Bittrex is a crypto trading exchange allowing you to buy and trade cryptocurrencies. Now there are over 200 different cryptocurrencies are listed for trading at Bittrex with more than 250 trading pairs, i.e. the two currencies for which an exchange rate is being offered.
The more popular cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, have the most available trading pairs. Bitcoin alone has more than 450 trading pairs on Bittrex. To give you an idea about how much trading is done on Bittrex, let’s have a look at some numbers:
- Trading volume in US Dollars: 225,425,248
- Number of trades: >54,982,070
- Global ranking: 12
Bittrex pros:
- Fees: Bittrex charges a flat rate of 0.25% on every trade. This is a little higher than the average but makes things a lot simpler for newbies. Having one fee for all transactions makes remembering what you’ve spent much easier.
- Variety: Bittrex has a great choice of cryptocurrencies (>190). This allows users to trade with older well-known coins as well as newer ones like Loopring and TRON. Every day, Bittrex reviews which currencies it lists. It adds exciting new coins as often as it can. By comparison, Poloniex only has around 80 cryptocurrencies to trade.
- Verification: This is the process by which an exchange checks who you are before you’re allowed to start trading. Bittrex aims to take as little user information as possible while keeping the platform safe from harm. It does this using a service called Jumio, which checks local records. Jumio can verify over 100 million people in over 200 countries. This means that you only have to give your name, address and date of birth. It also means that traders from all over the world can use the exchange.
- Speed: Bittrex was built using elastic computing. This means the platform can process trades as soon as they happen.
Bittrex cons:
- Fiat trading: Bittrex doesn’t allow users to trade using fiat currencies, yet. In a recent podcast, Bill Shihara said that users will be allowed to trade in US Dollars soon. Until that happens, users must own Bitcoin or Ethereum before they start trading. Other exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken allow users to buy cryptocurrency with fiat currencies.
- Accessibility: Bittrex prides itself on being a secure platform but this has a downside. It seems that Bittrex might be too secure! Some users have been locked out of their own accounts. This problem has been blamed on the way Bittrex verifies its users. Bittrex is now working on the balance it has between security and easy user access.
- Customer service: Some users are unhappy with the way the platform deals with complaints. Some users have waited weeks for a response. Bittrex has said sorry for how long it took to fix the problems it was having with verification.
- Pump and dump scams: Bittrex offers its users a lot of different cryptocurrencies. Sometimes the newer cryptocurrencies are used for pump and dump scams. Here’s how they work:
- A group of investors, called Group A, pick a cheap coin. They buy lots of it. Let’s imagine this coin is called ‘Cheapcoin’.
- The price of Cheapcoin goes up. Other investors, called Group B, see that the price of Cheapcoin is going up, so they buy some too.
- Now that the price of Cheapcoin is high, Group A sells all of its Cheapcoin. The price of Cheapcoin goes back down.
- Group B is left with a coin that they can only sell for less than they paid for it. This type of scam can happen on any platform. Bittrex must be very careful when choosing which coins to list so that this doesn’t happen too often.
When people read a Bittrex exchange review and they see that it has a few issues they ask themselves, is Bittrex safe? To answer that question, this Bittrex review will look at Bittrex’s security a bit more closely.
Bittrex Security
Bittrex is the most secure cryptocurrency exchange in the market. Its team are all experts in the area. In the system Bittrex uses, 80-90% of all currency is kept offline. This is called cold storage. So far, Bittrex hasn’t been hacked or lost any of its customers’ money.
Bittrex also uses two-factor authentication for all of its transactions. Two-factor authentication is asking a user to provide two kinds of information before a transaction can take place. The first kind is usually a password and the second is a code that is sent to the user’s mobile phone.
As it is based in Seattle, Bittrex follows American law very closely. It follows the Anti-Money Laundering and the Know Your Customer programs set up by the US Government. These programs are designed to stop fraud and other financial crimes.
Most of the issues users have with the platform come from its tough security protocols. Some users even think that Bittrex uses verification issues as an excuse to lock user accounts and take their currency.