Gate.io is this a scam? Review and Customers Reviews

The site Gate.io was launched in 2013, in China. Initially the creators focused on the Asian market, but over time they began to attract customers from other parts of the world.

In 2017, the platform underwent a rebranding and changed jurisdiction, moving to the Cayman Islands. This happened because of the strict policy of the Chinese authorities. Let’s try to find out, crypto exchange Gate.io – is it a scam or an honest project?

 

Why Gate.io?

Average daily volume cryptocurrency trading at Gate – 500 million dollars a day. Thanks to this, users get liquidity and fast exchange even on unpopular trading pairs. A total of 485 altcoins were listed. The volume leaders are BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, and ADA/USDT. They account for 22%, 14%, and 6% of trades respectively. In addition to the usual trading and exchange, users make transactions with leverage. The level of leverage depends on the client’s status and average volumes. In addition, the platform features futures on leading assets – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, and ChainLink.

There are dual-currency products. Gate positions them as an opportunity to earn regardless of the cryptocurrency price. Separately, it is worth mentioning the level of security on the site. In the past, the crypto exchange repelled at least two major attacks by hackers.

Along with this, an additional cryptocurrency lending module has recently appeared on Gate.io, where the lender is the ultimate trader. With this tool, players can lend their saved cryptocurrency to other users and earn additional profits. Within crypto lending, potential borrowers can enter into contracts without intermediaries, which reduces costs and makes the market fairer.

The trader can manually set the amount of the possible loan, the interest rate, as well as the total duration of the loan. If the client is not aware of the average market rate, the exchange offers to set it automatically according to the current readings of the published loans. If we speak about Crypto loans, this module provides the pledge for borrowing of other cryptocurrencies. In the Crypto Lending module trader becomes a lender himself by setting his conditions.

Cryptocurrency loan from Gate.io refers to digital borrowing, supporting more than 20 tokens. With this feature, traders can lend cryptocurrency at a primary rate of 70% (with a maximum amount of USD 5,000,000). Users can pledge coins with EOS, GT, ETH, and BTC tickers. All registered clients of the cryptocurrency exchange can apply for a loan.

Newbies and traders with little trading experience can connect to regular streams from Gate.io. The “Live” section publishes information on upcoming broadcasts, which are only held in Chinese. Speakers talk about the challenges and prospects of the digital economy, important trader skills, and the latest news from the cryptocurrency industry. At the same time, Gate.io publishes archive recordings from streams and expert videos on various topics. It is possible to watch the broadcast only after registration – the stream is not available in the guest mode.

After the rebranding in 2017, the platform administrators further strengthened security measures. There appeared two-factor authentication, anti-phishing codes, the ability to set a separate password for deposit and withdrawal, and other features. For example, the user can bind the account to its IP address (How to Make Money on Cryptocurrency?).

 

How to Exchange Cryptocurrency on Gate.io?

Gate.io does not support fiat currencies. It is impossible to exchange cryptocurrency for classic money here. But there are stabelcoins Tether, USDCoin, DAI. To exchange a cryptocurrency, the user needs to open the Market or Trading section. In the list that appears, select the desired pair, or enter the ticker of the altcoin in the “Search” field. It is located on the left side of the Trading section. After selecting a cryptocurrency, the user will see a chart of the market rate. Below it, there is an order form. Here, the client can buy or sell the desired cryptocurrency. For example, Ethereum for USDT or USDT for Ethereum. For a regular exchange, a “Limit Order” will do. In this form, it is necessary to specify:

• Asset price. This is the value for which the user wants to sell his cryptocurrency.
• The number of coins. There is a scale with percentages below, from 25 to 100%. This is a quick selection of the amount. By selecting 25% when exchanging, for example, Ether, the trader will deposit 25% of all available ETH from his deposit into the order.
• The third field shows how many desired coins the trader will receive for the deposited assets. Below you can set up the transaction fee.

After entering the parameters of the order, click “Buy” or “Sell”, depending on the type of deal. On the same page, the status of current transactions and the history of completed exchanges are shown, in the “My Orders” section.

 

Verification on the Gate Platform

The site requires verification of your identity in order to withdraw funds. This is necessary to ensure the security of your account. To do this, please go to the “KYC” section of your profile. You can find this by selecting the “Identification” item from the menu on the left side. Once there, you will need to choose between “Individual” if you are a natural person, or “Organization” if you wish to create an account for a business or other legal entity.

Verification consists of two steps. First, fill out the form:

• Specify the country of citizenship by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
• Write your full name in the Latin alphabet, as in the passport.
• Write the name again.
• Select the type of document for identification. It can be an ID card, passport, or driver’s license.
• Two scans must be attached to the application form: the front and back sides of the document. If you are scanning a passport, you need a scan of the main page, with a photo and passport data.

