Bitstamp

What is Bitstamp?

Bitstamp Exchange is a crypto trading platform that was founded by Damijan Merlak and Nejc Kodrič in Slovenia in 2011. Then the registration changed to the UK in 2013 because of a lack of regulations, and now Bitstamp Ltd is located in London. In 2018 the NXC Corp. (A South-Korean conglomerate) acquired the exchange through the NXMH (the NXC’s subsidiary investment company based in Brussels). Bitstamp CEO for now is Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux with the board members of Nejc Kodrič and NXMH’s representatives Hendrik Ghys and Jamie Hong.

As this is one of the oldest exchanges, there were no regulatory requirements for cryptocurrencies at that time. Even after an official request for regulation from the government, it could not be regulated as the cryptocurrencies were not stated as currencies. Therefore BItsamp Limited decided to conduct its own compliance system and follow created rules to protect its customers from fraud. Such an initiative has led to becoming the first crypto exchange with the EU Payment Institution License and tight AML policy. 

At the time of writing, the Bitstamp crypto platform ranks 44th in the overall rating of exchanges on Coingeco, and 46th in the cyber security rating. Assigned security level - A, the exchange passes the Penetration Test, and has Proof of Funds, but it does not encourage the Bug Bounty program as the Coingecko says. The exchange states its funds are proved and audited, but the Bitstamp proof of reserves is not publicly available

Metrics 

Daily volume - $200,000,000

Trust score - 7

Cybersecurity score - B

Financial reserves - not available

Monthly visits - 1,41  Million

Cryptocurrencies - 173

Trading pairs - 73

*Data from Coingecko and Coinmarketcap 

Bitstamp ranking by 44th on Coingecko, achieving a TrustScore of 7. The exchange has a B rating for cyber security, passing the Penetration test, and providing Proof of Funds, but not encouraging the Bug Bounty program. Proof of Reserves is not displayed in real-time on Coinmarketcap, however, the exchange states that its funds are audited by the 3rd parties. 1,41M monthly visitors provide trading volume at an average of $200,000,000 per day. There are 73 Bitstamp coins available, which creates 173 trading pairs.

Bitstamp crypto list of tokens available for trading is not such exceptional, as competitors have, but it compensates with the worldwide regulatory compliance of the exchange. It has more than 50 licenses in different countries, even the USA, which makes it a legal broker and payment agent in most jurisdictions. Thus you can legally trade crypto to the following stablecoins and fiat currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, PAX, USDT, and USDC.

Deposit and withdrawal

Bitstamp fees depend on the type of transaction (deposit or withdrawal) and the payment  Due to licensing around the world, you can deposit and withdraw from the exchange with a wide range of payment methods. It is acceptable to buy crypto with a Credit or Debit card, bank transfer (SEPA and ACH), wire transfer, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Withdrawals to PayPal and to a bank account are great options to cash out your gains. 

Bitstamp debit card fees in line with a Credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal, and Google Pay, are 4%. That states for both - to put money on the exchange and to take it out. On top of the exchange fees, there might occur a card issuer’s fee. 

Bitstamp deposit

Bitstamp deposit fees for SEPA and ACH transfers are zero percent, the same as Fast Payment Service for UK citizens and crypto transfers to the exchange’s wallet. However, the instant deposit with Credit or Debit cards, Google Pay, PayPal, and Apple Pay will charge 4% + possible card issuer’s fee, while the international wire will cost you 0,05% of the transfer sum. 

If it is required to convert fiat currency to EUR, USD, or GBP, it will be swapped with the Bitstamp rate. The following currencies are available for convertible bank deposit and withdrawal:  AUD; CAD; CHF; DKK; GBP; JPY; NOK; SEK; USD. Bitstamp minimum deposit of the fiat currencies is equivalent to 10 EUR, USD, or GBP. For BTC and ETH, there are minimums of 0,0002 and 0,002 respectively

Bitstamp withdrawal

Bitstamp withdrawal fee depends on the type of payment processor, whether it will be a crypto withdrawal to wallet, to a bank account, via international wire, Credit/Debit card, or UK fast payment. SEPA withdrawal to bank will take 3 EUR, while ACH transfer is free of charge. UK Fast Payment Service will cost you 2 GBP, international wire - 0,01% and withdrawal to PayPal will take 4% of the withdrawal funds. Bitstamp withdrawal minimum is 50 USD/GBP/EUR, while there is only two maximum withdrawal limit - $50,000 per transaction for ACH transfers, and 250,000 GBP for Fast Payment Service in the United Kingdom. 

