Bittrex Review: Still Good, But A Long Road Ahead To The Top

Anyone who has been part of the revolutionary cryptocurrency world knows about cryptocurrency exchanges. For they are the gateway for many of us into the cryptosphere.

However, they have their fair share of shortcomings too.

To mention a few:

• They are centralized
• They are prone to hacks
• They defy the whole idea of a decentralized world

And yet we are left with no choice but to accept them because there are no other effective ways. So it becomes important that when you do so, you tread with extreme caution.

One should thoroughly read reviews and hear other’s thoughts about that exchange before trusting them with your money.

At CoinSutra we have reviewed numerous cryptocurrency exchanges, but today’s review is special.

It is about one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the circuit, Bittrex.

In this review we will touch base upon the following points:

• What Is Bittrex?
• Getting Started With Bittrex
• Bittrex’s Dashboard
• Cryptocurrencies That Bittrex Supports Now
• Bittrex Fees Structure
• Bittrex Support
• Conclusion

What Is Bittrex?

Bittrex is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange operating in this space since 2014. The founders of this exchange are cybersecurity engineers, which gives us one less reason to worry about its security.

It is a US-based exchange which is in line with US regulations and thus aims to foster innovation in the blockchain and crypto space.

It started out as a crypto-to-crypto exchange but now supports fiat pairs too. More on this later.

Bittrex Team

Bittrex is certainly a reliable crypto exchange and its founders are also active on Twitter. There is an official Twitter handle for Bittrex too. Such transparency helps in building a good market reputation, an aspect Bittrex has succeeded at with flying colors.

Here is sneak peek into their team’s profile:

Getting Started With Bittrex

As I shared, Bittrex must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. economic sanctions laws, and other legal and regulatory requirements. That’s why a Bittrex user needs to undergo a thorough KYC check post registration.

Wait. The fact that it is mandatory doesn’t mean its tedious. To get started with Bittrex, you simply need to register using your email ID and then verify your identity.

As per your verification, you will granted these types of accounts (Source: Bittrex Support):

1. New/Unverified Accounts: Unverified accounts have a 0 BTC withdrawal limit.
2. Basic Verified Accounts: For basic accounts, the limit is approximately $3,000 per day, which is roughly .4 BTC. This amount changes periodically to align with the price of bitcoin. (Note: It is no longer possible to verify an account as basic.  All accounts must now proceed to ID Verification)
3. ID Verified Accounts (without 2FA): Verified accounts can currently withdrawal 1 (or equivalent) BTC per day.
4. ID Verified Accounts (with 2FA enabled): These accounts can withdraw 100 (or equivalent) BTC per day with two-factor enabled. Once you have been verified please make sure to enable two-factor authentication from your settings to increase your limits to the 100 BTC max.

Bittrex’s Dashboard

Late in 2017, when user interest in crypto around the world increased, Bittrex had to shut down its new registrations due to limited infrastructure.

In 2018, however, they have come back strong and have tried to improve their UI to compete with exchanges like Binance and Huobi.

Despite the changes made, they are not as quick and as effective as Binance and Huobi, both of which have sleek UI and humongous liquidity. Binance and Huobi, however, have a limitation of not interacting with fiat which is not the case with Bittrex.

You win some, you lose some. Ain’t that, right?

When you log in, you will be greeted by this colorful homepage:

Here, you will find market wise categorization BTC, ETH, USD, and USTD.

On the specific trade pair look-up, you will find handy charts interval at 15 mins, 30 mins, 1 hr, 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, etc., along with a few technical analysis tools.

Cryptocurrencies That Bittrex Supports Now

Currently, Bittrex sits at number #12 in the crypto exchange list of CoinMarketCap with a volume of +16,000 BTC.

Liquidity in excess of 16,000 BTC is by no means low, but with players like Binance in the market, it is certainly not worthy of being in the top 5 exchanges, unlike its good old days.

Moreover, Bittrex runs out of the US, the reason why it has delisted many speculative security coins in the last few months, thereby resulting in the loss of position in the market.

Nonetheless, it has more than 280 cryptocurrency pairs listed on it and is a favorite destination for proof-of-work coins.

Plus, you will find all the popular cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, DASH, LTC, NEO, ETC always on Bittrex to enjoy their high liquidity.

Also, Bittrex has started trading fiat pairs for popular cryptocurrencies such as BTC/USD, ETH/USD, & USDT/USD.

Bittrex Fees Structure

When you compare Bittrex’s fee with that of Binance, KuCoin or Huobi, you will find it is actually very high, especially if you are a high volume trader.

That’s why this area of theirs requires an overhaul. But for now, the fees are set at 0.25% for both buyers and sellers for each trade they make.

Bittrex Support

There is a notable lag in the Bittrex support system. I say that from experience. I have been never able to receive an answer within 24-hours of logging one. Also, only through a ticketing system can you through to Bittrex support.

Apart from that, their support section is filled with FAQs, a news section, as well as a Twitter handle to update you about the latest happenings on Bittrex exchange.

Conclusion: One Of The Best Still

Bittrex is one of the top crypto exchanges still but its lack of innovation and sleek UI seems to be hampering its growth.

It also lacks a native exchange token. Other top exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, Bibox have their own native tokens which have helped them gamify trading on their respective exchanges.

Also, its fee is on the higher end and their variety of tokens and coins is quite limited in comparison to its peers.

But if you are active in the trading realm, you can easily find that many veteran traders have addicted to Bittrex despite its minor hack prone history.

Apart from the hack prone history, Bittrex has also had account suspension issues in the past.

And now with new overhauled UI, Bittrex is certainly trying come back in the market with innovative approaches such as crowdfunding campaigns and blockchain incubator.

Keeping everything in mind, in my opinion, Bittrex is still usable for some good proof-of-work coins but it certainly needs to up their game by launching their own mobile trading apps, airdrop campaigns, native tokens etc to stay relevant in the market for a longer term.

I’d say, to conclude, if you have not used Bittrex yet, you should have a look and feel of the product today.

Now it’s time to hear from you: Have you used Bittrex before? Do you like its new UI? What do you think about its future? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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