Bittrex | The most trusted cryptocurrency exchange
Based in Seattle, USA, Bittrex is one of the Internet’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and often makes its way into the world’s top 3 exchanges based on trading volume. Bittrex has been in operation since 2014 and currently experiences 24 hour trading volumes of just under $300M.
The site has a good reputation and up until this point, has been free of any reported hacks. Bittrex sees itself as a next generation cryptocurrency trading platform and aims to deliver the fastest and most secure trading service available.
Who founded Bittrex?
Bittrex was started by Co-Founder and CEO Bill Shihara, who drew on his experience as a security engineer at Amazon and Blackberry when creating the exchange. Shihara was motivated by security breaches and reliability issues experienced by exchanges and users and wanted to provide a much more reliable service. Bittrex comprises a stellar team that combine over 50 years of security and development experience from companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Qualys, and BlackBerry.
How Does Bittrex Stand Out?
In its short life, Bittrex has looked to implement a number of features and practices to help it get ahead of its competitors. These include:
A Secure platform– The team behind Bittrex pride themselves on providing a secure platform and employ the most reliable security technologies available. These include utilizing an elastic multi-stage wallet strategy that ensures 80-90% of funds are stored offline and kept safe. In addition, two-factor authentication is required for all withdrawals and API usage.
A Custom built trading engine– The Bittrex platform was designed to be scalable using elastic computing and as a result, it is able to process and execute orders as soon as they are placed. This does away with crossed order books or any delays in the processing of trades.
Fast deposits and withdrawals– The system is set up to allow for the quick processing of transactions via an automated monitoring platform. This allows for faster transactions and also allows for quick updates on balances, trades, and wallet information. On Bittrex, key information is always kept up to date.
Customer Support– As one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, the sites is often faced with a large number of support tickets. This can place a strain on resources; however, Bittrex generally handles communication well and runs a dedicated support page in addition to being very active on social media.
Accessibility– Bittrex provides quick access to vast number of cryptocurrencies in addition to a high trading volume. The site lists hundreds of cryptocurrencies and customers can easily trade the equivalent of 1 BTC a day with an unverified account. Up to 2 BTC a day can be traded with a basic account, provided two-factor authentication is enabled.
Transparent Fees– Bittrex trading fees stand at 0.25% on all trades and this allows customers to easily calculate the fees accrued on any trade.
What Can You Trade on Bittrex?
One of the site’s major strengths is the depth of the variety of its listings. Bittrex currently lists hundreds of coins and also offers users hundreds of cryptocurrency trading pairs, with the site showing over 450 BTC pairs. Bittrex offers good options for trading via Bitcoin and Ethereum, however, it does not currently offer fiat trading pairs (trading via USD, EUR, GBP).
Users can though purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, or USDT via bank wire transfer. For this to take place an “enhanced verified” account is necessary along with a purchase amount worth a minimum of $10,000.
Additionally the site does provide 11 USDT trading pairs.
USDT is a cryptocurrency asset issued on the Bitcoin blockchain and each USDT unit is backed by a U.S Dollar held in the reserves of the Tether Limited. USDT is linked or “tethered” to the price of the US Dollar and acts as a stable digital currency that gives traders additional options. USDT as a “tether” and can be transferred, spent, and stored in the same way as other cryptocurrencies. In order to trade USDT for fiat currency users can purchase and redeem tethers directly on the Tether Platform.
Withdrawal Limits and Account Verification
The Bittrex team have stated their commitment to following all laws and regulations required by U.S. governmental bodies, and accounts must be verified in order to make withdrawals. Bittrex upholds this requirement as part of its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) program. Basic account verification allows customers to withdraw up to the equivalent of 3 BTC per day.
Currently, there are two types of accounts.
Basic accounts which require users to submit their name, address, and date of birth. These details are verified through public records, however if this process fails customers will need to proceed to an enhanced verification. With two-factor authentification enabled, basic accounts can withdraw up to 3 BTC worth of digital currency equivalents per day.
Enhanced accounts require users to submit scans of their identification along with “selfies”. These are verified by the Jumio service provider, which utilizes a number of heuristics to determine that the id is legitimate and that the faces match. Enhanced accounts can withdraw up to 100 BTC per day if they have two-factor authentification enabled.
How to Get Started on Bittrex
Visit Bittrex.com and click “LOGIN” and then Sign Up with your email address and password.
Verify your email address, by clicking the link in the email sent by Bittrex; this will enable you to log in.
Deposit some cryptocurrency. At the top of the page when you first log in, you will see a list of all of Bittrex’s markets. Click on the “Wallets” page to deposit the cryptocurrency you prefer.
