Pros & Cons
- Nearly 200 crypto currencies available to trade
- One of the best customer service networks for a crypto exchange platform
- Verification procedure is simple and quick
- Low fees with no hidden costs
- One of the most secure and robust exchange platforms
- Not a single reported cyber attack
- Fiat currencies not supported
- Cannot even make deposits using fiat currencies
Our Expert Rating
Average User Rating
Features
- Secure crypto exchange platform
- Exchange engine is custom tailored
- Quick transactions – both deposits and withdrawals
- Extensive and helpful customer service round the clock
- Good Accessibility to a large number of altcoins
- Straightforward fees with no strings attached
Exchange Info
- Country Where Bittrex is Based
- Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Established
- 2014
- Available Currencies
- 190+ altcoins supported
- Fees
- Average to Low (0.25%)
- Deposit Methods
- Withdrawal Methods
Bittrex Crypto Exchange – An Overview
Bittrex is an online cryptocurrency exchange service. If you are not familiar with what a cryptocurrency exchange is, then you can compare it directly to a normal currency exchange where one could, for instance, trade Indian Rupees for American Dollars. Likewise, a cryptocurrency exchange is where one can sell and buy crypto currencies (such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, etc.)
Some cryptocurrency exchanges allow for trading between crypto currencies and traditional fiat currencies while some only support buying and selling of crypto coins for other crypto coins. Bittrex happens to be the latter kind. Therefore, you cannot use Dollars or any other traditional currencies to buy crypto currencies such as Bitcoins at Bittrex. However, when it comes to trading one type of cryptocurrency for another, you are going to be hard pressed to find a cryptocurrency exchange that is better than Bittrex. While most cryptocurrency exchange platforms only support a handful altcoins, at Bittrex you get to get to roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty with nearly 200 different types of crypto coins, and you can rest assured that the list just keeps growing. With respect to trading volume, Bittrex happens to be among one of the top three crypto exchanges in the world. The exchange was established and opened its virtual doors for business in the year 2014 and is said to handle 24-hour trading volumes which reach almost close to $300 million.
Apart from the extensive range of cryptocurrencies available, Bittrex is also known for being inviolable in terms of cyber security. They claim to be highly secure and they have data to back that up, Bittrex, till date, remains one of the very few crypto currency exchanges that has not become victim to a cyber attack or hack.
As per their mission statement, the exchange strives not only to live up to their title of ‘next generation crypto currency trading platform’, but also to provide exchange service which is lighting fast and highly secure at all times.
Why Bittrex is in the CoinTrust Trust list
Being that this exchange platform has been operational since 2014, Bittrex is no stranger to reviews from users the world over. Objectively, given the sheer number of users that are registered and use Bittrex, the number of negative reviews are very limited and are usually highly circumstantial. Furthermore, as already mentioned, in the three or so years that they have been operational, despite being one of the biggest exchange platforms anywhere on the internet, Bittrex has never been the victim of a cyber-attack. By no means does that mean that it has not been subjected to attacks, on the contrary, what it does mean is that it has been targeted plenty of times, but it has been able to hold fend off such attacks thanks to how robust and secure the platform is. It uses the latest in encryption technology and internet protocol.
The reason I have no second thoughts or hesitation when it comes to listing Bittrex as a trust worthy currency exchange is not only from personal experience and the experienced shared by hundreds of thousands of users, both Americans and from the rest of the world, but also due to the fool proof account verification system that they have setup at Bittrex.
Most new users tent to get a bit impatient and annoyed by crypto exchange platforms because most crypto exchange platforms impose restrictions on how much money you can withdraw up until your account is deemed verified, and the process to have your account verified can be a bit winding, complicated and time consuming. Don’t get me wrong, Bittrex has an account verification procedure too, and they too impose certain limitations in terms of what transactions you can make prior to having your account verified, however, the difference lies in the fact that at Bittrex, the procedure to have your account verified is simple, but does not compromise in anyway.
Bittrex, is completely compliant with all of the American regulations with respect to crypto currency exchanges. Not only does Bittrex abide by the anti money laundering program, but it also heeds to the requirements as put out by the KYC (know your customer) program as well. While this does mean that some of the anonymity and privacy that is offered by a lot many of the altcoins are compromised, Bittrex still makes sure to gather and hold no more information from you or any of their users unless they are absolutely required to do so by law.
