Lasting and operating securely for even just a few short years is enough to gain a good reputation among the crypto. Lasting for a whole decade, Bitstamp has a proven track record and a mature approach to the industry.
You may have heard about Bitstamp, especially if you’re a resident of Europe. So now, in this Bitstamp review, we will take a look at what Bitstamp is, its story, fees and other important features. So now, let’s take a deeper look into this crypto exchange.
Table of Contents
- What is Bitstamp?
- The story of Bitstamp
- Pros and cons of Bitstamp
- Register to Bitstamp
- Bitstamp trading
- Trading in Bitstamp app
- Bitstamp currencies and withdrawal
- Bitstamp fees
- Supported Countries
What is Bitstamp?
Based in Luxembourg, Bitstamp is a crypto exchange that allows you to trade bitcoin, fiat currencies and other cryptos. Regarded as the 10th best exchange, over 900 million U.S dollars are being used on this platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in one day (based on the 24 hour volume). Bitstamp makes up more than 3% of all crypto exchange trading allowing you to trade in over 60+ countries. Soon, after its release, it became one of the most reputable and popular exchanges in business.
Back in the years, when Mt. Gox was leading, Bitstamp was one of the first few crypto exchanges that was established to compete with the leading exchange. Nejc Kodric and Damijan Merlak (founders of Bitstamp) had meetings with Luxembourg’s government. Bitstamp became the first fully licensed crypto exchange in the world when Luxembourg has granted it a payment institution license (which we will look into in the next heading).
Bitstamp has linked up with several financial institutions (like Crédit Agricole), banks (like Swissquote) and financial derivatives exchanges (like Chicago Mercantile Exchange) around the world.
The story of Bitstamp
The creation of Bitstamp started way back in 2011 with two friends in Slovenia named Nejc Kodric and Damijan Merlak. In the early days of crypto trading, Mt. Gox was the biggest exchange in the world with millions of users. Although, however good Mt. Gox was, they still had security issues. By 2014 (later on), Mt. Gox went bankrupt.
Kodric and Merlak understood that crypto traders wanted an exchange they could trust. Although the blockchain and the cryptos that run on them can be very safe, the exchanges that allow you to trade them aren’t always though. In August 2011, understanding the requirement of a safe crypto exchange (as Mt. Gox got hacked) they together founded a crypto exchange called Bitstamp located in Slovenia. Bitstamp was founded as an alternative to the leading bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Later on, Bitstamp moved some of its operations to London.
Bitstamp’s introduction only three years later put it in the most-wanted of crypto users (as they got a new exchange to trade) seeing as how Bitcoin itself only dates back to 2008 when created by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Back in 2011, there were hardly any exchanges, most of the earliest exchanges (which were only a few at that time) date back to 2011.
Bitstamp’s license
However, the UK didn’t have the regulations needed to guide the sale of cryptocurrency. The co-founders thought that this was the big problem of crypto training; they are not regulated enough and there are no rules for exchanges to follow. Hence, they looked for a country with regulation; Luxembourg. David Marcus recommended Bitstamp to try Luxembourg. Later, the license got approved and went into effect.
The license went into effect on July 1 2016. The EU’s (European Union) “passport” rules state that if a financial services provider is legally established in one member state, then it can operate in others too. This meant that Bitstamp was licensed across all 28 European Union countries. Therefore, Bitstamp became the first regulated cryptocurrency exchange across the whole industry. So Bitstamp was founded in Slovenia in 2011, moved to London in 2013 and moved to Luxembourg in 2016. Lots of countries right?
Pros and Cons of Bitstamp
Pros of Bitstamp
- Advanced trading tools
- Fiat trading
- Security
- Buy and cash out instantly
- Payment methods
- Low fees
Cons of Bitstamp
- Quite complicated at first
- Long account verification period
- Support not so good or bad
Register to Bitstamp
Registering is a very easy process in Bitstamp. Before, Bitstamp had only one way to register. Now Bitstamp offers two ways to register. Method 1; Register for personal use (Personal account). Method 2; Register for companies and organisations (Corporate account).
Personal account registeration
Step 1: Go to bitstamp.net and click on the “Register” button at the top right.
Step 2: Two options appear; either a personal account or a corporate account. Click on the “Personal account” button.
