How to Trade Cryptocurrency in PDAX?

Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to trade cryptocurrency in PDAX, a cryptocurrency trading platform here in the Philippines.

Trading crypto assets in the Philippines is far easier than before. Because at this moment, there are already local crypto exchanges to directly cash-in and cash out Philippine Peso easily. 

I have tried different crypto wallets and crypto exchanges both on the local and international scale and one of the local crypto exchanges I can really recommend is PDAX. I just love how intuitive its interface is both for the crypto trading beginners and experts. 

In this post, I’ll walk you through the essential steps in order to successfully trade cryptocurrency in PDAX. Starting from the verification process to cashing out your earnings, I got them all covered.

But before anything else, I want to make sure you understand that cryptocurrency trading is a high-risk type of investment. You should therefore not take this as financial advice.

If you want to know more about these newborn currencies, you can read my ultimate guide about bitcoin and cryptocurrency as well as the four major ways on how to trade cryptocurrencies in the Philippines.

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What is PDAX?

PDAX stands for Philippine Digital Asset Exchange. It is a local cryptocurrency trading platform established in 2017, with the aim of bridging the gap between Philippine Peso as a fiat currency and cryptocurrencies as digital assets in an easy and accessible way.

Is PDAX legit?

But of course, before entrusting your hard-earned money, you should be concerned with PDAX’s or any other cryptocurrency trading platform’s legitimacy and legality. This would certainly help you keep that peace of mind knowing your assets are stored safely and securely.

In which case, YES. PDAX is a legitimate and legal crypto trading platform in the Philippines. In fact, it is licensed and regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This just means that it consistently strives to meet the country’s laws, regulations, and standards.

Aside from being a BSP regulated exchange, it also has better liquidity compared to other local exchanges. PDAX matches the local orders with the global market so you could get the best exchange rates possible. 

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PDAX Tutorial: How do you use PDAX?

How to register and verify PDAX account

You can create a PDAX account for free. However, you cannot trade cryptocurrencies on your PDAX account unless you comply with their KYC requirements. Here’s how you can easily register and verify your account:   

1. Go to https://pdax.ph/. Click START TRADING then select REGISTER on the top right corner.

2. Provide your working email and the country you’re currently in.

3. Check your email and confirm your account with the link provided by PDAX. With the same link, set a strong password to complete your PDAX registration.

4. To verify your PDAX account, you can click the UPGRADE ACCOUNT option on your PDAX portfolio dashboard. You can also go to settings and choose UPGRADE ACCOUNT. 

5. Input the details necessary to upgrade your PDAX account. 

6. Present one (1) copy of your primary ID. But in case you have none, you can submit two (2) copies of your secondary IDs instead. 

Accepted IDs for PDAX account verification:

Primary Wallet vs Exchange Wallet

Before we proceed with the next processes, you must be aware that PDAX has two main wallets: the PRIMARY wallet and the EXCHANGE wallet.

The PRIMARY wallet is where you can perform all non-trade transactions such as:

• Cashing in
  
• Cashing out
  
• Sending/receiving of cryptocurrencies to and from external crypto wallets
  

The EXCHANGE wallet, on the other hand, allows you to perform crypto trading transactions. Hence, you can only trade once you transfer your funds from the PRIMARY wallet to your EXCHANGE wallet. 

You can transfer funds between PRIMARY and EXCHANGE wallets infinitely and at no cost. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Login to your PDAX account. On the dashboard, select FUNDS.
   
   
2. Under the MANAGE FUNDS, click TRANSFER FUNDS.
   
   
3. On the left side, select the type of fund you want to transfer (PHP or cryptocurrencies)
   
   
4. Select either PRIMARY or EXCHANGE wallets on transfer from and to, depending on what wallet you want to transfer your funds.
   
   
5. Enter the amount you want to transfer.
   
   

Here’s a quick look at how to transfer funds from your PRIMARY wallet to your EXCHANGE wallet and vice versa.

How to cashin easily in PDAX

Currently, PDAX offers convenient ways to fund your account via online or over-the-counter transactions. To do this, just follow this simple process:

1. Login to your PDAX account.
   
   
2. Select the FUNDS tab on the upper corner of your dashboard.
   
   
3. Under the MANAGE FUNDS, click PAYMENT IN.
   
   
4. You can choose to cashin with PHP or digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, or Litecoin.
   
   
   

At this time of writing, there are four easy ways on how to cashin PESO to your PDAX account easily. Three of which are online cashin methods (Paymaya, credit or debit card, GCash). The other is through over-the-counter bank deposit.

