# edgeX vs Extended in 2026, Read at Four Position Sizes

Updated: 24 September 2026 | Book readings 22 September 2026 | Venue documents read 18 September 2026 | The Margin Brief desk

## Summary

edgeX vs Extended turns on position size. edgeX scores 11.5 of 15
to Extended's 11.5 on a bitcoin book holding a median $29.3 million within 10
basis points against $7.8 million, and its 100x rung reaches $1 million where Extended
holds 50x to $4 million. Posted collateral is the whole of what one of these contracts can lose.

## Weighting

Exit liquidity 30 · Collateral and settlement 22 · Cost per round trip 20 · Loss record and audits 14 · Contracts and asset classes 9 · Getting a position on 5. One formula for every table on this site, fixed on 22 September 2026 before either venue was read: https://insurancerefocused.com/how-we-rate

## The two sheets side by side, September 2026

| Criterion | edgeX | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| Score of 15 | 11.5 | 11.5 |
| Perpetual markets | 172 | 325 |
| Markets with a public order book | All 172 | 47; the other 278 are quoted on request |
| Maker / taker, entry tier | 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker | 0% maker / 0.025% taker |
| Taker round trip on $100,000 | $90.00 | $50.00 |
| Documented bitcoin leverage cap | 100x, to $1 million of position value | 50x, to $4 million of position value |
| Median bitcoin depth within 10 basis points | $29.3 million | $7.8 million |
| Bug bounty | None found in the documentation, help centre or audit repository | Self-run, up to $500,000 for a critical report |
| Withdrawal that does not need the operator | Documented on the self-custody page | None found in the documentation we read |
| Open interest the venue reports, 22 September 2026 | $635.5 million | $84.0 million |

Venue terms read 18 September 2026 in each venue's own documentation and terms.

## Order-book readings

Both BTC perpetual books were read over 122 polls between 21 September 2026 and 22 September 2026; medians of all successful snapshots, no orders placed.

| Venue | Spread | Depth, 10 bps | Impact, $100,000 | Impact, $1 million | Snapshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| edgeX | 0.04 bps | $29.3 million | 0.02 bps | 0.22 bps | 121 |
| Extended | 0.12 bps | $7.8 million | 0.06 bps | 0.70 bps | 50 |

## What the figures decide

1. Depth behind the exit: a median $29.3 million resting within 10 basis points of the mid at edgeX, $7.8 million at Extended, from 121 usable snapshots against 50.
2. Cost of the same trade: a taker round trip on $100,000 is $90.00 at edgeX and $50.00 at Extended; two maker fills cost $80.00 and nothing.
3. Market count: 325 perpetual markets at Extended to edgeX's 172, but 278 of Extended's are quoted on request and 47 carry a public book.

## Assessments

### [edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange) — the deeper book and the higher rung, while the position is small

Score 11.5 of 15.


edgeX matches orders off-chain and settles balances and trades on its own chain
([edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/home), checked 18 September 2026), charging regular users 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker. Its bitcoin
book was the deeper of the two by four times, a median $29.3 million within 10 basis points at
a 0.04 bps spread, and its self-custody page describes a withdrawal made through the
chain rather than by the operator.

- Works: Median bitcoin depth of $29.3 million, four times the reading at Extended; A withdrawal without the operator, and 100x to $1 million of position value.
- Falls short: 0.040% maker against nothing at Extended, so working an order is the dearer half; No bug bounty found in its documentation, help centre or audit repository; Operator liability capped at the greater of $100 or three months of fees paid.
- Not for: traders who work orders passively, and anyone who wants the cheaper bill.

### [Extended](https://extended.exchange/) — the flat rate and the longer list, on a thinner book

Score 11.5 of 15.


Extended keeps a book of its own and pushes every transaction onto Starknet
([Extended documentation](https://docs.extended.exchange/about-extended/technical-architecture), checked 18 September 2026), charging one schedule to every account,
0% maker / 0.025% taker, with no volume tier to climb. That makes it the cheaper venue at every size
in the reading, and its bounty and clean 24-month record give it the stronger security inputs. Its
book held $7.8 million.

- Works: 0% maker and 0.025% taker for every account, no tier to reach; A bounty of up to $500,000, and 50x holding to $4 million of position value.
- Falls short: 278 of its markets are quoted on request, and the book shown there is indicative only; Neither published audit covers its own matching or risk engine; A withdrawal above $1 million runs through a third-party bridge and can take four hours.
- Not for: traders sizing an order against a book they expect to be there.

