Bittrex

Bittrex is another veteran exchange oriented-towards more experienced traders. Based in Seattle, U.S., and Lichtenstein (Bittrex Global), it enables direct purchases of cryptocurrencies using US dollars as well as trades between more than 220 cryptocurrencies via their powerful trading engine with a sleek interface. 

Screenshots

Bittrex also has a set of its own APIs, which can be used for automated trading with bots. Having been launched by former employees of Microsoft and Amazon, another one of its biggest draws is its robust security (it has never been hacked). Other perks of using Bittrex exchange include high liquidity, worldwide availability (including traders from the United States), useful mobile apps, and low trading fees.

Bittrex Review: Key Features

Bittrex is one of the biggest exchanges in the world when measured by trade volume. Its set of APIs allows quick and easy trading. At the same time, its automated monitoring system provides fast deposits and withdrawals, making it an ideal exchange for those looking to trade efficiently at scale. It’s founding by engineers with a background in cybersecurity makes it one of the safer exchanges currently in operation.

Other notable features of the Bittrex exchange include:

• Over 220 cryptocurrencies. Trade bitcoin, litecoin, XRP, and other top and lesser-known coins for big-time gains.
• Robust, security, and trustworthy platform. Bittrex was established by former security engineers and has never been hacked before. Besides, it complies with key regulations, making it a trustworthy exchange.
• USD and EUR on and off-ramp. Bittrex allows you to deposit and withdraw fiat currencies directly from and to your bank account. If you want to top up your account quickly, you can use it’s credit/debit card deposit feature, which is near-instant and costs only 3% per transaction.
• Smart trading on mobile. Bittrex mobile apps for Android and iOS allows you to trade your favorite crypto markets on the go.
• Helpful customer support team. Bittrex has an extensive knowledge base, which teaches its users all they need to know about trading on its platform. If that doesn’t help, issuing a ticket via Zendesk will.

All in all, Bittrex is a veteran cryptocurrency exchange, best suited for corporate and retail investors looking to gain exposure to the crypto market. Its wide range of crypto assets, high-level security, and relatively low fees is an excellent offer for most crypto enthusiasts.

Bittrex features. Source: Bittrex.com

Exchange History and Background

Bittrex is a US-based crypto-exchange that specializes in paired cryptocurrency trades. It was founded by Bill Shihara, Richie Lai, and Rami Kawach, the former cybersecurity engineers of Microsoft, Amazon, and BlackBerry, and launched in February 2014.

The exchange quickly grew to become one of the best-known names in the sphere of crypto trading. It uses a self-regulatory model - so-called Transaction Systems Based on Trustworthy Technologies Act (aka “The Blockchain Act”), which is still awaiting regulatory approval. As a result, all of its customers must undergo strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures.

In 2015, Bittrex applied for infamous Bitlicense - a mandatory license issued by the state of New York for every cryptocurrency business that wants to serve the residents of New York State. The application was rejected in 2019 due to the exchange’s “seriously deficient” customer identification program. Bittrex management has denied these claims.

In 2018, the exchange joined the Virtual Commodity Association Working Group together with competing exchanges Bitstamp, bitFlyer USA, and Gemini.

In 2019, Bittrex updated its trading engine to make the platform up to 20 times faster, more scalable, and enable support of new features and upgrades like USD and EUR markets. Besides, it also launched a new branch of its exchange, Bittrex Global, which is located in Lichtenstein.

As such, the exchange now operates two separate platforms that share liquidity. The core Bittrex exchange focuses on serving the US cryptocurrency ecosystem, while Bittrex Global is oriented towards the international user base.

As a result, Bittrex is available to crypto enthusiasts from all over the globe, except for residents and citizens of North Korea, Iran, The Crimean region, Syria, Cuba, and specific individuals sanctioned by the U.S. federal government.

Source: Bittrex.com

Bittrex must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, so all wannabe Bittrex users must pass know your customer (KYC) verification. It includes submitting the following documents:

• Proof of address (like a utility bill) and country of residence.
• A copy of identity card or passport.
• Your picture with a clearly visible face.

You’re free to deposit, trade, and withdraw money from Bittrex exchange only after submitting and getting all of these documents verified. Naturally, corporate accounts are subjected to even stricter verification conditions.

Bittrex Fees

Bittrex charges a 0.2% commission fee on all trades. If a customer buys one bitcoin for USD 10,000, for example, this means they’ll pay around USD 20 in commission.

Compared with competing cryptocurrency exchanges, namely Binance, Kraken, and Bitfinex, Bittrex’s base trade fees occupy the middle ground - it’s neither the cheapest nor the most expensive exchange for low volume traders.

When it comes to deposit and withdrawal fees, Bittrex lets you top up your verified account using a bank card (VISA), wire transfer, SEPA transfer, or cryptocurrencies. VISA deposits come with a 3% fee, while wire transfer costs depend on your bank. As a rule of thumb, SEPA transfers tend to be cheaper and faster than traditional wire transfers.

As for cryptocurrency deposits, Bittrex charges no fees whatsoever, including fiat deposits. However, it does charge for withdrawals, with their prices varying according to the cryptocurrency being withdrawn.

As the small sample of prices above reveal, Bittrex are generally quite competitive when it comes to withdrawal fees. That said, they’re not the cheapest option out there when it comes to low-volume trading or withdrawals for any particular cryptocurrency, even if they sometimes match some of the lowest prices available (e.g., for Litecoin withdrawals as in the example above). Even so, large-volume traders are eligible for substantial discounts as their 30-day trading volume increases.