If you want to instantly and conveniently fund your PDAX account, you can choose the online cashin methods. But if you want to save a little on the transaction fees, you can opt for the bank deposit option. Note, however, that this cash-in option will still take 1-3 banking days to verify the transaction.

Here’s how you can easily and instantly fund your PDAX Account online using the following methods. You can also get a PHP 30 rebate for a minimum amount of PHP 1,000 cashin if you use my code “pinayteenvestor”. Just follow the steps below:

1. Choose “PayMaya” as your cashin option.
2. Enter the amount you want to cash-in.
3. Enter my referral code “pinayteenvestor” and get a PHP 30 rebate with a minimum of PHP 1,000 cashin. You can only use this code once.
4. Click NEXT.
5. Check your email to complete your cash-in process.
6. In your email, you’ll be redirected to the payment portal of Paymaya once you click the PAY NOW button.
7. Open your PayMaya app and pay by scanning the QR generated on the payment portal.
8. You will then receive an email notification of the successful cash-in.

1. Choose “Credit or Debit Card” as your cashin option.
2. Enter the amount you want to cash-in.
3. Enter the other necessary details required
4. Enter my referral code “pinayteenvestor” and get a PHP 30 rebate for a minimum of PHP 1,000 cashin. You can only use this code once.
5. Click NEXT.
6. Check your email to complete your cash-in process.
7. In your email, you’ll be redirected to the payment portal of credit/debit card once you click the PAY NOW button.
8. Enter your details as required.
9. Enter the OTP sent to your card’s registered mobile number.
10. You will then receive an email notification of the successful cash-in.
    
    Note: Only applicable in VISA or JCB cards.
    
    

1. Choose “GCash” as your cashin option.
2. Enter the amount you want to cash-in.
3. Enter the other necessary details required
4. Enter my referral code “pinayteenvestor” and get a PHP 30 rebate for a minimum of PHP 1,000 cashin. You can only use this code once.
5. Click NEXT.
6. Check your email to complete your cash-in process.
7. In your email, you’ll be redirected to the GCash payment portal once you click the PAY NOW button.
8. Enter your details as required.
9. Enter the OTP sent to your GCash’s registered mobile number.
10. You will then receive an email notification of the successful cash-in.

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How to start trading bitcoin and other digital assets in PDAX

Now, here’s the fun part. But in order to trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin in PDAX, make sure you’ve already transferred your fund from your PRIMARY wallet to your EXCHANGE wallet.

To start trading, just go to your dashboard and click the TRADE tab. On your trading dashboard, you’ll get to see the following:

1. Instrument Markets – where you can select the crypto trading pair you want to trade. Currently, there are eight available pairs you can trade. Six of which are crypto to Peso pairs while the other two are crypto to crypto pairs:

• • • BTCPHP – Bitcoin to Peso
    • USDTPHP – Tether to Peso
    • ETHPHP -Ethereum to Peso
    • XRPPHP – Ripple to Peso
    • BCHPHP – Bitcoin Cash to Peso
    • LTCPHP – Litecoin to Peso
    • ETHBTC – Ethereum to Bitcoin
    • XRPBTC – Ripple to Bitcoin

2. Depth – Here, you can see the quantity, price, and volume of the trading pair’s open orders. You can use this data to assess where the price is headed. For instance, if there are more buy orders than sell orders, the price will more likely go up as the demand is high. Conversely, you can expect the price to go south if the sell orders strongly overpower the buy orders. 

3. Chart – This is where you can check the current price and price history of the pairs. You can choose to see the price data representation through candles or areas. You can also change the time frame of your chart to better see the price trend in different periods. You can have a bigger picture of the chart by simply dragging its sides.

4. Trade History – If the depth shows you the data of the open or unfilled orders, trade history, as its name suggests, shows the history of the successful or filled orders. In this part, you’ll see the quantity, price, and increment of the recently filled orders.

5. Enter Order – This is where you can set buy or sell orders. There are different ways on how you can set your orders which I’ll show and explain in the next section.

6. Holdings – Where you can see the fiat or digital assets you currently hold. 

7. Orders – The orders tab will let you see the open or unfilled orders you have set. Your buy or sell orders will remain in this tab unless they’re filled with the market orders.

8. Fills – If your buy or sell orders are filled, they will show up in the FILLS tab. Basically, this tab shows the history of all the successful trades you’ve made.

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How to buy bitcoin in PDAX?

Now that you’re accustomed to PDAX’s trading interface, I’ll show you the ways on how to execute trades on PDAX. This, however, is just an example of buying bitcoin in PDAX. You can also do the same with other cryptocurrencies that are currently available in PDAX’s trading platform.