Step 3: Once you have click on the button, all you have to do is:
- Enter your first name
- Type in your last name
- Enter your email
- Read the terms of use and privacy policy and click on the checkbox and then click on “Continue”.
The next steps would be sent to you in mail so follow those to successfully create an account.
Corporate account registeration
Step 1: Go to Bitstamp.net and click on the “Register” button at the top right.
Step 2: Two options appear; either a personal account or a corporate account. Click on the “Corporate account” button.
Step 3: Once you have click on the button, all you have to do is:
- Enter your first name
- Type in your last name
- Enter your email
- Enter your company name
- Select your country
- Read the terms of use and privacy policy and click on the checkbox and then click on “Continue”.
The next steps would be sent to you in mail so follow those to successfully create an account.
Bitstamp trading
One of the easiest ways to trade is by using your credit card. It’s really simple as well as straightforward. So now, let’s start trading.
Step 1: Click on the Buy/Sell option.
Step 2: Choose Credit Card Purchases
Step 3: A few options are shown as well as the popular choice. Choose any amount of crypto or currency.
Step 4: Then comes the payment details. Here enter all the detail required (Card brand, card number, expiration month, expiration year, verification code etc.) and then click on the “Submit” button.
Step 5: This is not actually a step; only a screen appears that confirms that your transaction was successful.
So that’s it, voila, your transaction was successful and now you are an experienced crypto trader .
Trading in Bitstamp app
One of the easiest ways to trade is by using your credit card. That too, in the Bitstamp’s app, this can be done in less than a minute. So now, let’s start trading.
Step 1 :Open the app and select “Trade” from the bottom navigation bar.
Step 2: Under the instant order and just above the bottom navigation bar, a small widget named “Buy with card” will be visible. Click on it.
Step 3: Enter the amount you want to buy and then click on the “Preview buy” button.
Step 4: Your preview will now be visible along with the fees and the total. After reviewing, click on the “Confirm buy” button.
Step 5: Enter your card details such as your card number, cardholder’s name, expiry date (MM/YY) and the security code (the last three digits at the back of your card). After doing so, click on the “Buy Now” button to confirm.
So that’s it, voila, your transaction was successful and now you’ve just made an investment successfully. Now, click on the “OK” button to continue.
Bitstamp currencies and withdrawal
In terms of withdrawal options, you will be allowed to do so through SEPA and usually the money arrives pretty quickly. As another option, you can also use the regular wire transfer. You can also purchase cryptos by directly using your credit card.
Here are some of the few cryptos available on Bitstamp:
Bitstamp fees
Now here, let’s talk about Bitstamp fees in detail. So basically, deposits, withdrawals and trades all have their own fees. The fees charged by Bitstamp are quite reasonable as compared to what most other exchanges. You can find the full list of schedules here, i’ll just be explaining them in brief:
- Trading fees: Everything under 10,000 USD gets charged a fee of 0.50%. Anything below 1,000,000 USD gets charged a fee of 0.14%. If it’s above 20,000,000,000 USD, no fee is charged.
- SEPA fees: Deposits made through SEPA are free of charge whereas withdrawals made through SEPA are charged a fee of 3.00 EUR.
- Credit card fees: For any purchase made through a credit card is charged 5% of the amount.
- International Wire Transfer: A fee of 0,05% is charged when deposits are made with an international wire transfer. A fee of 0,1% is charged when withdrawing funds through an international wire transfer.
- Cryptocurrency: Crypto deposits are free of charge whereas a fee for withdrawal is charged.
Supported Countries
Bitstamp supports a lot of countries around the world, so 90% chance that it’s available where you are right now. Bitstamp supports 27 EU countries and lots of other countries.
27 EU countries – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Other countries – UK, Switzerland, Norway, Monaco, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Andorra, Moldova, Gibraltar, Iceland, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, Faroe Islands, Åland Islands, San Marino, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Brazil (post-Liveness only), Israel, South Africa, Chile, Kuwait, Cayman Islands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, Puerto Rico, Peru, Madagascar, Mozambique, Dominican Republic, Curaçao, Dominica, Jordan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, French Polynesia, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Réunion, Jamaica, Paraguay, Brunei, New Caledonia, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Sint Maarten.
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Disclaimer: Digital Wallets News does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.