The longest-standing cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp, is the ideal place to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Read more about this ‘most respected exchange,’ their supported currencies, fees, pros and cons, popular reviews, etc.
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges.
High liquidity and low transaction fees.
Safe and secure exchange.
Based in Europe, Bitstamp is one of the oldest cryptocurrency marketplaces. It was founded in the year 2011, with its headquarters in Luxembourg. Bitstamp is regarded as a highly respected exchange in the crypto world. It was created as a competitor to the then-popular Mt.Gox exchange by Nejc Kodric and Damijan Merlak in Slovenia. The creators of Bitstamp wanted the platform to be safe and reliable because the 2014 Mt.Gox hack gave cryptocurrency exchanges a bad reputation. Bitstamp is the first licensed and fully regulated cryptocurrency exchange in the world. It is the preferred exchange by Europeans and also one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
Bitstamp has established quite a name for itself in the last few years as one of the most reliable platforms for purchasing cryptocurrencies. The motto of Bitstamp is “quality over quantity” and focuses on providing users with consistency rather than “innovations” or half-baked services. Bitstamp provides the following order types for their exchange:
Note that if you transfer another type of fiat currency (GBP or CAD for example) your funds will be converted into USD or EUR with applied exchange rates.
Bitstamp allows users to make payments using credit or debit cards and bank transfers.
US customers are able to use ACH to deposit funds into their accounts.
Bitstamp supports all the countries in the European Union and Bitstamp USA serves customers based in the United States. Bitstamp serves the following regions:
EU: Available in all member states
US: Available in most states, but may require additional identity verification
Other supported countries and territories: 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.
Bitstamp offers competitive fees when compared to other exchanges. The fees depend a lot on the payment method chosen by users. Below is a brief breakdown of their fees:
Cryptocurrencies: Withdrawals and deposits of cryptocurrencies are not charged any fees.
“Bitstamp is a veteran cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2011 and has been leading the space ever since. The exchange puts an emphasis on quality over quantity, supplying trading options for a limited amount of cryptocurrencies yet maintaining a positive user experience overall.” - www.99bitcoins.com
“Bitstamp has great security and a team that really cares about its users. Bitstamp is becoming one of the world’s most trusted crypto exchanges. If you can work out the basics, then Bitstamp might be for you.” - www.bitdegree.org
“Apart from their weak customer support, Bitstamp is by far one of the most trusted and reliable cryptocurrency exchanges around. The fees they charge are reasonable and the selection of altcoins is fairly decent. The fact that the exchange accepts fiat currencies is also a major draw for many people seeking to trade cryptocurrencies. But unless you have some prior experience in trading cryptocurrencies, you might find the platform a little overwhelming and confusing.” - www.fxempire.com
“Bitstamp is an old giant: it has remained in continued operation for 8 years, houses high amounts of real volume to a small amount of high-cap cryptocurrencies, and focuses on the quality of current features instead of endlessly adding half-thought ones. It does little, but does it well, and manages to instill trust in its high amount of returning customers, and have also managed to win over our rating - which holds very high standards.” - www.cointelligence.com
Bitstamp was hacked in the year 2015, and almost 19,000 Bitcoin were stolen while their main competitor, Mt.Gox went bankrupt for a similar hack in 2014. However, Bitstamp was quick to act and worked hard on ensuring the safety and security of its users. Customers were reimbursed the lost funds and the platform was rebuilt with safety as the priority. The founders came to the realization that exchanges need to work on trust and reliability more than anything else. They focused their attention on building one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. They achieved this by moving all funds to cold storage, which cannot be accessed online. Secondly, they began to insure funds so that the users are protected. Apart from the mentioned changes, they started implementing two-factor verification for all logins and transactions, as well as simultaneous text message alerts to notify the user if there is any activity within their account. Finally, they employ the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to keep all user information private.
Yes, Bitstamp accepts fiat currency payments in USD and Euros.
Once your account is verified, you may deposit funds to start trading. You may follow the steps below:Transfer funds through a preferred deposit method.Select your desired trading pair within your Bitstamp account.Select the order type and enter the amount of cryptocurrency you wish to purchase, and then place the buying order through the Bitstamp Buy/Sell page.
It takes 1-3 business days for customers within the European Union and 2-5 days for outside the SEPA zone.
Bitstamp uses two-factor verification for all logins and transactions with simultaneous text message alerts that notify the user of any activity in their account. They also employ the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to keep all user information private.
Bitstamp USA exclusively functions to serve customers based in the United States.
The government of Luxembourg granted Bitstamp a full regulation license in 2016. Since then, Bitstamp is regulated and permitted to operate in all EU member countries.
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