Use the search bar to find the cryptocurrency you wish to deposit, you can then click on the plus icon. A deposit box will pop up, which will allow you to generate a deposit address. When you can see the address you are ready to make a deposit, it’s best to start with a small amount and if everything is in working order move on to larger quantities. You can make your deposit by sending over funds from a cryptocurrency wallet you already have.
Wait for Verification by the Blockchain After your transaction receives a number of blockchain confirmations you will receive your deposit and be ready to trade.
Find Pair You Want to Trade When your deposit is ready for trading, find your desired trading pair on the markets page.
Place Your Order
For a basic trade, the most important section to focus on is the Order Book. Here you can view all buy /bid and sell/ask orders that have already been placed by other users.
Choose the price and number of units you prefer. Any order that is significantly below ask prices may not be fulfilled. Placing a limit buy order, commits you to purchasing the cryptocurrency you entered, for the quantity you entered, at or below the price you entered.
Before placing your order you will be asked to confirm it. At this point there is still the option to cancel orders.
Complete the Order and Withdraw Your Funds
When your order has been fulfilled, your new cryptocurrency purchase will be shown as available in your Bittrex wallet. Clicking on the minus icon will allow you to withdraw your purchase.
You can now transfers your funds to the wallet of your choosing, simply enter the amount you want to withdraw and the address where you would like to send your withdrawal.
How to trade in US Dollars
Bittrex now supports US Dollar (USD) trading, deposits, and withdrawals for eligible personal and corporate accounts. Both sets of account holders who complete the identity verification process and operate outside the United States or within one the following US states/territories are eligible to participate:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington State, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, West Virginia.
Individuals living inside the United States in a state that is not listed such as Hawaii are currently ineligible for US Dollar trading and are directed to participate in crypto markets such as USDT (Tether), BTC (Bitcoin), and ETH (Ethereum).
Accounts created before September 4, 2018 by users listed as residing in an eligible location should already be enabled for USD trading. For any accounts created after September 4, for any existing corporate accounts, or for anyone who wants to add a bank account to enable USD deposits and withdrawals, it’s necessary to submit a Fiat (USD) Trading Request.
Personal or already approved corporate accounts holders can click here Fiat (USD) Trading Request to get going, while new corporate customers can upgrade their account.
Personal Accounts
Your account must first be identity verified with a form of government ID and a personal selfie uploaded.
You must be able to prove that you are living or operating in an eligible location and your government ID, address, and form answers must align and prove your location or prove that your trading takes place in an eligible location.
It’s possible to attach a copy of a lease showing your name and an eligible address and a copy of new state ID. If your original government ID submitted to Bittrex was a US passport, you are required to attach a copy of your equivalent state level ID.
Bittrex Fees
Bittrex operates a simple fee structure and all trades are charged a .25% fee, however, any portion of an order that has not been executed will be fully refunded upon the cancellation of the order.
There are no deposit fees; although, some coins require the exchange to move your funds to another address before crediting you with them. This can result in the coin’s network charging you the normal transaction fee for the transfer.
Withdrawals also incur a small fee as each coin has a network transfer fee attached to moving the coin between addresses. Bittrex charges a small amount to cover this fee.
Bittrex also doesn’t charge fees for fiat (USD) deposits and withdrawals. In this case, your bank may still charge you a fee to send your wire transfer and to receive a wire transfer at your bank. There is also the possibility that international customers may bank with a company that uses an intermediary bank and this may result in additional fees and charges.
Bittrex International
In November 2018, the exchange announced the launch of Bittrex International, a digital asset trading platform aimed specifically at international customers. The launch coincided with the push towards greater transparency in the industry and Bittrex International operates within the regulatory guidelines set out by the European Union and the Maltese Government.
These include the Malta Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Act, and users of the platform are expected to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) reviews. In order to streamline their service, all eligible international customers are being automatically redirected to the International.Bittrex.com site, and existing customers can sign in using their current Bittrex.com username and password.
After agreeing to the Bittrex International Terms of Service and Privacy Policy they will gain access to their accounts.
The new platform retains many of the same features of the original Bittrex exchange and is just as reliable and secure. In addition, it provides international customer with access to tokens not available in U.S. markets, and these have included popular digital assets such as Pundi X (NPXS), and Zilliqa (ZIL).
Customer Support
The team remain active on social media and can be contacted through their Twitter account and Facebook page. There is also a section dedicated to their international platform in their support page. Users of the Bittrex.com exchange can also contact the team through their Twitter account and Facebook page, and submit a request, go through the FAQ section, or access various guides and news updates in the support section.
While there is a wealth of resources for traders of various levels available, there is still no live chat feature so users of either platform may have to endure extended response times at peak periods of activity.