Poloniex review

Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange platform with its roots in the United States. The exchange witnessed its inception in the year 2014. Since then, the platform has come a long way.

Poloniex stands among the top 25 crypto exchanges. It holds the 25th spot as of May 2018 according to CoinMarketCap.com. The same piece of information suggests that Poloniex witnesses a daily trading volume of $70m.

Poloniex located in Wilmington (United States)

Poloniex was founded by Tristan D’Agosta in the first month of 2014. The exchange is till date headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. In the year 2018, the exchange was acquired by cryptocurrency startup, Circle (Boston, United States). The exact value of the deal brokered between the two companies has not been made public, but it was said to be around $2 billion. However, Fortune Magazine later cited a knowledgeable source that valued the deal at $400 million. Even after the acquisition by Circle, Poloniex conducts its day-to-day operation through its Wilmington office.

History on Poloniex

The token-based crypto exchange platform was subjected to hacker attack in March of the same year. As a consequence of the attack, the Bitcoin held by Poloniex was reduced by 12.3%. The crypto exchange evened out all balances to recover from the aftermath of the attack. Poloniex has ever since been implementing course-correction protocols.

If reports from Trollbox to be taken into consideration, the exchanges succumbed to heavy DDOS attacks through time. After the attacks, the exchange announced that they will be covering up the losses of affected users through exchange fees and personal contributions. This was the point where the exchange fee was raised to 1.5% from just 0.2%.

The reputation of Poloniex has suffered greatly due to the hacker attack. The company is doing all it can to gain the trust of the community. In a bid to do so, Poloniex has some of the most dedicated anti-hacking measures in place, the platform successfully shielded itself from fraudulent applications as well as unverified accounts.

Poloniex’s team

Tristan D’Agosta, the founder, is still the Chief Operating Officer of the company. The core team of Poloniex has underwent a facelift owing to the company’s acquisition by Goldman backed Circle. Circle acts as the parent organisation of Poloniex and the team of crypto enthusiasts working for the exchange come from both organisations.

Poloniex also has a team of dedicated customer support personnel. The user consensus on the quality of customer support provided by the exchange is that it needs to improve. There were cases where, under the new management CIrcle, people experienced problem withdrawing their resources from the portal even though they were verified. Customers can also help themselves with a bunch of readily available support articles published on Poloniex’s website.

How to trade on Poloniex

You cannot deal with flat currencies using Poloniex However, the cryptocurrency options available on the platform are plenty. In order to start trading with Poloniex, you need to set up an account on the company’s website and make a deposit in your account. The interface is easy to navigate, and won’t take long to master. After making the deposit, simply select a currency for trading in both the market as well as the exchange sections. Coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Monero (XMR), and Tether (USDT) are available for you to choose from.

After selecting a currency you wish to trade in, you’ll need to select a currency that you wish to buy. Further steps can be made by observing the changes in the main graph. Your success depends mainly on your financial knowledge of the cryptocurrency markets.

Apps

Poloniex has suffered in the past owing to fake applications developed in the company’s name. There is no official mobile application for Poloniex. The ones available on different mobile stores are imposter apps. However, you can manage all your trades using Poloniex’s mobile application.

Create an account on Poloniex

Creating an account on Poloniex is a fairly simple ordeal. All you need to do is visit the URL: www.poloniex.com and fill out the sign-up form. All you need to sign up on Poloniex is an email address. After completing the first step of the account creation process, you need to click the activation link sent to your registered email. Subsequently, the website will perform a security check in your browser, and take you to the detailed form. You’ll need to fill up all the relevant details including your phone number. A waiting period of about 3 days will reveal whether the crypto exchange has verified your account or not. You won’t be able to make trades with Poloniex unless your account is verified.

KYC

Poloniex has recently started flat-out blocking the accounts that have not complied with the company’s KYC norms. The Know-Your-Customer norms add to the security of the platform and prevent nasty agents from engaging in money laundering and other illegal financial activities.

New users are required to complete the account verification process within 7 days. Without completing the KYC-norms, a new users cannot make daily withdrawals over $2000. After completing the verification process, new users can withdraw as much as $25 thousand in a single day.

Security

Poloniex’s security isn’t the benchmark that other crypto exchanges strive for. The 2014 hacker attack on the platform has somewhat compromised Poloniex’s status quo as an exchange with iron-clad safety features. However, it would be unfair to say that the company has not set up security protocols to protect its users from threats online.

A large chunk of customer deposits is stored in air-gapped cold storage. The crypto exchange minimises risk by keeping online only to an extent that makes way for active trading.

Conclusion on Poloniex’s review

Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange that has been in business ever since 2014. Trading is possible only with cryptocurrencies. 90+ trading pairs are available in Poloniex. The customer support provided by Poloniex is one of the biggest downsides to using the platform for trading.

There have been reports of customer support requests answered for weeks at a stretch. Some issues have even took months for resolution. However, it is a relatively new platform, and ever since its acquisition by Circle, the company has been trying to get rid of its shortcomings.