Bitstamp is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges that’s still active. The exchange was launched back in 2011 by Nejc Kodri? and Damijan Merlak. In October 2018, the exchange was sold to NXMH, a company owned by South Korean holding company NXC. While the official figure was not released, the deal was reportedly worth around $400 million.
Quality over quantity is clearly one of Bitstamp’s most important rules as the exchange lists a smaller amount of cryptocurrencies than many of its competitors. However, Bitstamp has been making improvements on this front, and is now steadily listing new cryptocurrencies, giving customers better access to the diverse world of cryptocurrency. On Bitstamp, you'll be able to find major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, as well as many tokens related to DeFi - Chainlink, Uniswap and Aave are just a few examples.
The pros of trading cryptocurrency on Bitstamp:
- Great reputation
- Strong trading volume and liquidity
- Supports U.S. customers
- The exchange is steadily expanding its offering of listed cryptocurrencies
The cons of trading cryptocurrency on Bitstamp:
- Still doesn't list as many cryptocurrencies as some of its main competitors
- Relatively high fees
Bitstamp features review
Bitstamp was the first cryptocurrency exchange in the world to obtain a national license. The exchange was licensed to operate in 28 European countries, but Bitstamp is also allowed to offer its services to US customers thanks to its subsidiary, Bitstamp USA.
Although Bitstamp does not support a huge amount of cryptocurrencies, the exchange is still being used by many traders. Bitstamp offers Euro and Dollar pairs for all the supported cryptocurrencies as well as the possibility to buy Bitcoin with a credit card or to withdraw your funds directly to your bank account.
Bitstamp Trading, a professional trading interface
While the interface of Bitstamp is definitely designed properly some beginners might find it difficult to start with. Bitstamp supports 4 main types of orders:
- Market order
- Limit order
- Instant order
- Stop order
Additionally, the exchange allows traders to set trailing stops as well as an option to ‘sell if executed price’ for limit orders.
Generally, Bitstamp fees are quite low starting at 0.5% on all pairs, however, this number can change based on your 30-day USD volume and drop if you produce a lot of trading volume.
Credit card purchases have a 5% flat fee and withdrawals vary depending on the cryptocurrency. For a full detailed list of all Bitstamp fees, check the official fee schedule here.
Here's some of the cryptocurrencies that you can currently trade on Bitstamp:
Credit card and bank transfer
Bitstamp allows customers to deposit fiat through a credit card, international bank deposit or SEPA. There is only a 0.05% deposit fee on international wire transfer with a minimum fee of 7.5 USD/EUR. You can also buy cryptocurrency with a credit card on Bitstamp, and credit card purchases come with a 5% flat fee on credit card purchases. SEPA is free of charge when it comes to deposits.
Additionally, because Bitstamp is a gateway to the Ripple network, the exchange also supports a Bitstamp IOU service with a flat fee of 0.2%.
Bitstamp mobile app
Bitstamp offers a mobile application for both Android and iOS operating systems. The app has a clean and simple interface and a wide variety of features that can be found on the desktop as well. You can receive notifications for open orders, switch to a private mode that hides your balances or remotely disable the app.
The Bitstamp app has an average score of 4.5/5 with over 5,000 different reviews. Users highly praise the user experience as the app is extremely easy to use and provides additional security.
Bitstamp customer support
Bitstamp has a traditional ticketing system where you can send your complaint at any time. Requests are usually answered within 72 hours, additionally, the exchange offers phone customer support. Increased demand is always a factor and can delay responses significantly.
You can also find a very detailed FAQ section that will very likely answer most of your questions. However, the exchange does have pretty poor reviews on both Trustpilot and BitTrust with almost 400 different reviews. This might not be a very good indicator, though, as most cryptocurrency exchanges have poor ratings on such platforms - users who don’t encounter any problems rarely bother to leave a review.
Is Bitstamp a safe exchange to use?
Although Bitstamp is one of the leaders in terms of security, the exchange was, unfortunately, hacked in January 2015. The hackers were able to access the hot wallet of Bitstamp and steal 19,000 bitcoins, which were worth around $5 million at the time. Bitstamp had to suspend operations for a while and decided to rebuild their entire trading platform with new safety standards.
Bitstamp continued to operate and covered all the losses with Bitcoins held in cold storage. According to the website, Bitstamp has 98% of its assets held in cold storage and conducts internal controls to limit errors and access. As the saying goes, ‘not your keys, not your Bitcoin’. Any centralized exchange is vulnerable to hacks and it’s not recommended to keep your funds there for a prolonged period of time.
Bitstamp competitors
There are dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges which means that Bitstamp has a lot of competition everywhere, however, there aren’t that many exchanges offering fiat. Binance, for instance, offers users the ability to buy a few cryptocurrencies with fiat, however, it does not offer fiat trading pairs.
Coinbase might be a fair comparison as the exchange allows users to buy cryptocurrencies with fiat and also offers fiat trading pairs. Coinbase does offer more trading pairs and has very similar fees. One concern among Coinbase users is the fact that the exchange is based in the USA, which means it has to follow the US state and federal law. The US has been particularly tough when it comes to the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
Here are the cryptocurrency exchanges that can be considered as competitors to Bitstamp:
Bitstamp review verdict
Bitstamp is a veteran exchange, considered to be highly professional and secure. The exchange doesn’t support many cryptocurrencies, however, it does offer EUR and USD trading pairs on all supported cryptos with relatively low fees. Additionally, you can use your credit card to buy Bitcoin even in the US.
Although Bitstamp is not necessarily an exchange for beginners, if you already own and trade cryptocurrencies, you might find that Bitstamp’s professional interface can be quite useful for experienced traders.
