Pacifica vs Bitget

Pacifica or Bitget: which to use

Pacifica vs Bitget is a decentralized exchange against a centralized one. On Pacifica you trade from a self-custody wallet on Solana without ID, at 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, up to 50x. Bitget requires KYC, holds your funds in an account, and charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, with up to 150x. Bitget lists 862 perps against Pacifica's 77. Custody, ID and the market list decide it for most traders.

How each exchange is built

Pacifica is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana. You trade from a self-custody wallet, so your funds stay with you rather than with the company. It matches orders on a central limit order book.

Bitget is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. It also matches orders on a central limit order book.

Both match orders on a central limit order book. The difference is custody. On Pacifica a wallet signs your trades. On Bitget you log in to an account.

Fees and what they mean

Pacifica's base tier is 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Pacifica's fee page. Bitget's base tier is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per Bitget's fee page. A basis point (bp) is 0.01% of the position.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 8 bp per round trip on Pacifica, 12 bp on Bitget. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 1.5 bp on Pacifica and 2 bp on Bitget.

The fee is only part of a trade's cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size and depends on each book's depth. The cost table above adds the taker fee twice and the measured slippage at each size from $1k to $5M. Every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 Pacifica lists 77 active perps, 24 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Bitget lists 862, 345 of them real-world assets. If you want a long tail of markets or many stock and commodity perps on one exchange, the count matters.

Pacifica allows up to 50x and Bitget up to 150x on their highest-leverage markets. Most markets allow less on both, so check the market you plan to trade.

Pacifica pays funding every hour on every market. Bitget pays every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market. An hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times. A position held for a few hours sees more payments on an hourly market. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Pacifica asks for no ID. It blocks the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines and sanctioned countries.

Bitget requires KYC. It has been mandatory since September 2023, and unverified accounts can only withdraw and close positions.

Vaults, tokens and points

Pacifica runs no vault that arb.sh tracks, and it has no token yet. Its points and airdrop program status was "Active" as of 19 September 2026. Running points programs and token launches are listed on one page. Bitget's token is $BGB.

Reading the numbers on this page

Pacifica publishes open interest as longs plus shorts, both sides of every position. Bitget publishes one side of open positions. For the same positions Pacifica's figure reads about twice as large, so the open interest row and chart above are not a like-for-like comparison of size. The volume chart carries no such difference.

Bitget publishes no TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange. The TVL row and chart therefore show Pacifica alone, as DefiLlama's figure for the exchange. When you compare Pacifica vs Bitget on size, use volume rather than open interest or TVL.

Which one fits you

• Pick Pacifica if you want to keep funds in your own wallet and trade without ID.
• Pick Pacifica if you trade with market orders: 4 bp taker against 6 bp.
• Pick Pacifica if you want every market on an hourly funding schedule.
• Pick Pacifica if you follow points programs, since its status was "Active" as of 19 September 2026.
• Pick Bitget if you prefer an exchange account and accept KYC.
• Pick Bitget if you need more than 50x, up to 150x on its highest-leverage markets.
• Pick Bitget if you want a wider choice of markets, 862 against 77 as of 1 October 2026, including 345 real-world asset perps.