Note: Following the termination of its operations in the U.S. on April 30, 2023, the Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 8, 2023. Despite the bankruptcy filing, the company maintains that it retains possession of customer assets that were not withdrawn by the specified deadline. Bittrex is optimistic about its potential to eventually return these remaining assets to their rightful owners. It’s important to note that Bittrex Global, based in Liechtenstein, remains unaffected by the bankruptcy circumstances.
Bittrex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Liechtenstein, Europe, that serves as a place to convert one cryptocurrency into other at a particular market rate. In this Bittrex review, we will explore the pros and cons of this cryptocurrency exchange in detail.
Disclosure: No content in this article should be taken as financial advice. Investing can be risky, so it is recommended that you consult with your accounting, legal, and tax advisors before engaging in any kind of transaction.
Introduction to Bittrex
Bittrex is one of the crypto trading exchanges that allow users to exchange many crypto coins listed. More and more people are getting becoming interested in crypto trading over time. Every day investors have been able to garner massive profits, which has generated a lot of exposure for cryptocurrencies as a whole. This huge interest and the rise of cryptocurrencies resulted in the creation of various platforms where these digital currencies or assets are traded. It has a considerable number of competitors in Europe and across the world.
But it wasn’t always this way. The closing of Bittrex Exchange resulted in the launch of Bittrex Global. The re-branded exchange launched on September 27, 2019. Various assets got delisted on Bittrex Global during the transition period. Everything happened on short notice, which caused transparency issues. The exchange was founded by ex-Microsoft employees, including Bill Shihara, Rami Kawach, and Richie Lai.
However, this new exchange has managed to garner fans from across the globe. Every exchange has its unique strengths and weaknesses that play a crucial role in attracting traders. By the end of this Bittrex review, you will know whether this exchange is worthwhile to entrust the security of your valuable funds.
How to Create an Account on Bittrex
It is a straightforward process to create an account on Bittrex and start trading the cryptocurrencies offered on the platform, including Ethereum. There are two types of accounts offered by Bittrex, including personal accounts and corporate accounts. Creating a personal account means you will trade as an individual, while a corporate account is for those who want to trade on behalf of their businesses. Most reading this review will fall under the Personal account option.
After selecting the account type, you are required to enter your email address and set a password of your choice. Your password must contain an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number, and a special character for the utmost security of your account. After entering these details, you will receive a verification email.
After verifying your email, you will move on to the next step of setting up your profile. You will be required to enter details related to your country of residence, street address, apartment or unit number, city, state or province, postal/zip code, date of birth, and country of nationality.
After this step, you will move on to identity verification, where you will be asked to upload your photograph with something written on paper. You will also be asked to upload your driver’s license, national ID card, or Passport as proof of address. Bittrex will review your documents and send you an email to confirm your identity and address verification. After that, you will deposit funds into your account and start trading the cryptos that you want!
Bittrex – Instant Buy and Sell Feature
After creating your account, you can instantly buy or sell the cryptocurrencies of your choice by using the Instant Buy and Sell option available on Bittrex. It is the easiest and most convenient method of buying or selling cryptocurrencies instantly on this exchange. Beginners can quickly take advantage of buying and selling coins without worrying about limit orders.
Bittrex Market
After creating your account, you can click on the Market where many crypto coins are listed. The coins are typically listed on the Market based on their market capitalization. For example, Bitcoin has a market cap of close to 1 trillion USD, so it is usually listed on top. Ethereum comes in second place on almost every cryptocurrency exchange. Listing cryptocurrencies based on market capitalization helps traders know which crypto is performing well on the market. Apart from it, you get a search option where you can quickly type the name of the cryptocurrency to view its chart and trading options.
The users get various trading options on this market in the form of different pairs. They can also trade Tokenized stocks based on their fundamental and technical analysis. The following picture showcases some of the best-Tokenized Stock options available on Bittrex.
Bittrex Discover Feature
It is important for every trader to stay up-to-date with what happens in the crypto market at the global and local levels. The Discover feature of this exchange keeps the users updated with the latest news and information about their favorite coins and projects. The crypto market usually makes great moves when news arrives. So, all crypto traders should use news trading properly to make quick profits.
What Fees Does Bittrex Charge?
Traders enjoy competitive trading fees while trading on Bittrex. The trading fees on this exchange depend on the 30-day trading volume of a customer’s account. The following picture contains the details of the trading fees based on the 30-day trading volume. The fee mechanism offered by Bittrex follows the criteria of more savings with more trades. The trading fee is incurred by the exchange when an order gets filled on the exchange’s matching index. It charges both buyers and sellers a fee based on the price of the executed order. Different currency pairs carry different trading fees.
Bittrex calculates the 30-day trading volume of each account on a daily basis. The trading fee schedule and volume calculation are updated by the platform each day. The users can check their volume calculation and trading fee schedule by logging into their accounts and checking their Account Activity.
There is a difference between maker and taker orders. Maker orders are not filled immediately. They create liquidity on the market and are executed or filled when a similar order is placed in the future. It can either be a sell or a buy order. On the other hand, taker orders are executed immediately and take volume off the order book. It can either be a sell or a buy order.
