How to use BTC-ALPHA?

We’re back with the guide to taming the Alpha and Omega of exchanges (viewer discretion is advised). This one comes with mixed reviews, but we believe it just as easily could have been competition’s work. The only way to find out for sure? Let’s pay them a visit.

A reasonable commission, fiat-to-crypto trading, quick registration, 2FA, 896,27 BTC market cap, and Revain standing proudly right where it should be. What’s not to love?

Although if you’re lucky enough to come from the wild and wonderful U.S. of A., you’re, as the British would say, in a bit of a pickle:

Use of BTC-Alpha system by US citizens and permanent residents is strictly prohibited. The system reserves the right to block the registrations originating from the USA or from US citizens located abroad due to local laws and regulations. Any individual or company suspected of submitting false/misleading information with the purpose of hiding US location or affiliation may be subject to account block with no prior warnings.

BTC Alpha has been around for some two years, which is a minus, but it is based in the UK, which is a plus. So far as we can tell, there are more good things about this exchange than bad, although you will probably find bad things anywhere you go.
Registration is stellar in a sense that it is the quickest we have ever, ever seen. Put in your email and password - and you’re in. You’ll need to go back to your email inbox and confirm it plus enable 2FA or a red warning will flash in your face incessantly - but on the whole, it seems the registration procedure has been thought-through quite well, which is a good sign. And, yes, 2FA is important. There is even a wizard to help you with the process, although this is what we imagine it will look like in practice when faced with a double spend attack:

We remind you again that if you want to take part in the chat you need to make a minimum deposit, and there does not seem to be an online support other than the Facebook group (who take a while to answer, if at all), and we’re not sure whether the Telegram channel is working (maybe temporary trouble?).

One nice thing about BTC-Alpha is a reasonable API “ built on the latest version of the socket.io library for Node.js. So, it should be easy to get work with.” Wish we could say the same about the copywriter.

The content on the main page is conveniently positioned, and there is an advanced graph with a few shortcuts that are easy to use, just like the rest of the platform.

1. Use your login info to get into your account (top right). And note that if your password and login are stored automatically, you’re probably in the wrong. Be safe! Don’t let your PC autofill passwords.

1. Go to Finance.

2. You’ll see the list of currencies. Choose one and click “Deposit”.

3. Your deposit ad will be generated:

The procedure looks exactly the same, except for this time you choose “Withdraw”:

1. Login
2. Account.
3. Finance
4. Currency
5. Withdraw.
6. Try to ignore God-awful grammar.
7. Be prepared for your funds to take a while to arrive.
8. Congratulations! You have withdrawn from BTC Alpha.

..are, in fact, an “extremely simple and convenient tool for internal cash-transfers between BTC Alpha’s customers“ (don’t take our word for it). Should you need one, it’s at the Finance page -> Withdraw -> Alpha-code. This useful functionality will help you send funds to other users of the exchange, as outlined above, and they also come as VIP invites when you add an email address of the person you want to send the money to. You can send the code to anyone you wish.

In order to start trading click on the logo or go to https://btc-alpha.com/exchange/BTC_USD

Start inputting the name of the coin in the search menu in the top left corner. Use the graph to evaluate the price and use the Buy and Sell windows to buy and sell respectively. The commission can vary, so we recommend you check the size of the commission carefully before you make any important decisions.

BTC Alpha, in general, has been developing a little slowly (which doesn’t mean it sucks but still... food for thought). There is more functionality that we would like to see here, and, as we see it, there should be much lengthier T+Cs section plus more than 3 sections in the FAQ.

Generally, there are a lot of things here and there that could be improved in terms of functionality. Whether you’re intending to deal with this exchange is up to you, but overall it is rather loyal to clients and provides a decent standard of quality across the board. Besides, we’re not quite sure about this (kind of feels like being sold a car about which the contract states that the brakes may or may not work):

1.7 System customer understands and accepts that some transactions within the system are performed by 3rd parties, such as BTC-Alpha certified Partners, and that the System is not in full control of such activities <...> 1.22 System and Company will not be liable for loss of funds by Customer due to System malfunction, unauthorized access, theft, force majeure, any special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages that may incur in connection with actions or lack of thereof of 3rd parties such as BTC-Alpha certified Partners.

There are 2 (two) languages, Russian and English, which means that if you come from anywhere else in the world, well, book an English class at your local college. Speaking of which...
There is no app and so far as we can tell no license. And cards aren’t accepted and there are chat limitations (!) requiring a deposit. And expect slow withdrawal times. Like, “slow” slow. However, there are reports of customer loyalty, some of the lowest commission fees around (besides from, probably, Kucoin) and constant improvements plus DDOS protection. One other positive thing to consider is the generation of one-time passwords in case if other security verification procedures fail.

And we not sure about the alleged Superior Coin entanglement? Is there actually no online support? And it seems to us the Telegram channel doesn’t work. These are the questions you want to ask yourself before you begin. As always, we recommend doing your background research and cross-referencing reviews, but with BTC-Alpha we recommend approaching with caution.