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Bittrex Security

Source: Bittrex.com

Besides speed and efficiency, security is Bittrex’s most defining feature. The platform employs an "elastic, multi-stage wallet strategy," which guides their secure coins movements from cold to hot wallets.

Besides, Bittrex makes use of full SSL encryption of their domain, meaning that all the data you send to the exchange is secure. As with almost all exchanges, it enables two-factor authentication, letting users login securely to their accounts via Google Authenticator. It also allows the two following kinds of whitelisting:

• IP whitelisting: by ‘whitelisting’ specific IP addresses, users instruct Bittrex to authorize account activity that originates only from these addresses.
• Wallet whitelisting: this allows users to enable withdrawals only to specified crypto wallets.

Another essential feature is Bittrex’s cross-chain recovery service. For any cryptocurrency deposit worth more than USD 5,000 (at the time of being deposited), the exchange will recover the funds if they were accidentally transferred to a wallet of the wrong coin type.

For example, if someone deposits one bitcoin to a bitcoin cash wallet by mistake, Bittrex will recover it for them so long as the request is sent in within seven days of making the deposit. The exchange will, however, charge 0.1 BTC for any recovery of any cryptocurrency it lists on its platform.

All of these features work to make Bittrex one of the most secure exchanges out there. It has never been hacked before and is likely to remain so in the future.

Bittrex Usability

Source: Bittrex.com

The usability of Bittrex is somewhat different for the US and global clients. The key difference here is that the US version of the exchange lists fewer assets compared with its international counterpart.

Both versions of the exchange offer a wide range of altcoins and high liquidity in the markets, which is excellent for people interested in liquidating their positions on short notice. Nevertheless, the most significant changes have occurred in Bittrex's user interface.

The new exchange’s interface is uncluttered and user-friendly. On its main dashboard, there’s a list of supported trading markets with price overviews, volume, and percentage of price change during the last 24 hours.

Bittrex main dashboad.

Here, you can find and navigate the following markets:

• USD markets.
• BTC markets.
• ETH markets.
• USDT markets.
• EUR markets.

Bittrex has also revamped its trading view. As of now, it looks like this:

Bittrex new trading view.

1. Charting tools by Trading View.
2. Order placing window for buying or selling cryptocurrencies.
3. Bittrex markets navigation panel.
4. Market order book, open orders, closed orders, and wallets overview.
5. Trade history window.
6. Main menu bar.

While Bittrex doesn’t support margin trading, there are also the following trade types to engage in:

• Market orders
• Limit orders
• Stop limit orders
• Ladder limit orders
• Good-Til-canceled orders
• Immediate-Or-Cancel orders

Completing transactions is relatively painless, with deposits and withdrawals being faster than usual thanks to Bittrex’s automated monitoring system.

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Bittrex Mobile App

Source: Bittrex.com

If for some instance, you cannot access Bittrex through the web, it also has convenient mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. It allows you to deposit, withdraw, follow, and trade all Bittrex’s supported markets on the go and is an excellent tool for trading on the go.

Customer Support

Bittrex has a slightly better customer support team than other exchanges. The main support page is on Zendesk. Here, you can find, file and review support tickets, feature requests (like forms to enable a fiat deposits feature for you), or learn about all sorts of platform-related matters like frequently asked questions (FAQ), site information, news and announcements, coin information, mobile app user guides, and much more.

Asides from the Zendesk, Bittrex customer support is reachable via:

• Slack
• Twitter
• Facebook

Despite these plus points, enhanced account verification has been troublesome for some users, with a small minority complaining in Dec 2017 of an inability to withdraw their funds as a result.

Similarly, in October 2017, it disabled around 0.1% of total user accounts as part of a systemwide compliance review. In other words, it may be one of the safest large exchanges on the web, but this security can sometimes create inconveniences for individual users.

Bittrex Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

To deposit funds to an existing Bittrex account, you can either transfer them from an existing crypto wallet or make a fiat deposit. The exchange supports two types of fiat deposits:

• Using a bank card (VISA only)
• Using a wire transfer (regular or SEPA)

Added to this, you need to have a “verified” account, which requires scans of a valid ID (e.g., passport), a copy of a recent bill or statement, and a recent selfie.

For USD or EUR deposits, you have to verify your account and get your bank account whitelisted by submitting a request via the Bittrex customer service desk. This may take a few business days, and wire transfer deposits usually take several business days to get credited. 

The deposit fees tend to vary based on your bank fees. The minimum deposit amount is USD 50, while there is no maximum limit on how much money you deposit. As a US trader, you must be from one of the approved states to be eligible for fiat trading.

States approved for Bittrex USD trading. Source: Bittrex Zendesk.

Bank card deposits are much faster, but it will cost you an extra 3% on top of the deposit amount per transaction.

Making a bank card deposit. Only VISA cards are supported.

When it comes to withdrawal of funds or assets, you’re free to withdraw both fiat and crypto-assets. Cryptocurrency withdrawal fee varies according to a selected coin but is rather minimal (see the fees review section above).

Fiat withdrawals require you to have a verified bank account tied to your Bittrex account. A fiat withdrawal straight to your bank account can take up to 10 days. The minimum withdrawal amount is USD 50 or its equivalent. Bittrex does not charge any fees for fiat withdrawals, too. However, there might be extra charges on behalf of your bank, so check with it beforehand.

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Conclusion

Bittrex is a veteran exchange that is safe and easy to use. With all of the recent updates, it once again became one of the more attractive trading options in the crypto market. It does not have controversial features like margin trading, but it does let allow you sell your coins for USD or EUR and withdraw them directly into your bank account. So if you’re looking for a fiat-to-crypto exchange with a wide range of altcoins, Bittrex is a trustworthy choice.