What is bitstamp.com? How does it compare to its competitors in the market? Is it a safe and reliable platform? These are some of the items that I will be helping you have a clear understanding of in today’s review. To give you an even more clear picture of what Bitstamp.com is here to achieve, we shall present content under the following subtopics:
- What is bitstamp.com?
- What services does Bitstamp.com offer?
- Which are the currencies and payment methods allowed on this platform?
- Fees you can expect to be charged when using this platform?
- How is customer support offered on Bitstamp.com?
- In which countries is this platform supported?
- Is Bitstamp.com genuine?
- Pros and Cons
Name of the platform: Bitstamp
Official website URL: https://www.bitstamp.net/
Overall rating:
Recommended: No.
What is Bitstamp.com?
Bitstamp happens to be one of the most widely known cryptocurrency exchanges in the crypto exchange sector. It was founded in 2011 and has been serving its consumers ever since. The creators of this platform had quality in mind when they were establishing it. They intended to bring to the market a platform that offered high-quality exchanges for a limited number of cryptos, as opposed to having a platform that presented a wide variety of coins without focusing on quality. Nejc Kodriv and Damijan Merlak are the two gentlemen behind the existence of this platform. Initially, Bitstamp was based in Slovenia, but it was moved to the UK (2013), then Luxemburg (2016), and finally Belgium (2018). NXMH, a Belgium-based firm, acquired Bitstamp in 2018.
You may have already heard about Bitstamp from the 2014 and 2015 hacks in which 19000 Bitcoin tokens were stolen.
What services does Bitstamp.com offer?
The main service offered by Bitstamp is a trading platform. Traders can use this platform to trade BTC as well as a limited number of cryptos. The fact that only few coins are allowed on this platform means that you will not also expect to be bombarded with many order types. At the moment, only the following order types are allowed on Bitstamp.com:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop
- Instant
Which are the currencies and payment methods allowed on this platform?
Bitstamp allows both Euros and USD as the main fiat currencies. For those who have European bank accounts, it is easy to use SEPA to deposit funds into the Bitstamp.com accounts. This payment transaction is processed pretty fast so that you can get started with trading. If you do not want to use SEPA, a regular wire transfer can also work equally well.
Bitstamp.com also allows you to purchase BTC using your credit card. This method has a daily limit of $1500. The total fees charged for using your credit card will come close to 8% totally.
Another method that is allowed on this platform is AstroPay.
Fees you can expect to be charged when using this platform?
The deposits and withdrawals on this platform are relatively cheap in comparison to most other platforms in the market. For regular wire transfer, for instance, the fees are 0.05%, which I think quite low.
The trading fees on this platform vary, but this is all dependent on the volume of your buy and sell orders. The highest trading fee on Bitstamp is 0.25% of all the amounts of money under $20,000. These fees can however drop to as low as 0.10% if you work with amounts higher than $20,000,000.
The main thing that I would highlight, however, is that using your credit card to make small purchases will cost you a lot of money in the long run. You will, for instance, incur charges of up to 8% on amounts less than $500.
If you decide to use cryptos to deposit funds into your Bitstamp account, it will not cost you anything (depending on the wallet that you are using, there may be some network fees, but these may be quite negligible altogether).
How is customer support offered on Bitstamp.com?
Bitstamp allows you to communicate with the customer support staff via their ticketing system, with which you can typically get a response within 24-72 hours. This time varies depending on the nature of your question. You can also reach out to them through their UK business telephone numbers. This is only allowed for emergency purposes.
You can also simply rely on the FAQ page of this platform. I think their FAQ section is one of the most comprehensive ones that you will find in this industry. They have in-depth answers to most of the questions that would have with regards to the use of their exchange platform, which makes it more likely for you to use this platform without needing the help of the customer care support staff.
In which countries is this platform supported?
Currently, Bitstamp is allowed in the 28 European Union nations. Those living in the USA can also open and use Bitstamp accounts since it is offered through the Bitstamp USA subsidiary. The other nations this platform is accessible in are:
South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Curaçao, Dominica, Jordan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Sint Maarten, Turkey, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Chile, Kuwait, Switzerland, French Polynesia, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Réunion, Jamaica, Paraguay, Brunei, New Caledonia, Norway, Monaco, Andorra, Moldova, Gibraltar, Iceland, Greenland, Peru, Madagascar, Mozambique, Faroe Islands, Åland Islands, San Marino, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, Montenegro, Serbia, Cayman Islands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, Lebanon, Puerto Rico
Is Bitstamp.com genuine or a Scam?
Yes. I think it is a genuine platform that is out to solve the needs of people who need a crypto exchange platform that has low fees.
On Trustpilot, this platform has a rating of (2.2/5) stars, which is quite low. More than half of the consumer reviews point to Bitstamp being an unreliable platform. Unlike other customer reviews that usually seem made up, the reviews I found on TrustPilot seem rather genuine, and if it true that they are dissatisfied to that extent, then I think this is a platform that I would not encourage you to use until its owners have come up to prove that it is completely hackerproof.
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Pros and Cons
Pros
- Low fees
- Focuses on a few quality exchanges
- One of the earliest crypto exchanges to have been launched
Cons
- Its safety can be put to question
- Poor consumer ratings and reviews
Final words and verdict:
Verdict: Legit
Overall rating :
Bitstamp.com is in the market trying to achieve its objectives but its constantly trying to reinstate the trust that was lost when hackers successfully stole $5 million from it. I would not say much about how secure this platform is, but I believe its current owners are figuring out ways to make it more reliable. As of now, I think I can tell you to check out what my number one recommended alternative to Bitstamp.com has to offer.
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There you have it: a review of what Bitstamp.com is about. I hope you’ve enjoyed the read, and that you will decide which platform will best serve your interest as a prudent investor. If you have any questions that you’d like me to answer, do not hesitate to drop them in the comments section, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Your Friend,
Eric, investor, and team member on Gold Retired!