Capital.com vs Phemex: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Capital.com and Phemex This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on September 3, 2025

Capital.com

Phemex

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Available Countries

United States

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

Yes

China

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

Yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

China

Canada

United Kingdom

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Capital.com is ideal if:

For tech-savvy learners – Its intuitive, AI-powered platform and rich educational resources make it a great fit if you rely on smart tools to refine your trading strategy.
For traders across devices – With both proprietary web/mobile platforms and MetaTrader 4 support, it's ideal if you value flexibility in how and where you trade.
For internationally regulated users – Strong oversight from trusted authorities (FCA, CySEC, ASIC, and others) ensures you benefit from high-tier security and compliance.

Phemex is ideal if:

Fast-paced traders value it: With ultra-low latency and deep liquidity, Phemex's high-performance trading engine offers smooth execution and stability.
Tech-savvy users benefit: Advanced tools—like copy trading, bots, and DeFi-style earning products—empower both automation and strategy innovation.
Privacy-conscious users find appeal: Flexible KYC policies and a streamlined onboarding style suit those preferring minimal verification barriers.

Capital.com isn’t ideal if:

If you want direct ownership – It only offers CFD-based exposure, which means you don’t acquire the actual underlying assets.
If you need a wide variety of account types – Options beyond demo, retail, or professional are limited compared to some competitors.
If you're looking for copy trading or social features – It doesn’t support social trading or copy-trading capabilities.

Phemex isn’t ideal if:

Fiat-focused users may face limits: Fiat deposit and withdrawal services are unavailable or heavily restricted in numerous countries, reducing accessibility for those relying on bank transfers.
Newcomers could feel overwhelmed: The platform’s advanced features and high-leverage tools offer power—but may feel complex if you’re new to trading.
Risk-averse investors might be uneasy: Derivatives and high-leverage products carry greater risk, making Phemex less suited to those seeking lower-volatility exposure.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

Capital.com does not use classic maker/taker fees for spot trading; instead, all trading costs are embedded in the dynamic spread, and there is no tiered volume-based discount or native token benefit.

Spot trading fees start at 0.1% for both maker and taker on the base VIP tier and can decrease via VIP-level benefits tied to trading volume or asset holdings; using the Phemex Token (PT) grants additional discounts—around 20% off spot fees—and those can stack with VIP reductions.

Futures/Derivatives

Capital.com offers CFDs on derivatives rather than crypto futures, so there are no separate maker/taker or funding fees—rather, overnight financing charges apply depending on position leverage and duration.

Futures (perpetual contracts) begin with a maker fee as low as 0.01% and a taker fee of 0.06%, with lower rates available through VIP status; funding rates vary according to market dynamics and are applied periodically, affecting long or short positions depending on current rates.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

While exact numbers shift with market conditions, spreads on major crypto CFDs tend to be competitive and relatively tight during normal liquidity, reflecting a cost structure built into the quoted prices.

Phemex delivers tight spreads on major spot pairs like BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT, thanks to deep order-book liquidity and efficient execution, although the exact average spread fluctuates with market conditions and isn’t publicly standardized.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

You can deposit via credit/debit cards, bank transfers, or e-wallets with no deposit fees; card or digital payments are typically instant, while bank transfers may take a few days. Withdrawals are also free but processing can take up to five business days depending on the method.

Fiat deposits are facilitated via third-party gateways such as MoonPay or Banxa, often with fees imposed by those services; withdrawal in fiat is limited or restricted depending on jurisdiction and may incur fixed charges or banking delays driven by external banking partners.

On-chain Withdrawals

Capital.com does not support direct on-chain crypto withdrawals, as it operates using CFDs—so there is no blockchain withdrawal fee to consider because you can’t withdraw crypto into an external wallet.

Crypto withdrawals carry network-dependent fees, which vary by chain and congestion

Hidden Costs

Hidden costs may include a currency conversion fee when trading in a currency different from your account base (around 0.7%), and an inactivity fee charged monthly after a year of dormancy; there are no express KYC fees.

Hidden costs may include markups from third-party fiat gateways, potential inactivity penalties (if any), and premium-tier services like expedited KYC—but generally, Phemex avoids additional charges beyond trading, withdrawal, and external service fees.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

If you buy €500 in BTC (via CFDs), your cost would include the embedded spread on entry, possible conversion if your base currency differs, and if you withdraw funds later via bank transfer, you’ll incur no Capital.com fee—only standard bank or intermediary charges may apply.

