a credit card

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Trading interface on Bybit

I think the interface on Bybit looks very nice and you will find everything you need to trade altcoins with leverage.

In the upper left corner, you will find all the indicators and different time frames.

And yes, the list of indicators is long and you will not miss anything here.

In the top right corner are your order selection and margin control.

This interface has all the standard orders like market orders and limit orders.

There is also another order type called conditional you can play around with if you want to create more creative orders.

I’m very happy with the trading interface on Bybit and I’m sure you will find everything you need to trade altcoin with margin.

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Fees on Bybit

Fees on Bybit are extremely good.

The basic taker fee for altcoin traders is 0.075%

This is one of the lowest altcoin trading fees I’ve ever seen.

A huge plus for this altcoin exchange.

This is something I’m definitely looking for when I want to trade altcoins with leverage.

Bybit rating

Bybit is a very good altcoin exchange when it comes to trading with leverage.

They might not have all the altcoins on the list yet but they make up for that with extremely low fees and a very competitive interface.

I would definitely recommend Bybit and I will keep trading here and wait for more altcoins to be added.

If you want to find more in-depth information about this platform you can head over to our Bybit review.

Does Coinbase offer leverage?

Yes, Coinbase offers a 3x margin on cryptocurrencies.

This might not be the highest level of margin available in the cryptocurrency community, but it’s for good reasons.

Coinbase understands that margin is a very useful but also risky tool.

You stand to make small fortunes when you nail the right trade but when you are wrong, you can get hurt badly.

The main reason Coinbase doesn’t offer higher levels of margin is that they want to protect their customers.

You need to understand that when you trade with margin, your stop-loss levels are tightened.

3x leverage gives you a 33% liquidation level.

This means that if you buy crypto with a 3x margin you will only be able to withstand a market move of 33% against you until you get liquidated and your position is closed out.

If you were to trade with more margins up to 10x your liquidation level would be around 3% only.

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How do you trade altcoins with leverage?

You trade altcoins with margin just the same way you would trade any other asset class.

First, you need to find a good altcoin exchange that will provide you with margin.

Don’t worry, I just reviewed the 3 best altcoin exchanges I know so you can pick one of them.

When you come to the platform you will see that leverage trading in altcoins is not that different from normal trading.

The difference is that you can take larger positions, and this might take some getting used to.

But when you are used to a larger position there is no limit to how much money you can make.

Be careful though, trading altcoins with margin is riskier than normal trading

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Altcoin leverage trading tips

You now know the basics of leverage trading and you should not worry too much about the technical aspect.

Most traders get confused about leverage because they try to understand everything about it.

That’s not my intention with this article.

I want you to think of these 1000$ we had in the example in the beginning again.

Let’s say you want to trade all of your 1000$ but you don’t want to put all of it in the market.

Good news!

When you trade altcoins with margin you don’t always need to use all of your capital.

If you want to trade the altcoin market with 1000$ but you don’t want to put up all the cash, you can do this with leverage.

We are going back to the example of 10x leverage again.

Let’s say you only want to put up 100$ in the market and keep the other 900$ resting on your account.

All you have to do is take 100$ and trade with 10x leverage.

Boom!

You are now trading with 1000$ but you only put up 100$.

Cool right.

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As you see, margin doesn’t only mean that you have to maximize your trading positions and go all out with size.

You can reduce your own risk and still trade the same size.

How this helps you as an altcoin trade is very simple.

If you trade your 100$ with 10x leverage you still have 900$ on your account to trade with.

You can now take these 900$ and split them into 9 pieces.

Did you see what we did there?

We reduced the risk to 100$ and created 9 more trading opportunities.

You are now free to put your 900$ to work in different altcoins.

You can pick 9 other altcoins and trade each one of them with 100$ of your own capital.

Trade that money with 10x leverage and have a 1000$ position in the market.

What just happened was that you took your initial 1000$ and divided them into 10.

You then took these 10 pieces of 100$ and spread them out between 10 altcoins.

Now that’s trading on another level.

You reduced your risk between 10 altcoins but you are still trading 10,000$ with margin.

Conclusion

I’ve reviewed the 3 best altcoin exchanges for leverage trading. It’s up to you to choose where you want to start trading

It all depends if you are looking for a variety of altcoins or a high level of margin. All of this information and much more are in the review.

If you are interested in learning what leverage is before you start, make sure you read the last part of this article.