Thank you guys, really, for all your recommendations. So I took a bit of time to go through the list. I have documented my experiences and findings below.
Bybit:
The chart and the order book look decent with good liquidity. And I do appreciate live support because no one will help you in Bitmex’s trollbox. A wide range of altcoin paris which perfectly fits my need.
However, when I started doing my due diligence, things began to look different. I found they have been intentionally misrepresenting themselves claiming they are Singapore or HK-based, but in fact, is a Chinese company.
What they claim:
The truth:
I mean I am no racist and tbh I don’t care where the exchange is located. In the crypto space more often than not you register in one place and operate from another. But what they are doing is TOTALLY different. How can I believe this is a legit exchange to put money in when I have realized they are NOT who they say they are the whole time?
The FINAL nail in the coffin would be the scam accusations concerning some ‘forced closing algorithm’ that automatically closes a profit-making position without a trader’s permission. I saw more than one cases of it on twitter.
I don’t know what ‘good things’ some folks here have heard about them, but sorry, personally I don’t think putting money here is a good idea. Maybe I am overreacting maybe someone here feels it is okey to be phoney. But I am out.
Deribit:
Initially looks like a great place although not many altcoin pairs. Very decent liquidity, good team transparency, and they have been around for a long time. In fact, I almost decided to partially settle here (yes I started to trade with some small deposit) despite the fact that I was also told they used to have A LOT OF downtimes in the past. I didn’t take the advice seriously, until their very recent ‘maintenance time’ WITH NO PRIOR WARNING.
This is really worrisome. I don't want to get liquidated because I cannot close a position when I need to. And even with proper compensation, it is still gonna be frustrating. So far it seems the history keeps repeating itself at Deribit...considering they only have ethusd I began to wonder if it really worth the hassle…