Headquarters: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Description: The Next Generation Digital Currency Exchange
Website: https://bittrex.com
24-hour trade volume: $704 M
Availability: Worldwide
Looking for the best bitcoin exchange in 2018? Check out our Best Bitcoin Exchange Guide to compare all of the top cryptocurrency exchanges side-by-side.
User Experience
Design
Bittrex is the 5th largest Bitcoin exchange by 24-hour trade volume, however, it does not rank quite as high when it comes to the design. Overall, the navigation is confusing and the actual exchange and order book look very dated. If you value user experience, Bittrex might not be the best bitcoin exchange for you.
Beginner-Friendly
By default, Bittrex is not the most beginner friendly platform because it only allows you to deposit or exchange cryptocurrencies. Even after you deposit crypto, the platform still takes some figuring out.
For example, on the "Accounts" page where it shows balances, rather than a distinct "deposit" or "withdraw" button, there's simply a plus or minus symbol next to each balance. This page also shows the balance of all currencies, not just the ones I have a balance in.
These are small examples, but they're representative of the platforms larger shortcomings. I found many unnecessary navigational elements and others that were oversimplified.
Documentation
Yes - Bittrex offers a nice support center with some useful answers to very common questions. There were several questions I had relating to security and insurance that are not even mentioned in any articles. After looking closely at the articles in the help center they're very thin.
Customer Support
Don't expect a response - I submitted a support request on 11/8 and four days later recieved this automated response:
Due to un unprecedented amount of growth in a relatively short amount of time we're experiencing a longer than usual wait time responding to and resolving your requests. This wait time has also increased the number of duplicate tickets entered on the same issues, further slowing down our agents ability to get to your request in a timely manner. We apologize greatly for the wait and we are actively training new personnel and streamlining our support system to better handle the demand.]
Even the automated responses appear to be experiencing "longer than usual wait times."
Security
Verification Tiers
Basic & Enhanced
- Basic Tier
- No verification required
- Withdraw / Deposit up to 3 BTC per day
- Enhanced Tier
- Requires some verification (license, bank statements, etc.)
- Withdraw / Deposit up to 100 BTC per day
2-Factor Authentication
Yes - via Google Authenticator
Insurance
No - Found no mention of insurance in the help center or on the website
Storage
No - No mention of storage, cold or otherwise, in the help center or on the website
Encryption
SSL encryption is mentioned on the homepage, but there's no information anywhere else
Payment & Fees
Fee Structure
Trades - 0.25% commission on all trades