The second step is to submit a picture of yourself holding the document that you have attached to the application. The website also requires you to provide a paper with your client’s ID, which can be found either in the verification section or in your account settings. All files must be in JPEG or PNG format and should not exceed 4 MB in size. According to the platform, verification may take between half an hour and 12 hours to complete.

 

Deposit and Withdrawal

To deposit funds, go to your profile on gate.io and open the “Coin Deposit” menu item. Select the desired cryptocurrency in the Coin list. The exchange will automatically create an address to transfer assets from a third-party wallet.

After that, open a wallet and send the cryptocurrency to the address created by the exchange. The transfer is also available via QR-code. To use it, open your mobile wallet and scan the code with a camera. Minimum deposit for major cryptocurrencies:

• Bitcoin – 0.0001 BTC.
• Ethereum – 0.0001 ETH.
• Tether – 0.0001 USDT.
• Litecoin – 0.0001 LTC.

To withdraw, go to the “Coins Withdrawal” section. Here is a list of all available coins and tokens. Using the switch above the list, you can hide wallets with a zero balance and work only with active addresses. In the list, select the asset you are interested in and click on “Withdraw”, next to the coin name. A form for sending funds will appear:

• Specify the address where to send funds.
• Add a description of the transaction.
• Specify the transfer amount. The fee will be shown below.
• Enter the password to withdraw coins, if any.

Then click the “Submit Request” button. The minimum withdrawal amount for Bitcoin is 0.0150 BTC, the maximum is 100 BTC. The minimum for Ethereum is 0.11 ETH and for Tether – 70 USDT.

Cryptoexchange Commissions

As with many competitors, there is a progressive commission scale on gate.io. The amount of commission charged is reduced if the client accumulates the required volume of trades per month or retains exchange tokens – GT. Discounts are also possible if the total balance of the account is held. The basic rate for both maker and taker – 0.2%. The first discount a client can receive if his trading volume in a month exceeds the equivalent of 1.5 BTC or 100 GT will be placed on his account. Then maker’s commission will be 0.185%, taker – 0.195%. The requirements for the other loyalty levels are shown in the table. Maximum level: trading volume 75 000 BTC, balance 2500 BTC, commission maker – 0,055%, taker – 0,065%.

Withdrawal fees

Gate.io offers competitive withdrawal fees:

• Bitcoin – 0.001 BTC.
• Ethereum – 0.003 ETH.
• Litecoin – 0.01 LTC.
• Ripple – 1 XRP.
• EOS – 0.1 EOS.
• Monero – 0.05 XMR.
• Tron – 0.1 TRX.
• Tether – 3 USDT.

For traders working with Ethereum, Tether, and Tron, the website will be one of the most inexpensive options in terms of commission. However, the withdrawal in Bitcoin or Monero is much more expensive compared to competitors. For example, at Binance users can withdraw BTC by paying 0.0005 BTC for the service.

 

Gate Bonuses

The crypto exchange pays attention to various loyalty programs, contests, and prizes for its clients. Rewards for activity can be discounts on transactions, GT tokens, increased percentages for farming, and internal points.

Tasks for Beginners

New users get points if they complete the tasks offered by the exchange. The list of tasks is constantly being updated, but here are a few examples:

• 30 points for the first deposit.
• 30 points for the first deal with an open-ended contract.
• 50 points for three invited referrals.
• 30 points for exceeding the trading volume of 10 BTC.

The points you receive cannot be exchanged for cryptocurrency or sent to anyone. But they can be used to pay commissions, thereby saving money on transactions. Keep in mind that accrued bonuses are not counted in the loyalty program balance assessment.

Voting for the Listing

Listing is the procedure for introducing a new cryptocurrency to an exchange to make it available for trading. Gate.io puts some tokens up for voting. If users vote for a particular coin, it will appear on the exchange. At the same time, Gate and crypto-projects hold contests related to the election. For example, voting on the Defi Yield Protocol listing. All participants who vote “yes” will become participants in AirDrop if the token makes it to the exchange. The total amount of the giveaway depends on the number of participants who supported the project’s listing.

The reward for raising the level

Earlier we mentioned the loyalty program: by increasing the volume of trades, the client reduces the commission of the exchange. Another Gate bonus program is also related to this. A client who increases his level receives an additional reward in points. They cannot be sold or exchanged but can be used to cover commission.

Referral Program

The site has its referral program. Users can invite other people and receive a percentage of their trades. The “referral program” here is flexible and can be customized to suit your goals. For example, the system allows you to create not just a referral link to the site, but also to invite a person to a specific section of the website. Whether it’s spot trading, futures, or farming, you can select a link to each of Gate’s products in the “My Promotional Referrals” menu.