Bitstamp transfer fees for crypto withdrawal depend on the cryptocurrency you are willing to withdraw, let’s see some examples of some tokens: 

Cryptocurrency	Withdrawal fee
Bitcoin	0,0005 BTC
Ethereum	0,006 ETH
PAX	20 PAX
USDC	20 USDC
USDT	20 USDT
DAI	15 DAI
Euro Tether	2 EURT
Eure Coin	5 EUROC
Avalanche	0,01 AVAX
dYdX	3 DYDX
Fantom	5 FTM
1inch	10 1INCH
Solana	0,01 SOL
Polkadot	2 DOT
NEAR Protocol	0,005 NEAR
Dogecoin	4 DOGE
Sui	0,2 SUI

 

Trading opportunities

• Spot
• API
• OTC

Bitstamp leverage or futures trading is not available, therefore you can trade only the spot market. Nonetheless, there are advanced order types to upgrade trading efficiency - Instant Order, Trailing Stop, and Fill-or-Kill. The first one is a typical market order, allowing you to buy or sell the asset instantly at the market price. The trailing stop differs from the stop order, making it possible to adjust the stop point if the price moves in the opposite direction. Bitstamp trader can use “Fill-or-Kill” as the limit order to execute full order size at the set price, in cases where it is not enough liquidity at the specific price mark - the order will be canceled. 

Bitstamp API and OTC services are available only for institutional investors, which we will talk about later. API serves as a direct way of communication with the exchange back-end database, bypassing its front interface. Bitstamp trading bot is not the main goal of API connection, it is aimed to integrate exchange services into other products. OTC market (which stands for “Over The Count”) helps institutional traders and structures to trade assets directly with each other on fair terms. Such an approach will be great for investors looking for a deal requiring deeper liquidity than the order book can handle without fluctuating the price. Bitstamp sees transactions equal to a range between $50,000-$500,000 as worth dealing through the OTC market. 

Trading fees

Bitstamp trading fees depend on the user’s average 30-days trading volume. There are two types of fees - for trading crypto and national currencies to stablecoins. Bitstamp fee schedule for trading crypto and Forex are listed below.

30 days trading volume	Crypto  Maker fee	Crypto  Taker fee	Forex Maker fee	Forex Taker fee
<$1,000	0.00%	0.00%	0.000%	0.000%
>$1,000	0.30%	0.40%	0.060%	0.080%
>$10,000	0.20%	0.30%	0.040%	0.060%
>$100,000	0.10%	0.20%	0.020%	0.040%
>$500,000	0.08%	0.18%	0.016%	0.036%
>$1,500,000	0.06%	0.16%	0.012%	0.032%
>$5,000,000	0.03%	0.12%	0.006%	0.024%
>$20,000,000	0.02%	0.10%	0.004%	0.020%
>$50,000,000	0.01%	0,08%	0.002%	0.016%
>$100,000,000	0%	0.06%-0.03%	0%	0.012-0.006%

 

Bitsamp security 

Bitstamp account verification is obligatory for using the exchange, as it is essential for numerous legal requirements that the exchange meets. The verification documents are any of the identity documents and the proof of residency. The verification time can vary for US customers, as there are two verification levels where the first is limited and the second is full.

Bitstamp two factor authentication allows you to protect withdrawals from your account with Google Authenticator. In addition to the authenticator app, you can set the email confirmation for fund withdrawal, which adds a security level to your assets. In combination with the strong and unique password, it gives the customer the maximum available control. 

Bitstamp hack

Bitstamp hack took its place in 2015 when 18,866 BTC were stolen from the exchange’s hot wallet. At that time crypto assets were evaluated at $5,263,614, when Bitcoin was priced at $279. It was a phishing attack via “partnering documents” in Skype, which was used as a company messenger. Since then, the executive team decided to create a new security system, rather than rebuild the old one, and keep almost all funds on the Bitstamp hardware wallet.