There are actually three ways to set buy or sell orders:

1. Limit 
2. Market
3. FAK (Fill or Kill)
   
   

1. How to place a Limit Order

If you want to set a certain price to buy or sell, you use the limit order.

For example, the current price of BTCPHP at this moment is around PHP 460,196.30411. But I want to buy BTC at a lower value than its current price. 

Say I want to buy BTC at PHP 460,000 instead. In that case, I’ll set the limit price to PHP 460,000 and adjust the quantity depending on what I can afford to buy. Then I’ll click the Place Buy Order. 

Here’s how I executed the limit order:

Setting a limit order does not necessarily mean I can automatically get hold of the bitcoin (BTC) at the price I have set which is PHP 460,000. My order will just be added on top of the other open orders unless the price will go down to PHP 460,000 and hence, my order will be filled.

If you have changed your mind and decided to change or cancel your limit order, you can do so by going to your ORDERS tab and clicking the Amend or Cancel icons under the Actions column.

You can do the same thing when setting a sell order. If you already possess a bitcoin or other cryptocurrency in your PDAX wallet, you can set a higher selling price by setting a limit order.

Overall, you can use the Limit Order if you want to set a bargain price when buying or set a higher price when selling. Your limit orders may take time to be fulfilled but if done right, you can take advantage of this order type to “buy low and sell high”.

2. How to place a Market Order

Now, if you don’t want to wait long enough and you prefer to buy or sell digital assets instantly, you can create a market order instead.

Setting a market order means you buy or sell with the current market price. You’ll just have to place the quantity of the digital asset you want to trade and then click the Place Buy Order.

Overall, you can set a Market Order if you want to buy or sell immediately with the current market’s price.

3. How to place a Fill and Kill (FAK) Order

A FAK order or Fill and Kill order is also referred to as Execute-and-Eliminate order. This type of order enables you to immediately buy or sell at a certain price, filling your order with the current market volume at that certain price level, otherwise, it would be canceled.

Say, for example, I want to sell my 0.01 bitcoin at PHP 450,000, but the currently available bitcoin volume at that price level is only 0.005 BTC (which is half of my desired volume). In which case, half of my order will be filled while the other half is automatically canceled.

Here’s another example. Currently, my account has 0.004 BTC. The current market price of bitcoin is PHP 455,000 but I want to sell it at a higher price of PHP 465,000. Here’s how I set a FAK order:

Now, do you think my order was filled? Obviously not. I am the seller so I should match buyers who want to buy at my desired price level. Unfortunately, buyers only want to buy bitcoin at PHP 455,000 or lower this time. There was no buying volume at the PHP 465,000 price level. So what happened next? Here it is:

My order was automatically canceled because currently, no one wanted to buy bitcoin at PHP 465,000. But perhaps if I set it to PHP 455,000 and the volume at that price level is more than 0.004 BTC, then my order will be filled immediately. However, if the trading volume at the PHP 455,000 price level is only 0.002 BTC, then half of my order will be filled while the other half will be canceled immediately.

The FAK order is something that is unusually executed, but this is the type of order you should consider when you want to protect your account from further losses or you want to take advantage of the crypto’s sudden increase in price.

It’s like saying, “I only want to buy or sell at this price instantly. Give me what you’ve got, otherwise, never mind.”

How to cashout easily in PDAX

Cashing out in PDAX is as easy as how you did cash in transactions. You have to make sure, however, that you already have enough funds available in your PRIMARY wallet.

If you have an existing trade, you might want to close it first, then transfer the fund from your EXCHANGE wallet to your PRIMARY wallet before initiating a cashout.

You can cashout easily from PDAX through these easy-to-follow steps:

1. Login to your PDAX account.
   
2. Select the FUNDS tab on the upper corner of your dashboard.
   
3. Under the MANAGE FUNDS, click PAYMENT OUT.
   
4. Choose your preferred cashout method.
   
   

PDAX as a digital asset exchange in the Philippines

If you’re a first-timer in trading cryptocurrencies, or perhaps in trading as a whole, you might get overwhelmed with the steps I mentioned above, particularly the execution of orders. But know that putting an order is just one essential process in order to trade cryptocurrencies. 

Your profitability still relies on your own trading plan and execution.

You can’t just put a buy or sell order and expect it to grow massively just like that. But at least, if you’re executing your crypto trading plans in a local digital asset exchange, PDAX, to be exact, you don’t have to worry much about the stresses of doing external transactions like cashing in and out of your funds in Peso.

More than that, you can trade cryptocurrencies with a peace of mind knowing that your digital asset is stored safely and securely in this crypto exchange platform. 


Have you tried trading in PDAX? How was your experience? I would love to hear that in the comment section below!