Huge note: Bitmex is cracking down on it's no US users policy. You used to be able to sign up via VPN and it was fine if you never used the VPN again. Now, if you login using a US IP they flag you. This means you need to use a VPN every time you login. The new up and coming futures exchange is Deribit which I've started using instead of Bitmex. The volume is lower, BUT it doesn't have the "System Overload" problems that Bitmex does. The fees are also lower on Derebit.
Note, you do get 10% off fees if you sign up through a referral link. Feel free to use mine:
https://www.bitmex.com/register/astVxa and
https://www.deribit.com/reg-4025.4455, but even if you don't use mine, use someone's because it's 10% off fees, which adds up. You're literally throwing away 10% on every trade if you don't use a referral.
I kept seeing the Bitmex wrecked twitter thing and seeing mentions of leverage all over 4chan, but had absolutely no idea what it all meant. It also looked too complicated for me so I've always ignored it. Got bored today and it's actually much simpler than it seems. There's a ton of guides that go super in-depth and those made absolutely no sense to me, so I'm going to explain it from an idiot's perspective.
First of all, the draw of Futures Exchanges is you can do what's called Leveraged trading. In the simplest terms possible, it means you multiply your percentage gains/losses. If you go 10x leverage long on bitcoin and bitcoin gains 1%, you gain 10% more money. This is super cool for impatient people like me because it allows you to trade more actively without getting wrecked by fees, and it's ridiculously exciting.
Again, both Bitmex and Derebit don't allow US users, so unless you're outside the US, you need to register under a VPN (and continue using VPN on Bitmex, Derebit should just be register under it and you're done). I use NordVPN and it's only $3 a month.
Once you're registered, deposit some BTC into your Bitmex/Derebit wallet. When you first open the trade screen it's going to look super complicated. It's not.
Buying Long on a coin means you expect it to go up. Buying short on a coin means you expect it to go down. Playing those buys works like any other Exchange (i.e. Binance). You can set a limit price to buy in at and an amount. to buy.
Now you want to pick your leverage. In the menu below that, there's a slider. Again, each multiplier of leverage means every 1% = your leverage multiplier. 1% gain with a 25x leverage means 25% gain. I would start with 2x/3x leverage until you get a good handle on things.
The Cost number below the buy long/buy short number is the big one here. With leverage, you're essentially putting loaned money toward a coin. With 10x leverage, you can buy 1 BTC even if you only have .1 BTC (this is why the percentage gains are so drastic). However, this means you can lose it as well.
Let's say you bought 1 BTC at $10000, Long at 10x leverage (So you put in $1000). If BTC dropped 10% to $9000, you would lose all $1000 you put in. If it went to $11000, you would gain $1000 and double your money. Bitmex will auto "liquidate you" if you drop too far and don't have any more money to cover (10x leverage means if it drops more than 10% you lose all the money you put in. 25x leverage means if it drops more than 4% you lose all your money).
You can change orders on the fly and constantly adjust. Let's say BTC raised to $10100 (1%). You could then sell your long order and you will have gained 10% and now you can invest your $1100.
Note, on Derebit, each contract is $10 rather than $1, meaning a 10,000 contract order on Bitmex is the same as a 1,000 contract order on Derebit.
Like I said, there's a ton of guides out there that go into the more fancy TA and ways you can adjust orders, but this should provide a quick overview to get you started. They have a testnet site where you can practice with fake money first as well.
Part 2 with more advanced tips here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5038481.0