Terminal and mobile app

Bitstamp website offers two types of trading terminals - light and advanced, called Tradeview. Both terminals work really fast, being at the same time user-friendly and easy to use. Bitstamp Tradeview is an advanced service that allows you to put all the order types powered by the exchange and access detailed chart mode with TA tools in line with order book data. The light version of the web terminal is called Bitsamp Markets, which is limited by the order types, but has an easy and intuitive interface for fast trades. Bitstamp desktop terminal is not available for download and it is not mentioned in any exchange documents. 

Bitstamp app has two versions, the same as the web terminal. The Pro app is available on Google Play and Apple Store, while the Light mobile app is still pending for UK and US market access, the same as the App Store marketplace. The functionality is limited by the order types, and the Pro version has lower fees for trades over $1000. Still, it is a beginner user-oriented app with access to basic trading and Earning products. 

Features

• Lending
• Staking
• Exchange as a service 

Bitstamp Earn is a service providing you with additional gains on your crypto with Staking and Lending products. Staking stands for getting the network fees for transaction validation on the PoS blockchains. Lending, in this case, means lending your crypto assets to the  institutional investors through a digital asset lending company. In the first case, the profit depends on protocol determination and blockchain network load, while the Bitstamp commissions here are 15% of the gained transaction fees. In the second case, the APY depends on the lending company and its policy. However, you can earn up to 4,4% on crypto assets with no lock-up periods and daily rewards distribution. 

Institutional investors and financial organizations can use the Bitstamp APY key to direct access to the exchange database. It is built to integrate crypto trading into other financial products. Thanks to the numerous legal registrations, Bitstamp corporate account will be useful not for only Brokers, Pro traders, and Aggregators, but also for Banks, Family offices, and Hedge funds. 

Bitstamp review

Bitstamp TrustPilot rating is 2.3 out of 5 based on 697 votes, where 25% voted for 5 starts and 64% for 1%. Lots of comments about account or withdrawal blocks in combination with customer support being unable to communicate and resolve the problem properly. At the same time, old-school users are writing about great support solvency and an easy verification process. It seems like the main problem is that many customers do not complete their KYC properly before depositing funds. Bitstamp reputation is known for its legal compliance, which leads to an advanced verification process and often fund freezes. But still, the overall exchange review is not great due to many cases when customer support can not resolve the AML issues. 

Customer support and contacts

You can communicate with Bitstamp customer service by email, telegram group, or through a request in the support section of your account. You can also call the exchange from the UK, USA, Canada, and Luxembourg. If you have any negative thoughts to say about the service, you write them directly to the Bitstamp complaints. Customer support will be provided Monday - Saturday from 6 am to 10 pm by CET.   

Support email: support@bitstamp.net

Complaints: complaints@bitstamp.net

Telegram Support: https://t.me/officialbitstampsupport 

UK: +44 20 3868 9628

USA/Canada: +1 800 712 5702

Luxemburg: +352 20 88 10 96

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitstamp 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bitstamp 

Telegram community: https://t.me/bitstampcommunity 

Telegram exchange channel: https://t.me/bitstampexchange 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitstampexchange  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bitstamp 

Restricted countries 

Bitstamp supported countries list is exceptional, all thanks to numerous global licenses. However, due to global sanctions or any other regulatory reasons, there are still jurisdictions that are restricted to dealing with: 

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• Bangladesh
• Central African Republic
• China
• Congo (Democratic Republic)
• Cuba
• Ethiopia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Mali
• Myanmar
• Nicaragua
• North Korea
• Russia
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Syrian Arab Republic
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe
• Canada - Ontario
• Ukraine - Crimea, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia
• US - Hawaii, Nevada

Is Bitstamp available in USA?

Yes, it is legally operating as “Bitstamp USA, Inc.” under the licensing from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Bitstamp New York licenses allow the withdrawal to a US bank and deposit by credit USA card. It is available in New York and most states, except Hawaii and Nevada. As the legal entity of the United States, Bitsamp does report IRS, and of course, it is taxable.