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BX BitMEX VS UP Upbit
Both exchanges offer Spot. The differences below come from our individual reviews of BitMEX and Upbit.
| BitMEX | Upbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2017 |
| Regions | Historically available worldwide outside the US and a short list of other restricted jurisdictions. As of September 2026 the exchange is winding down entirely and is not accepting new registrations anywhere. | Built primarily for South Korean residents: full KRW trading requires a real-name-verified account at K Bank, Upbit's sole partner bank, plus Korean identity verification. Separate Upbit Singapore, Upbit Indonesia, and Upbit Thailand entities serve those markets under local licenses. Not available to US persons or several sanctioned countries. |
| Products | Spot, Perpetual futures, Dated futures | Spot |
| Maker fee | Moot given the September 2026 shutdown; historically a tiered volume-based schedule with maker rebates on major perpetual contracts. | Verify current tier: Upbit's KRW pairs have run around 0.05%, and BTC/USDT crypto pairs were cut from a standard 0.25% to a promotional 0.05% in mid-2026 amid competitive pressure, so check the live rate and which promotion (if any) is active before trading |
| Taker fee | Moot given the September 2026 shutdown; historically around 0.075% at the base tier on flagship perpetual contracts, lower with volume. | Same volatility applies here: verify current tier and any active promotional rate before trading, since Upbit has changed crypto-market fees more than once in response to fee-free competitors |
BitMEX pros
- Invented the modern perpetual futures contract, the product type most derivatives exchanges reviewed on this site now offer
- Zero customer funds lost to hacks across more than 11 years of operation
- Deep historical liquidity on BTC and ETH perpetuals while the platform was active
- 24/7 multilingual support with a genuine (if inconsistent) track record of resolving disputes
Upbit pros
- By far the deepest KRW order-book liquidity of any Korean exchange, useful for anyone actually trading in won
- Real-name bank verification through K Bank adds a genuine anti-fraud layer most offshore exchanges don't have
- Wide listing of Korea-origin and Korea-popular tokens that are thinly traded or unlisted elsewhere
- Moved to holding over 99% of assets in cold storage following its 2025 breach, well above Korea's 80% legal minimum
This table is generated from the same data behind our individual exchange reviews. See methodology for how it's put together. Fee figures marked "not yet verified" need confirming against live terms before this page is treated as launch-ready.