An upstart cryptocurrency exchange dubbed ‘LVL’ that seeks to eliminate trading fees announced yesterday that it will be a free-to-use service for the U.S market. This venture is backed by prominent figures, including Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digital and Bitcoin advocates Willy Woo and Jimmy Song.
Previously, LVL was limited to premium users only but now wants to compete against Gemini and Coinbase. According to the blog post, current exchanges charge exorbitant fees through direct or hidden costs. LVL, which is pronounced ‘level,’ plans to level the playing field with its new model. The blog reads,
“The truth is that exchange fees are robbing people blind. As we stated in Part 1 of our series on fees, fees can be direct or hidden and affect all traders, big or small.”
The LVL Exchange Model
As highlighted earlier, this crypto exchange deviates from the norm by eliminating trading fees within its platform. This means that users can save up to 10% in fees that would have been charged by some of the existing players. LVL users have exposure to three crypto assets, which are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, with trading limits capped at $300,000 per day.
As for the on-ramping process, LVL allows users to invest their paychecks via direct deposit to secure positions in one of the featured cryptocurrencies. They have also partnered with MasterCard to facilitate direct BTC spending in merchant outlets across North America. Users can opt for a standard debit card or a metal one that features three months of LVL’s premium products.
Notably, the LVL digital wallets are multi-sig by design, while the FDIC insures their fiat accounts to protect consumers with the blessings of the powers that be. LVL CEO, Chris Slaughter, emphasized the importance of these fundamentals as a cutting edge,
“We are a super scrappy business contender by nature … Like, we only have seven people, but we have the first Mastercard approval in North America. We’re registered with FinCEN. And not only do we have bank accounts, but they are also full checking accounts.”
LVL’s Income Model
Like any going concern, LVL plans to remain sustainable by making some revenue in other areas. The platform charges a withdrawal fee of 3% compared to a 1-5% range by the dominant exchanges in the U.S. Same-day bank transfers incur a 5% fee, although this is a plus given that regular transactions can take up to 5 days.
LVL also runs a premium service at $9 per month; this subscription features utilities such as top-tier private banking service for BTC, automated trading strategies, and a reduction of 33% of the network fees during withdrawals. Slaughter is optimistic that the platform will surpass Coinbase’s liquidity within January 2021.
“Based on our current number of pro users, and the way we expect liquidity to grow following this announcement, we expect to pass Coinbase’s liquidity within the 2% band in January.”