Author: Harry Napier
Bitstamp Review: Is it a good broker?
Bitstamp is one of the most experienced exchanges on the market. It has been successfully operating for almost 10 years. First, it has built up an enormous user base in Europe. After that, it has expanded to other countries, like Canada. That is the information you find on most resources, right? However, are you sure that it is true? Read our Bitstamp review to find out more about the trustworthiness of the service.
About Bitstamp
The company operates since 2011. Bitstamp started its work in Slovenia, then in 2013 and 2016 it opened additional offices. Currently, the exchange has many offices in London, Luxembourg, and New York.
With time, the exchange became more and more popular among newcomers and professional traders who search for high-quality service. Mostly, Bitstamp attracts clients by providing low fees and working with a huge number of currencies. According to Coinmarketcap, this exchange is in the top-10 among the services with the highest volume.
What services does Bitstamp have?
The trading platform, where many users can trade BTC to other crypto coins, plays an important role. It is no secret that Bitstamp prefers quality over quantity. Therefore, each new feature is added only if it is tested and works as it is supposed to for sure.
There are four order types that can be placed on Bitstamp:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop
- Instant
You will most likely find the same types in many other competitive platforms. This is a must-have feature that lets everyone get the most out of trading.
What currencies does Bitstamp work with?
Currently, Bitstamp works with several cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- Ether
- Bitcoin Cash
The website has only 12 pairs to trade. Each is connected with one of the three leading currencies on the platform: EUR, USD, BTC.
Fees at Bitstamp
Generally speaking, most of the fees at Bitstamp are much lower than those that are used by their competitors. First of all, the minimum trade amount is 25 USD or EUR in regards to fiat money or 0.001 BTC if you trade cryptocurrency.
For deposits, there are different charges. Wire transfers will cost you 0.05% of the initial amount. However, keep in mind that the charge is at least 7.5 U.S. Dollars or Euros.
The trading fees are a bit more complex. They depend on the amounts you operate with. The highest fee is for amounts lower than $10,000, and it is 0.50%. This number can be minimized to 0.11% if the amount of money you work with is higher than $20,000,000. That’s a huge number, isn’t it? That is not the limit!
Each cryptocurrency has a separate amount in that coin, so keep an eye on the information that is regularly updated on the exchange’s website.
Generally speaking, most of the fees at Bitstamp are much lower than those that are used by their competitors. First of all, the minimum trade amount is 25 USD or EUR in regards to fiat money or 0.001 BTC if you trade cryptocurrency.
For deposits, there are different charges. Wire transfers will cost you 0.05% of the initial amount. However, keep in mind that the charge is at least 7.5 U.S. Dollars or Euros.
The trading fees are a bit more complex. They depend on the amounts you operate with. The highest fee is for amounts lower than $10,000, and it is 0.50%. This number can be minimized to 0.11% if the amount of money you work with is higher than $20,000,000. That’s a huge number, isn’t it? That is not the limit!
Each cryptocurrency has a separate amount in that coin, so keep an eye on the information that is regularly updated on the exchange’s website.
Please note that Bitstamp uses a rounding system for fees.
The second decimal digit is always one digit bigger than it was before the amount is rounded up.
For better understanding, if the fee is 0.121, it will be rounded to 0.13.
As you can see, the fees can be tricky, so you need to understand how they work before starting your trading journey with Bitstamp.
Bitstamp verification
Just like with any other legit exchange, you have to complete a verification process in order to get access to all the features provided by the service. There are several documents that you have to upload:
- A passport, ID, or driver license
- Proof of residence (utility bill, bank statement, or any other government-issued document)
This is only the first phase. It is also necessary to provide your phone number and confirm it by entering the code received in an SMS. After that, you will be able to make a deposit and start trading.
Deposits and withdrawals
First of all, let us check out the deposit methods that are offered by Bitstamp. These are:
- SEPA
- Wire transfer
- Debit or credit card
These methods are the most common among all services. It is also possible to buy a specific cryptocurrency using a bank card without making exchanges. However, a major drawback is a fact that it is impossible to top-up your account with cryptocurrency.
Now, let us move on to the withdrawal options. Here we have a wider choice. All the methods used for deposits are available. In addition, you can withdraw cryptocurrencies to your wallets. The fees are different for each option.
We recommend checking the FAQ. It contains a lot of useful information that is hard to find on the web. If anything changes, this is the first place where the info will be updated.
Bitstamp customer reviews
If we check out the user opinions on Bitstamp, we shall find positive and negative opinions. For our research, we have used Trustpilot and G2.
Here is an example of what Andy R has posted on G2 about Bitstamp.
He likes that the orders have many filtering options and lets users conduct immediate trades at the best bids or prices. Also, he considers Bitstamp to be the first exchange in the world to use the MultiSig security technology. However, Andy dislikes the mobile app because it is slow and does not provide all the features available on the website.
Another opinion is taken from Trustpilot, published by Lucas DK Yong.
Lucas mentions contacting the customer support and says that he is completely satisfied by the way it works. He received an answer in under 5 minutes and is glad the service could help him solve his issue.
Conclusion
Bitstamp is a very experienced cryptocurrency exchange and the reviews say it all. It has fees that are not very high and works for quality, not quantity. If you search for an alternative service, it will be hard to find anything similar.