Example

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

Capital.com offers CFD trading on around 400 crypto assets, with the most traded pairs including prominent names like BTC/USD, ETH/USD, SOL/USD, XRP/USD, DOGE/USD, SHIB/USD, and others that typically rank among the top 20 by volume.

Phemex offers several hundred tradable assets across hundreds of spot and futures pairs; among the top by volume you’ll typically see major pairs like BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, SOL/USDT, DOGE/USDT, ADA/USDT dominating the leaderboards.

Product Range

The platform focuses on spot-style CFD trading with leverage and margin; it does not support perpetuals, options, crypto ETFs, staking, lending, copy trading, grid bots, or automated DCA features.

Phemex delivers a wide product mix including spot and margin trading, perpetual futures, automated copy-trading, grid-trading bots (spot and futures), DCA and Martingale bots, essential lending/borrow via margin, plus crypto earn products and launchpad functionality.

Liquidity

While exact figures vary with market conditions, BTC and ETH CFDs usually benefit from strong liquidity and tight order-book depth, ensuring that positioning in these flagship pairs remains fluid and responsive to market moves.

Phemex sees substantial daily volume usually in the hundreds of millions USD, with order-book depth in BTC and ETH strong enough to support sizable trades without excessive slippage, reflecting healthy active liquidity.

Tools

Traders get limit, stop and OCO-like functionality, plus smart price alerts, richly featured charting powered by a native TradingView integration, and a full REST & WebSocket API for deep automation and data access.

The platform includes full order-type support such as limit, market, stop and OCO orders, real-time alerts, advanced interactive charts powered by TradingView, and robust API with WebSocket for seamless automation and live data.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

Crypto CFD derivatives are broadly available, but notably not offered to UK retail clients, reflecting regulatory constraints that may apply depending on your residence.

Certain services—especially derivatives—are restricted in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, parts of Canada, China, and other regions, while spot and earn products may remain accessible depending on local laws.

Innovation

The platform focuses on core CFD trading and charting infrastructure and does not currently provide features like launchpads, launchpools, or flexible vs blocked “earn” products.

Phemex continually expands its ecosystem with launchpad or launchpool-style token sales, and layered earn programs offering both flexible (withdraw anytime) and locked (higher yield) options to fit different investor preferences.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

Capital.com operates through several legal entities—most notably Capital Com SV Investments Ltd in Cyprus (head office in Limassol), with regional arms like Capital Com MENA Securities Trading LLC in the UAE—established around 2016 and headquartered across jurisdictions like Cyprus, the UK, Australia, the Bahamas, and UAE.

Phemex began in 2019 and is operated under entities such as Phemex Technology Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and Phemex Limited in the British Virgin Islands, placing it under those legal jurisdictions.

Licenses/Registration

The broker is regulated by top-tier authorities including CySEC (EU), FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), SCB (Bahamas), and SCA (UAE); it complies with MiFID standards in the EU but is not classified as a VASP under current crypto-specific regulatory frameworks.

While Phemex holds an MSB registration with FinCEN in the U.S., it currently lacks MiCA or equivalent EU licensing and is not authorized to operate in several regulated regions.

Custody

Client funds are held in segregated accounts with top-tier banks and not commingled with company assets, though there’s no public evidence of Proof of Reserves, audit reports, or specified cold-storage percentages specific to crypto holdings.

The exchange maintains full custody of user assets and provides a self-verifiable Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves (PoR) tool that shows assets are backed 1

Insurance & Protection Funds

Retail clients in the EU receive coverage through Cyprus’ Investor Compensation Fund (up to a certain limit), and UK clients through FSCS; there is also mandatory negative balance protection for retail users, but there appears to be no standalone private insurance for custody.

There is no publicly disclosed insurance or user protection fund; security relies on reserve mechanisms and risk controls but does not include third-party insurance coverage.

Incident History

There are no publicly reported major security breaches, trading suspensions, account freezes, or regulatory fines associated with the platform to date, indicating a clean historical safety record.

Phemex has not reported any major hacks, though it temporarily suspended a hot-wallet after an internal security review; it also faced regulatory scrutiny in Canada and the UK for compliance issues.

Risk Controls

Security features include 2FA, internal fraud and anti-phishing safeguards, and supported tools for risk management; however, there is no explicit mention of whitelisted addresses, sub-account structures, or highly granular API permission tiers.

Users benefit from standard safeguards including mandatory two-factor authentication, IP or address whitelists, anti-phishing protection, segregated sub-accounts, and granular API permission controls.

