Bitfinex API setup: required permissions and connection checks

Bitfinex lending needs balance and history reads as well as funding operations. Enabling only Margin Funding may leave connection checks or interest records unavailable.

Create a dedicated key

Open Bitfinex API management and create a key named for its purpose. Avoid sharing a key with another trading application, so revoking it has a clear scope.

Permission	Read	Write
Account Info	OFF	OFF
Account History	ON	—
Orders	OFF	OFF
Margin Trading	OFF	OFF
Margin Funding	ON	ON
Wallets	ON	OFF
Withdrawals	—	OFF
Settings	OFF	OFF

Wallets read supports balance checks; Account History supports records. Funding permissions allow relevant offers and funding operations, not unrestricted recall of active loans.

Save, test and enable

Complete the exchange’s verification and store the Key and Secret securely. Save them in account settings, test the connection, then enable the key. Select a currency and strategy in My Lending and start explicitly.

Saving the first key starts an eligible account’s 14-day trial, without waiting for a successful test. Connected, enabled and running are separate states.

IP restrictions and failures

Use the service’s confirmed current outbound IP when configuring a whitelist, not your home IP or an address copied from an old screenshot. If it is unavailable, confirm with support instead of guessing.

For a failed test, check complete credentials, read permissions, IP restrictions and exchange status. Do not enable every permission to troubleshoot. Support needs the error, time and exchange, not the Secret.

FAQ

What if the key leaks?

Revoke it at Bitfinex, inspect account and funding activity, then create and test a replacement. Even without withdrawal access, a key can expose records or disrupt offers.