Another setting is the percentage of rewards. It works like this: the invited user gets 30% of the commission, and the referral is returned 10% of his commission. This balance can be changed. For example, leave 10% from the award, while 30% return referral. This will make your link more attractive. Or vice versa, you can take all 40% of the commission, while the referral will not get anything.

 

Gate.io Complaints

Gate.io is a large exchange with millions of users. Like any large product, it receives positive and negative reviews. Among the disadvantages of the platform, users often name:

• High commissions on Bitcoin transactions, compared to other venues.
• Mandatory identification of the user. There are complaints that the document processing time exceeds the declared maximum of 12 hours.
• No protection for Universal 2nd.
• Periodic problems with the authorities in China, due to which users feel distrustful of the exchange. For example, in September 2020, the Chinese office of the project was searched. Later, it turned out that the police intervention was due to investors’ complaints about the decentralized Kimchi project. Its tokens were placed on Gate.

There is no way to transfer crypto assets into fiat currency or withdraw them from the platform to bank accounts. Despite this, the platform has earned a good reputation for its security.

In the fall of 2018, there was an attack on the exchange, where hackers used a third-party counter to spoof the Bitcoin withdrawal page. The exchange administrators responded quickly to the vulnerability and prevented the theft of funds. To date, this has been the only successful attack on Gate.

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Crypto Exchange Regulation

The cryptocurrency marketplace Gate.io is operated by Gate Technology Incorporated. This firm is registered in Singapore and later moved to the Cayman Islands. Thus, Gate is under the jurisdiction of this Caribbean state. Some of its departments are located in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Regulators

In 2022, Gate Technology Ltd., a company headquartered in Malta and part of the Gate Group, has been granted a Class 4 license as a Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Service Provider by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA – check regulator).

Gate Digital Ltd (Gate HK), a subsidiary of Gate.io, has submitted an application for a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Hong Kong in 2023.

Gate.io User Agreement

The administration of the Gate.io platform takes the obligation to ensure the safety of customers’ financial assets, their personal data, and transaction information. Nevertheless, in accordance with the law, Gate is obliged to release the necessary data to law enforcement authorities, if any customer is under investigation.

Read the user agreement at gate.io

The User Agreement is published on the official website. It can be found in the menu at the bottom of the home page. The agreement is available in English. Using the services of the platform and opening an account here, the client automatically agrees with the rules. An important point of the agreement is the acceptance of risks by the client. The user who has made a deposit must understand the possibility of losing their assets. The exchange is not able to protect him from personal errors related to trading or investment. Also, the platform is not obliged to compensate for losses incurred due to errors in the transfer of funds. That is, if the client gave the wrong address and sent the cryptocurrency to the wrong place – that’s his problem.

The agreement confirms that Gate.io is legally located in the Cayman Islands, which means that any legal issues must be resolved in that jurisdiction. The platform itself undertakes to comply with the laws of this state, including the rules against money laundering and terrorist financing. This means that the exchange is obliged to identify the customer and block transactions if it considers them to be criminal. To summarize the main points of the user agreement:

• The client takes the entire service “as is”, with all the possible errors and flaws.
• Clients are responsible for their own money, transactions, and transactions on the exchange.
• Clients take their risks and are responsible for financial losses.
• Users are required to be verified.

If the exchange suspects the criminal intent of the transaction, it can block the accounts, without having to prove anything.

Customer Service

The support service accepts requests by e-mail, and chat, as well as through the ticket system. Contacts:

• Technical user support: [email protected].
• Business offers: [email protected].
• Chat on the site.
• Feedback form.
• Tickets in your personal cabinet.
• Reference Center.
• Social media.

 

Gate.io is a Scam?

Gate is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, processing an average of $500 million in transactions every day. The platform, which has been operating since 2013, is located in a reputable jurisdiction and is accessible to the public. It is followed by 85,000 people on Twitter, and many elements of its code are publicly available on GitHub.

CoinMarketCap rates the exchange at 6.5, which is higher than Huobi Korea, Bithumb, EXMO, and OkCoin. Gate.io received a maximum of three stars for cybersecurity from CerTified. This exchange is considered a reliable project. Complaints on the internet are often related to technical issues or user errors, but it’s important to remember that an investor should not keep all their assets in one exchange. It’s better to store cryptocurrencies in a “cold” wallet for longer periods.

 

Conclusion

Gate.io is a well-established crypto exchange that offers a range of state-of-the-art features, including cryptocurrency trading, farming, and futures trading. The platform also has a good loyalty program that can help users save on fees and a referral system that can generate additional revenue. While the site’s interface may seem cluttered and confusing for newcomers, it is designed for more experienced traders who have worked with other platforms. However, some of the products offered on the platform may be too risky for those with less experience.