Transaction Fees
If a user moves tokens on the blockchain from or to the Bittrex account, then some charges may apply in the form of blockchain network fees. However, the exchange does not charge fees on deposits. In some cases, a coin or network charges a transaction fee that cannot be avoided by the exchange before crediting it to your account. Bittrex charges a small withdrawal fee when a user withdraws a coin or token. Each token has its own withdrawal fee that can be seen by clicking the withdrawal option on the withdrawal window.
Bittrex Mobile App
It is hard for every trader to stay stuck to his/her laptop or computer to watch the market. Bittrex has come up with an excellent solution for traders in this regard in the form of the Bittrex mobile app. This app allows users to get the security, trading, and capabilities of one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world. This app can easily be downloaded from Google Play and App Store.
Which Countries Does Bittrex Support?
Bittrex is one of the most popular exchanges in the world, as it supports users from almost every country. It is an open platform for billions of people across the globe. The user verification process varies from country to country. When choosing an exchange, Bittrex is undoubtedly one to keep in mind.
Bittrex Customer Support
This exchange is keen to support its customers as efficiently as possible. Upon navigating to the support section of the exchange, you will see various tutorial articles intended to help solve your basic issues. You can also upload a support ticket regarding your case to get instant support from the support agents. By using the search option, you can find articles about the issue of your concern. We think the customer support of this exchange is above average. However, Bittrex is known to be extremely poor in dealing with issues such as blocked and suspended accounts. Communities on Reddit have even sprung up, where users vent their frustrations about having their accounts suspended with little help from the Bittrex team.
Bittrex Security
The security of the users’ funds is the first and foremost priority of the exchange. It utilizes the most reliable and effective security technologies in this regard. The exchange uses a multi-stage elastic holding strategy to keep the majority of the funds in cold storage to attain additional security. Every user can take advantage of two-factor authentication, 2FA, to get an extra layer of protection. It also provides a host of additional security tools to provide multi-layer protection to the users.
Bittrex EU and US Compliance
One of the major commitments of Bittrex is its compliance with the EU and Liechtenstein regulatory standards to prevent illicit activities performed by customers and crypto developers. The current compliance metrics adopted by the exchange prevent, detect, and remediate unlawful activities and behavior of anyone linked to the platform.
The location of the company is another critical factor that makes it an excellent option to choose. In Liechtenstein, a regulatory framework has been considered for the development and advancement of blockchain technologies. This exchange is working closely with the token teams to play a crucial role in developing blockchain at the global level. Bittrex Global does not accept US customers at the moment due to some regulatory issues and sanctions.
Pros and Cons of Bittrex
Like any other exchange in the world, Bittrex has some interesting advantages and a few drawbacks. The company is committed to taking feedback from its customers to improve its web and mobile trading platforms. In this section of the Bittrex review, we will explore the pros and cons of this leading exchange.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extensive selection of over 450 crypto trading pairs | Lengthy verification process |
| Open to customers from most parts of the world | No longer available for U.S. customers |
| Excellent customer support with instant responses | Limited fiat trading options |
| Utilization of social media channels (Facebook and Twitter) for customer queries | Certain countries are not included in the platform |
| Up-to-date security measures and commitment to customer fund protection | Insufficient crypto awareness on social media channels |
| Low minimum trade limits compared to other exchanges |
Pros
In terms of pros, it provides a handy option for trading a vast number of crypto pairs. In fact, you can trade over 450 crypto trading pairs on this platform. It is a global exchange that takes customers from almost every part of the world. The customer support provided by this exchange is phenomenal. The users get instant responses from the support team when they encounter an issue. The company has opened up Facebook and Twitter help desks to ask any question and get proficient feedback. The security measures implemented by the exchange are up-to-date. It provides multi-layer theft protection and security to the users. The company is committed to keeping the funds of the customers as secure as possible.
Last but not least, the customers can enjoy the minimum trade limits offered by the exchange. The minimum trade limits here are way below compared to the other exchanges. For example, a customer can easily trade 0.0005 BTC here as a minimum trade limit threshold.
Cons
In terms of cons, Bittrex currently has a lengthy verification process. Customers usually want to get things quickly to start managing their funds. Moreover, the exchange needs to add more fiat options to the market as it is a popular trading option. Bittrex does not offer many fiat trading options at the moment. Similarly, the exchange should work on extending the platform wider to make a potentially global platform by making efforts to add those countries that are missing at the moment. It should also work on creating more crypto awareness on social media channels.
Conclusion
Bittrex is one of the leading crypto exchanges at the global level. The company accepts customers from almost every country in the world. The principal commitments of the company are to provide excellent security and diverse trading pairs to the customers. The trading fees charged by Bittrex are competitive in the current crypto industry. In terms of technology, it is one of the technologically advanced trading platforms available at the moment. The main strengths of the exchange are its beginner-friendly features, responsive customer support, resilient security, competitive trading fees, a wide range of crypto pairs, and excellent user interface. It encourages the users to trade more to save more. The fee schedule and plan of this exchange push the users to improve the trading volume of their account. Moreover, Bittrex is playing a crucial role in developing blockchain globally by working closely with development teams worldwide. If you enjoyed this Bittrex review, please share it with a friend!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bittrex legal in USA?
Bittrex is no longer operating in the U.S.
Can I trust Bittrex?
Many customers throughout the world trust Bittrex. Bittrex is available in most parts of the world.
Is Bittrex Shutting Down?
Bittrex shut down in 2019. The closing of Bittrex Exchange resulted in the launch of Bittrex Global. The re-branded exchange launched on September 27, 2019.