## edgeX vs Extended, rung by rung

A leverage cap is a statement about collateral, and it reads better in dollars. The same bitcoin
exposure, at the highest rung each venue allows for that size:

| Position value | Margin at edgeX | Margin at Extended |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $1,000 at 100x | $2,000 at 50x |
| $1 million | $10,000 at 100x | $20,000 at 50x |
| $2 million | $26,667 at 75x | $40,000 at 50x |
| $4 million | $80,000 at 50x | $80,000 at 50x |

edgeX asks half as much at the small end and the same at $4 million, because its ladder starts higher
and falls faster: 100x holds only to $1 million of position value, then 75x to $3 million and 50x to
$5 million ([edgeX risk tiers](https://edgex-prod-v2.edgex.exchange/api/v2/public/meta/getMetaData), checked 18 September 2026). Extended holds one rung, 50x,
to $4 million before halving ([Extended margin schedule](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/crypto-markets/margin-schedule), checked 18 September 2026).
Neither schedule puts Extended above edgeX at any size; what disappears with size is edgeX's
advantage.

Read the other way, a rung is a distance. At 100x a 1% move against the position consumes the posted
margin, at 50x a 2% move, and at the 25x rung above $4 million a 4% move. Each venue closes the
position at its maintenance level, so the real distance is shorter than that.

## The book behind the exit, and the size at which it matters

Both bitcoin books were read over 122 polls between 21 September 2026 and 22 September 2026. edgeX held a median
$29.3 million within 10 basis points of the mid and Extended $7.8 million, so a $1
million order was 3.4% of the resting
size at edgeX and 12.9% of it at
Extended. The measured cost followed: 0.22 bps of impact against
0.70 bps, about $22.00 against
$70.00 on that order.

That gap is real and small next to the fee: the same round trip costs $900.00
in taker fees at edgeX and $500.00 at Extended, so Extended stays hundreds
of dollars ahead at every size in the reading, thinner book included. Depth decides beyond that
range, where an order worth a seventh of the resting size is already walking the book, and these
readings were taken across an ordinary window rather than while a position was being closed against
its owner. One caveat belongs with the Extended figure — it rests on 50
usable snapshots against 121 on the other side.

## What a count of 325 markets and a count of 172 are counting

Extended reports 325 active perpetual markets across six asset classes
([Extended documentation](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/rwa-markets), checked 18 September 2026), and its own documentation qualifies
most of them: 278 are quoted on request, where a market maker fills the order and the book on screen
is indicative only. That leaves 47 markets with a public book, so a trader who expected to exit into
resting orders finds them on one market in seven. edgeX returned 172 tradable
contracts on 18 September 2026, 93 of them shares and funds and one a currency pair
([edgeX metadata](https://edgex-prod-v2.edgex.exchange/api/v2/public/meta/getMetaData), checked 18 September 2026), all order-book markets — so the honest
comparison is 172 against 47.

Both attach conditions to the non-crypto side. edgeX rejects market orders on a share perpetual while
the underlying market is shut; Extended halts its quoted real-world markets outside their sessions,
with positions and margin requirements still live.

## Audits, a bounty, and the exit that does not need the operator

The two have bought different evidence. edgeX publishes a repository of audit reports, nine of them
counted here — RigSec in 2024, four from SlowMist between 2025 and 2026, Halborn, Zellic, a Spearbit
review and Binenet —
and no bug bounty in its documentation, help centre or that repository. Extended publishes two, both
of the
Starknet contracts it settles through rather than of its own matching or risk engine, and runs a
bounty paying up to $500,000 for a critical report. Neither set covers the part that decides when a
position is liquidated.

They separate on the way out. edgeX documents balances that can be verified and withdrawals executed
through the chain without the operator; we found no equivalent route in Extended's documentation on
18 September 2026, where a large stablecoin withdrawal runs through a third-party bridge. That is
paperwork rather than conduct, and nothing here says a deposit is covered, protected or insured,
because on neither venue is it.

So edgeX suits a position large enough that the exit is the risk and a trader willing to pay
0.040% to work an order, and Extended suits one who takes the flat rate and the longer
list over the deeper book. Both sit behind Lighter on this site's formula, and the full order, EVEDEX
at 9.7 included, is on the [comparison sheet](/crypto-derivatives-exchanges-compared);
the audits behind both are on the [audit register](/best-crypto-derivatives-exchange).

