Bittrex – That’s a sexy makeover
Bittrex was my Altcoin coming out exchange. Until then I was using Kraken exclusively (tell me about it) and had limited to no exposure to how large the altcoin market truly was. It was a confusing yet thrilling (#FOMO) time for me – a new exchange, hundreds of new altcoins to explore, and a compeltely new UI. Before the recent makeover Bittrex did not have the most user friendly interface, in fact on our Crypto Exchange page we label it’s ease of use as ‘advanced’. That hasn’t changed much but who cares, Bittrex finally got the makeover it deserved, and it looks damn good.
Bittrex is one of the stately gentlemen of the exchange bourgeois world. Old school enough to have OG cred, but lagging behind the up and coming exchanges (*cough Binance *cough) in terms of coins added and functionality. Founded in 2013 and launched in 2014, Bittrex is a US based exchange headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The exchange was founded by security experts who previously worked for Microsoft which explains why Bittrex is one of the more secure and safer exchanges.
BINANCE EXCHANGE OVERVIEW
Bittrex is one of the top 5 cryptocurrency exchanges by volume because they offer users over 150+ cryptocurrency trading pairs in Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT. You will note no USD. Bittrex does not offer Fiat pairs so you will have to first purchase bitcoin at an exchange that does, then transfer it to Bittrex.
Why has Bittrex remained competative all these years? They provide users a secure platform and safe storage using multi-sig wallets, the Bittrex platform utilizes it’s own custom trading engine, provides fast withdrawals and deposits and most importantly give competent customer support. Bittrex offers two type of account for users: Basic and Enhanced. Simply put the differences between account types is the level Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements you must provide and the amount of BTC you can withdraw at any one time.
Registering for Bittrex, like most other popoular crypto exchanges, is simple and straighforward. Provide your email, create a new password (Please please use a unique password for each exchanges) and verify your email address by clicking the link in the email sent by Bittrex. Once you’ve done you are in! You will note immidiately the new Bittrex UI (refer to my first image for the original ugliness).
Once you have logged in your first step should be to deposit cryptocurrency. At the top of the page you will note a few options – first click on “Wallets”. This will show all the available cryptocurrencies that Bittrex offers. Use the search bar to find the cryptocurrency you want to deposit. Next to the coin you will notice a small green and red circle with a down and up arrow, click the green one.
A deposit box will pop up which allows you to generate a public deposit address. When the address appears you are ready to deposit. We recommend starting with a small amount to be sure things are on the up and up (Best practices, people) before moving that phat crypto loot.
Market and Trading View – Let the trading begin
You’ve registered, confirmed your address and deposited cryptocurrency. Let’s get to trading! Here is where things have changed drastically from the old and dated UI to the new and fancy (read: playing catchup to Binance) facelift Bittrex recently underwent. At the top click on ‘Markets’ and search for the coin you wish to purchase, and click the link.
The most prominent feature of the trading view is the front & center candle graph. If you are new to trading cryptocurrency then this will seem alien to you (you are not alone). If you are a “veteran” then this will, finally, look and feel like a traditional asset graph. But how do you buy crypto???
Scroll below the graph to the order book where you can see all buy and sell orders that have been placed. On the left hand side are the buy orders (people who want to buy other peoples coin), opposite are the sell orders (vice versa). You can view all buy/bid and sell/ask orders that have already been placed by other users.
Here is where things get somewhat difficult. This UI is not designed for new or basic users. In fact there is no basic trading view on the Bittrex re-design, which is dissapointing. With so many new users joining crypto we expected there to be a simpler visual interface aimed at casual traders or investors.
Between the Buy and Sell order tables, and below the menu to ‘Display Rows’, you will find the area to place orders. The ‘Buy’ button is clicked by default. Enter the bid price and quantity of units you wish to purchase and click the Buy bottom at the bottom and click confirm. The bid price is the price at which you wish to buy. If the coin is worth 0.1BTC and you want to buy it for 0.09BTC, be sure to place 0.09 into the Bid Price row. By default the order type is ‘Limit’ which commits you to purchasing the cryptocurrency you want at exactly the price you entered.
‘Time in Force’ is important to understand so listen up. The default setting is ‘ Good ‘Till Cancelled’ which means when you place an order, it will stay active until you physically click cancel. In most cases this is good enough but all traders want options. The other options are ‘Immediate-Or-Cancel (IOC)’ which is an order to buy or sell a coin that must be executed immediately. Any portion of an IOC order that cannot be filled immediately will be cancelled.
And last, but certainly not least, is the ‘Fill-or-Kill’ order (such violencia). This is an order to buy or sell a coin that must be executed immediately in its entirety. If not the entire order will be cancelled. or KILLED. Such violence.
Once the order is fulfilled your cryptocurrency will appar in your Bittrex Wallet. At this point you have two reasonable options: Leave your coins on the Bittrex exchange, or withdraw your cryptocurrency to another wallet off the exchange. We recommend you consider alternative storage for your crypto away from exchanges.
Bittrex Fees
It’s rather simple: All trades have a 0.25% commision (amount * purchase price * .0025). Period. It’s higher than other exchanges, but that’s the cost of having a secure and stable platform. There are no fees for deposits which follows the norm for all exchanges. Regarding withdrawals Bittrex states that they only charge a fee to cover the network transfer fee that is built into the coin. You can spot check each individual coins fee by clicking the withdraw icon (red circle with a down arrow).
| Kucoin | Binance | Bittrex | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Fee | ||
| Trading Fees | 0.1% (of asset bought) | 0.1% (of asset bought) | 0.25% on all trades | If you have BNB, you can choose BNB to deduct 50% trading fee?temporary? |
| BTC withdrawals | 0.001 BTC | 0.001 BTC | 0.0005 BTC | |
| ETH withdrawals | 0.010 ETH | 0.010 ETH | 0.0060 ETH | |
| LTC withdrawals | 0.001 LTC | 0.010 LTC | 0.0100 LTC |
Quick everyone go to Bittrex, registration is open!
Oh wait…Wait what’s wrong? You can’t register? It took a whole 20 minutes after the Bittrex relaunch before registration was “temporarily” paused to tweak the system. This was your moment Bittrex. Your time to shine with a new UI/X, snazzy new logo, marketing campaign and server capacity to handle the horde. But you fumbled it.
Summary
Overall I am very pleased with the new Bittrex user interface, look and feel. We’re also glad they finally put in a night mode. Bittrex is one of the largest and safest cryptocurrency exchanges out there so it’s great to see them re-investing their spoils into improving the user experience. It’s also telling that they finally re-opened registration and promptly had to shut it down. People want to be on Bittrex, more than many anticipated.
We are dissapointed Bittrex did not include a basic interface for new users. The Cryptocurrency space is going to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years and those new users will be looking for ease of use and low barriers to entry exchanges to dip their toes into the market. Bittrex remains an exchange for skilled users .
We recommend using Bittrex for users who have experience using other exchanges and graphic tools. The exchanges transparent fees, oodles of cryptocurrency, good support and security make Bittrex a fine place to do your crypto trading. Don’t be afraid to dip your toes! That’s how I started my journey to Bittrex and I haven’t looked back yet.
Don’t forget to check out our reviews of Binance and Kucoin exchanges.
