From Retail Start to Institutional Pivot
Bequant launched in 2018 as a full-featured crypto exchange with spot, margin, and futures trading. For several years, it worked like any other retail platform. In 2022, the retail arm was shut down, and operations shifted to an institutional model under Bequant Prime. Since then, no public trading data has been available.
Early Days and Retail Features
Back then, the exchange ran under a Maltese license and offered low fees, fiat support, and competitive markets. Maker fees were 0.01 percent, taker 0.10 percent, and withdrawals followed network rates. These conditions disappeared once the pivot to institutional brokerage began.
Institutional Focus Today
Bequant Prime now serves only funds and professional investors. It provides low-latency trading APIs, custody, and access to OTC and DeFi markets. For retail users, there is no registration or trading. Public aggregators list it as untracked because no data is shared.
Trust and Regulatory Background
The institutional branch maintains a Maltese license and claims ISO 27001 compliance. However, the former retail entity was fined in 2023 for AML lapses tied to 2021 operations. Combined with user complaints about frozen accounts and delayed withdrawals, trust has eroded over time.
Strengths for Institutions
Despite its exit from retail, the platform still offers benefits for its new audience:
- Professional-grade infrastructure with API trading
- Liquidity routing across multiple sources
- Compliance under a European regulatory framework
- Integration with OTC desks and DeFi protocols
- Institutional-level client support
Why Retail Users Should Avoid It
For individual traders, the platform holds no value:
- No public access or registration
- Zero transparency on trading volume or reserves
- Regulatory fines and unresolved complaints in its history
- No open communication or data for retail users
Status in 2025
By mid-2025, Bequant functions only for institutional clients. There is no public order book, no visible trading pairs, and no market data. Retail presence is gone, and the exchange no longer communicates with the wider crypto community.
Lessons for Traders
The Bequant case shows how quickly an exchange can abandon its retail base:
- Retail users are no longer welcome
- Lack of transparency makes reliability hard to gauge
- Past compliance issues continue to raise doubts
- Safer choices are platforms that share data and prove withdrawals
Final Thoughts
Bequant was once a competitive retail exchange, but that era is over. It now caters only to large clients and hides its trading activity. For individual traders, there is no reason to use it. Seek platforms with open metrics, active markets, and transparent reserves instead.