Essentially, the account verification hierarchy at Bittrex is two – tier. Firstly, there is the basic level of verification, and then there is also the enhanced level of verification. The good news is that either way, the process of having your account verified is much simpler and also more timely, it can take anywhere between a couple of hours to one day to have your account verified, while most other cryptocurrency exchanges can sometimes takes weeks just to verify your account and lift restrictions on how much money you can trade on the exchange.
If you want to get the basic verification done, you are only required to disclose some details which include –full name, date of birth and address which should be backed by some form of address proof document. If you have basic verification complete on your account, you will be limited to maximum of $3000 worth of altcoins transaction per day, no more.
If the $3000 limit just does not cut it, you can go for the enhanced verification where you will be required to provide an identification document and a selfie along with your cell phone number. Once your account has successfully completed the enhanced verification process and passed by Jumio standards, you can trade up to as much as 100 Bitcoins per day in value.
How does Bittrex work?
Most of Bittrex’s currency is held in what is known as cold storage. Only just over a quarter of its total funds at any point in time is actually being held in users’ cryptocurrency wallets. While this may mean that you cannot make big spontaneous and immediate trade deals right away for big transactions, it is actually a good thing from a security point of view since there is lesser money in hot wallets than what cyber criminals will even want to target and acquire.
At the time of writing, the Bittrex supports over a staggering 250 different types of altcoins. There are some exchanges on the World Wide Web that out do Bittrex in terms of number of cryptocurrencies supported, but you must bear in mind that none of these sites are US regulated. A quintessential example of such a site would be -Cryptopia.
For a dynamic crypto currency exchange, it is not only the number of altcoins that matter, but also the various number of altcoin pairs. Another thing to be mindful of when it comes to trading on Bittrex is that unlike some of their competitors (Poloneix for example), Bittrex does not offer any margin on eithertrading or lending.
One of the drawbacks with Bittrex is that you cannot use fiat currencies at all. Will this change in times to come? It seems likely and almost inevitable.
Coming to how Bittrex makes money, apart from the revenue generated from advertisements that they host on their website, Bittrex charges a flat fee of 0.25% as commission on all transactions irrespective of the amount of the transaction itself. This is very simple to understand and calculate too. All you need to do is figure out the transaction amount and you can calculate 0.25% of that amount, and this will be the fee that Bittrex charges. While variable fee rates have their own advantages, it can get confusing for users as to how much fees they will have to pay on a specific transaction.
Customer service at Bittrex
First things first, one of the most useful and convenient features of the Bittrex website is its frequent asked questions section. The FAQ section is extensive and covers a whole range of topics and sub topics, it has nearly everything you need to know about the exchange and crypto currency trading in general. Considering how easy to navigate it is and how you can find answers to most questions in a matter of seconds, we highly recommend that you first check that FAQ section of the website in case you happen to have some questions, concerns and queries rather that reach out to customer service right away.
Bittrex is also active on Twitter and they make sure to inform their customers about every server upgrade and any other change that users will appreciate being informed about beforehand, as Bittrex does.
Because of the high traffic and the fact that Bittrex is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, if not millions, getting through to customer service may take a few minutes of time. However, the customer service professionals at Bittrex are polite, well trained and most importantly, very useful and effective. However, the wait time might leave you wishing that Bittrex invest a bit more in hiring and training more staff members especially for the customer service network.
Deposits, Withdrawals and Transfer Limits
Be it deposits or withdrawals, you cannot use Fiat currencies at Bittrex. This unfortunately means that you will need to have some cryptocurrency to start with if you want to trade over Bittrex at all. They do not even accept cryptocurrencies for deposits.
The transfer limit at Bittrex depends on the verification level of the account in questions. A basic verification complete account will be able to take as much as $3000 in a day and an account which has undergone and passed enhanced verification will be able to trade for as much as a maximum of 100 BTC in one day.
Closing thoughts
There is good reason why Bittrex enjoys the kind of recognition and popularity amongst crypto currency traders and investors. Bittrex does what it is supposed to do, and it does it in an efficient way at that. It gives users plenty of options with over 250+ currencies and also provides them with the best in cybersecurity to ensure that their identity and their accounts remain un hacked.
However, what appeals, reassures and draws most users in to Bittrex is the fact that it is a completed US regulated and completely legal web service which even abides by the laws of the American governing bodies.
For an American citizen especially, Bittrex is a no brainer whatsoever. It is a simplistic yet beautiful website which can work wonders for its users.
AuthorDavid Nugent
David is a forex trader and writer who has spent the last few years giving his opinion and spreading news about oncoming markets and trading tips. Besides from being a trader he is also a lifelong Everton fan and enjoys spending free time watching his beloved team in the premier league.