Deposits - Pay network fees only
Withdrawals - Pay network fees only
Accepted Payment Methods
Cryptocurrency only
Wire Transfer - Available for deposits greater than $100,000 USD
Supported Cryptocurrencies / Trading Pairs
SC/ETH
SYNX/BTC
EGC/BTC
EBST/BTC
CURE/BTC
FLDC/BTC
RLC/ETH
FUN/ETH
DGB/ETH
CANN/BTC
DOPE/BTC
EXCL/BTC
AUR/BTC
ION/BTC
2GIVE/BTC
SWIFT/BTC
XAUR/BTC
GEO/BTC
CPC/BTC
ERC/BTC
GCR/BTC
GOLOS/BTC
SWT/BTC
XMG/BTC
BCC/BTC
ETH/BTC
BTC/USDT
MER/BTC
BCC/USDT
POWR/BTC
ETH/USDT
ETC/BTC
OK/BTC
NEO/BTC
EMC2/BTC
LSK/BTC
LTC/BTC
DASH/BTC
XZC/BTC
BCC/ETH
OMG/BTC
STRAT/BTC
XLM/BTC
XRP/BTC
QTUM/BTC
WAVES/BTC
VTC/BTC
XMR/BTC
ZEC/BTC
MCO/BTC
ETC/USDT
BITB/BTC
ADA/BTC
NEO/USDT
RDD/BTC
STORJ/BTC
GRS/BTC
ARK/BTC
ADX/BTC
TRIG/BTC
LTC/USDT
OMG/USDT
XVG/BTC
XEM/BTC
RCN/BTC
SALT/BTC
POWR/ETH
DGB/BTC
SYS/BTC
KMD/BTC
MTL/BTC
XMR/ETH
GBYTE/BTC
DASH/USDT
QTUM/ETH
PAY/BTC
XRP/USDT
MONA/BTC
SLR/BTC
BAT/BTC
WINGS/BTC
NEO/ETH
MLN/BTC
CVC/BTC
ETC/ETH
PART/BTC
ZEC/USDT
SC/BTC
XST/BTC
ZEN/BTC
TIME/ETH
EXP/BTC
OMG/ETH
CLUB/BTC
LBC/BTC
STEEM/BTC
XLM/ETH
NAV/BTC
ARDR/BTC
XMR/USDT
RISE/BTC
DCT/BTC
DASH/ETH
NXT/BTC
FCT/BTC
LTC/ETH
SNT/BTC
DOGE/BTC
LGD/BTC
GNT/BTC
ZEC/ETH
MAID/BTC
XRP/ETH
DCR/BTC
PIVX/BTC
IOP/BTC
RLC/BTC
TIX/BTC
FUN/BTC
GUP/BTC
MCO/ETH
XEL/BTC
EDG/BTC
GAME/BTC
TRST/BTC
XCP/BTC
AEON/BTC
POT/BTC
PAY/ETH
WINGS/ETH
ANT/BTC
VIA/BTC
BAY/BTC
NXS/BTC
NMR/BTC
SALT/ETH
1ST/BTC
XDN/BTC
EMC/BTC
UBQ/BTC
ADX/ETH
WAVES/ETH
RADS/BTC
STRAT/ETH
SBD/BTC
GNT/ETH
BLOCK/BTC
SNGLS/BTC
REP/BTC
BNT/BTC
VIB/BTC
SAFEX/BTC
DNT/BTC
TKN/BTC
BNT/ETH
VRC/BTC
RBY/BTC
CRB/ETH
ENRG/BTC
PDC/BTC
DGD/ETH
REP/ETH
BTCD/BTC
CRB/BTC
VRM/BTC
BCY/BTC
GLD/BTC
ABY/BTC
TRUST/BTC
CFI/ETH
FCT/ETH
FAIR/BTC
TIX/ETH
SIB/BTC
GAM/BTC
DYN/BTC
TKN/ETH
GUP/ETH
DTB/BTC
VTR/BTC
DNT/ETH
CLOAK/BTC
FTC/BTC
PKB/BTC
BSD/BTC
QRL/BTC
VOX/BTC
NEOS/BTC
RCN/ETH
SEQ/BTC
DGD/BTC
PTOY/BTC
MUSIC/BTC
NLG/BTC
XVC/BTC
XWC/BTC
XEM/ETH
AMP/BTC
CFI/BTC
STORJ/ETH
TX/BTC
SLS/BTC
BLK/BTC
SHIFT/BTC
LUN/BTC
KORE/BTC
ZCL/BTC
MUE/BTC
IOC/BTC
DMD/BTC
CRW/BTC
LMC/BTC
CVC/ETH
GNO/BTC
BAT/ETH
HMQ/BTC
FLO/BTC
MEME/BTC
NXC/BTC
EFL/BTC
GBG/BTC
BURST/BTC
MANA/BTC
THC/BTC
INCNT/BTC
SNT/ETH
ANT/ETH
VIB/ETH
CLAM/BTC
SPR/BTC
BLITZ/BTC
QWARK/BTC
XMY/BTC
START/BTC
UNB/BTC
NBT/BTC
COVAL/BTC
SNGLS/ETH
OMNI/BTC
BYC/BTC
PPC/BTC
PINK/BTC
ADT/BTC
TKS/BTC
TIME/BTC
MTL/ETH
MYST/BTC
LGD/ETH
NMR/ETH
SNRG/BTC
AGRS/BTC
GRC/BTC
APX/BTC
MANA/ETH
TRST/ETH
PTC/BTC
1ST/ETH
BRX/BTC
PTOY/ETH
INFX/BTC
BRK/BTC
QRL/ETH
SPHR/BTC
HMQ/ETH
LUN/ETH
ADT/ETH
MYST/ETH
GNO/ETH
Technology
Reliability
Bittrex is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. As a result, Bittrex has excellent liquidity due to a massive 24-hour trade volume. But as far as the reliability of the platform, I experienced hiccups in the actual service. It's possible this was just an issue with my own personal internet, but I hadn't experienced slight delays like this on platforms like Gemini or GDAX.
Mobile App
No — However, the site is mostly mobile responsive. Some pages were more mobile friendly than others.