## Sources quoted

> "There is no public order book. The order book displayed on the trading screen is indicative only and does not represent resting orders from other traders." — Extended documentation, request-for-quote execution, 18 September 2026. https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/rfq-execution

> "In such cases, a portion of a position may be forcibly closed (partially liquidated) at an unfavorable price (the Bankruptcy Price)." — edgeX help centre, auto-deleveraging, 18 September 2026. https://edgexhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-001/articles/15315409816719-edgeX-Perpetuals-Auto-Deleveraging-ADL-Mechanism-Explained

> "While a market is halted, order placement and execution are unavailable; open positions remain open, and margin requirements continue to apply." — Extended documentation, real-world asset markets, 18 September 2026. https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/rwa-markets

## How the two were compared

Nobody publishes what an exit costs, so depth, spread and impact are this desk's own: every public BTC
perpetual book read over 122 polls between 21 September 2026 and 22 September 2026, no account anywhere, no order of ours. Charges, margin
demands, ladder rungs, market lists and audit history are each venue's own record on 18 September 2026.
Six weights, settled 22 September 2026 and unchanged since, carry 2 venues
([how we rate](/how-we-rate)).

Read the margin figures as arithmetic, not as a warning: a documented cap divided into a hundred thousand
dollars of exposure, closed out at the maintenance level with collateral still in the account.
Settlement, exit routes and audit history are what each venue publishes, never the whole of it. Fee
columns are the entry tier, before cashback or volume tiers, and BTC alone was measured, its smaller
neighbours on the same venues being thinner.

## FAQ

### Is edgeX better than Extended?

On this site's formula, narrowly: 11.5 of 15 against
11.5. edgeX takes the depth criterion, which carries 30 of the 100 points, and
Extended takes cost and the loss-record criterion, where a published bounty counts for more than a
longer list of audits. A weighting that put the fee first would reverse the pair.

### Which is cheaper, edgeX or Extended?

Extended, on both sides of the trade. It charges 0% maker / 0.025% taker flat, so a taker round trip on
$100,000 costs $50.00 and two maker fills cost nothing. edgeX charges
0.040% maker / 0.045% taker to regular users, or $90.00 for that taker round trip and
$80.00 for the maker pair.

### What leverage does edgeX allow on bitcoin?

Up to 100x, and only on position value up to $1 million; the published risk tiers then step it to 75x
to $3 million, 50x to $5 million and 25x to $20 million. At the top rung the collateral behind
$100,000 of exposure is $1,000, and a 1% move against the position is worth all of it.

### Why does Extended advertise 100x?

Because one market reaches it. Extended's public data returns a 100x maximum for a single currency
pair, while the margin schedule puts bitcoin and ether at 50x up to $4 million of position value, then
25x to $8 million. Sizing a bitcoin position from the headline multiple would double what the schedule
allows.

### What does request-for-quote mean on a perpetuals exchange?

That a market maker quotes the order instead of a queue of resting orders filling it. Extended's
documentation says the book displayed on such a market is indicative only, and 278 of its
325 markets work this way, each with an open-interest cap that switches the
market to reduce-only when reached.

### Can you withdraw from edgeX without the exchange?

Its self-custody documentation describes verifying balances and executing withdrawals through the
chain, bypassing the operator, which is why edgeX takes the full points available on the collateral
criterion here. We found no comparable route in Extended's documentation as read on
18 September 2026.

### Does Extended have a bug bounty?

Yes, self-run and paid in a stablecoin: up to $500,000 for a critical report, $50,000 for a high one
and $5,000 for a medium one, with researchers verified before payout. edgeX publishes the nine audits
counted here and no bounty that we could find on 18 September 2026.

### Does edgeX have a deeper bitcoin book than Extended?

In this window it did, by about four times: a median $29.3 million resting within 10 basis
points of the mid against $7.8 million. A $1 million market order met
0.22 bps of impact at edgeX and 0.70 bps at Extended, from
121 usable snapshots on one book and 50 on the other.

### Do edgeX or Extended ask for identity documents?

Neither asks for them to trade: a wallet signature opens the account on both, and edgeX also accepts a
social login that creates a wallet. Extended's terms reserve the right to refuse access after a
transaction risk assessment, and the two exclude different lists of countries.

### What happens to a position if the exchange restarts?

Extended documents 120 seconds of post-only trading after any restart, during which no market order,
trigger or liquidation runs. edgeX documents auto-deleveraging, where an unfilled liquidation is
matched against the most profitable opposite positions at the bankruptcy price. Both leave the margin
requirement live.

## Editorial note

Both venues sell leveraged exposure: the margin behind a position is all of what it can lose. Placement here is paid for; the order is not, and one published formula scores both columns. Nothing here is advice or cover against a loss. Corrections: editorial@insurancerefocused.com.

The Margin Brief desk, 24 September 2026

Placement in this file is paid for; the order of every table follows the published formula and nothing else.