Transparency

The platform provides regulatory compliance transparency through standard policies, but does not offer monthly audit reports, public wallet listings, or formal service-level agreements (SLAs) as part of its disclosures.

Phemex offers monthly-updated PoR data, public disclosure of partial cold wallet addresses, and reserve ratios, demonstrating a commitment to transparency though without formal SLAs or comprehensive monthly financial reports.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

Capital.com lets you deposit via bank transfer, debit/credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and regional services like iDEAL, Trustly, SPEI or Lean; minimums vary by method (typically $20 or equivalent), and funds via card or e-wallet tend to arrive instantly, whereas bank transfers may take a few business days.

Phemex supports fiat deposits via bank transfers (SWIFT, SEPA, ACH, FPS) and third-party services like MoonPay or Banxa; minimums generally start around $50, maximums reach very high limits, and processing typically takes from instant (via e-wallet) to 1–3 business days for transfers.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

You must complete KYC before trading; basic verification covers deposits up to your initial funding, with advanced verification required for higher withdrawal amounts or accessing profits via bank transfer, but there’s no public tiered structure labeled “basic” vs “advanced” on their site.

There are three user tiers

Withdrawals

Withdrawals must be made via the original deposit method up to that amount; profits require a verified bank account; minimums start around $20 or local equivalent, processing occurs within 24 hours (most within minutes), although it can take up to five business days depending on the provider.

limits, times, networks (TRC20/ERC20/BEP20, etc.)

Customer Support

Capital.com offers 24/7 chat support and email response through a help centre with quick turnaround, backed by a robust knowledge base covering deposits, tools, trading, and troubleshooting.

chat 24/7, email, response times, knowledge base

Languages & Localization

The platform supports a wide array of languages including native-level Spanish, presents fees and pricing in local fiat formats like €, and is tailored and regulated per locale via regional subsidiaries.

The platform’s interface and support are primarily in English, with fees typically shown in USD or equivalent fiat; some content and interfaces are localized for major regions, though comprehensive local regulation compliance varies by jurisdiction.

App Quality & Stability

Their mobile app is regularly updated to enhance performance and tools, showing strong stability with minimal reported crashes—though no specific crash rate or version history is publicly shared.

The Phemex mobile app is generally regarded as stable and regularly updated, offering seamless feature parity with desktop—though exact crash rates aren’t disclosed, user feedback reflects a smooth, reliable experience.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

The interface is friendly for beginners, with a clean layout and intuitive navigation, while offering advanced charting tools that feel like a “Pro” experience—there’s no separate mode labeled Lite or Pro, but the design scales nicely with your growing skill.

The platform offers a clean, intuitive interface with a low entry barrier for newcomers, while also featuring an advanced “Pro” layout tailored to seasoned users that surfaces more chart tools and analytics—all accessible without overwhelming either group.

Performance

The platform executes orders swiftly with minimal latency and holds up well even during volatile market conditions; account verification remains efficient without major backlogs, even when markets heat up.

Known for its fast order execution and robust infrastructure, Phemex handles volatility with minimal downtime, though during peak surges KYC and account approval may experience slight delays—performance remains solid overall.

Education

Capital.com features a strong educational ecosystem, including a richly featured demo account, live webinars, glossaries, articles, and full Spanish-language content to guide both new and intermediate traders.

Phemex Academy offers a rich library of beginner-to-advanced tutorials, while a fully functional Testnet simulator lets users practice trading risk-free; however, Spanish-language educational materials are limited or not as comprehensive.

Community

While it doesn’t host its own public forum or Discord, the platform encourages community via integrated social tools and offers a referral program that rewards users for inviting new traders.

Users can join lively communities via Telegram or Discord, participate in referral programs offering significant bonus pools and commissions, and access forums where updates and peer tips circulate regularly.

Integrations

The integration with TradingView is seamless and empowers deep charting and automation, but there are no built-in tools for external bots, tax reports, or accounting features—those must be sourced externally.

Phemex’s interface embeds native TradingView charts, supports integration with external bot frameworks, and appeals to algorithmic traders via API access, though dedicated tax or accounting tool integrations are limited.

Who Each One Is Best For

This setup works best for traders who value polished interfaces with pro-level tools, rich educational support, and solid integrations—making it ideal for both curious beginners and performance-oriented intermediate users.

Phemex stands out for active, tech-savvy or algorithmic traders seeking powerful tools, automation access, and derivatives options; it’s less ideal for ultra-beginners or those requiring local-language education or deep tax integrations.