Bittrex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX). Initially, there were two versions of the platform – Bittrex Global and Bittrex US. However, on May 8th, 2023, Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Do note that this only concerns the US version of the exchange. The users of Bittrex Global can continue to use the platform as normal. They can access the Bittrex spot market, which offers crypto-crypto and fiat-crypto trading.
The platform is KYC-compliant and requires users to complete the ID verification process. The Bittrex crypto exchange is available in most countries, excluding the US.
Markets
The Bittrex spot exchange is the main service offered by the platform. It uses a custom-built, scalable trading engine that provides real-time order executions. There are over 950 Bittrex trading pairs available for users, with more than 450 digital assets and fiat currencies listed.
Bittrex supports leveraged trading with FTX leveraged tokens. Traders can receive up to 3x leverage. In June 2022, the company confirmed that margin trading was in the works, although its launch date has not been verified.
The Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange uses an eight-tier fee system with the maker-taker model. The fee schedule is based on the customer’s 30-day Bittrex trade volume. The higher the volume, the lower maker-taker fees you have to pay for your transactions.
The lowest tier requires a trading volume of up to $5,000. The maker-taker fees are both 0.75%. The Bittrex exchange fees are equal for the first three tiers. However, once the Bittrex volume ranges between $25,000-$100,000, the maker-taker rates are 0.20% and 0.25%, respectively.
Maker fees no longer apply if the trade volume exceeds $60 million. In tiers 7 and 8, the taker fees are 0.08% and 0.05%, respectively. The 30-day Bittrex trade volume is calculated and adjusted daily.
No Bittrex crypto fees are charged on deposits of any assets. However, customers may be subjected to transaction fees for fund transfers between addresses. The withdrawal fees are charged with the built-in network transfer fee. The Bittrex crypto price on withdrawals is calculated according to each individual asset.
Bittrex crypto exchange customers can join the Referral Program. Referrers receive 10% on all commissions when they invite new users to the platform. The rewarded Bittrex crypto price is granted as the quote currency during a trade.
Other Services
Aside from the Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange, customers can access staking. Verified users can stake Cardano (ADA) to earn passive rewards. The minimum required staking amount is 1 ADA.
Additionally, Bittrex provides instant crypto purchases. You can buy or sell digital assets using your Bittrex account balance or make payments with a debit or credit card. Supported payment currencies are USD, EUR, Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC). The Bittrex crypto price for direct purchases includes a conversion spread.
About the Company
The Bittrex crypto exchange was co-founded in 2014 by Richie Lai, Bill Shihara, and Rami Kawach. As mentioned before, the US-based version of Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 8th, 2023. The globally accessible iteration, on the other hand, was launched in 2018 and continues to operate as normal. The headquarters of the company are in Vaduz, Lichtenstein. In June 2022, Oliver Linch was appointed as CEO of the global department.
In 2017, Bittrex became the first crypto exchange platform to list ADA. Prior to this, ADA tokens were distributed exclusively to users in Asia, making Bittrex its first international partner.
In October 2018, Bittrex launched a Malta-based platform. However, this division ceased operations a year later. In 2019, it was announced that the services would be halted in 30 other countries, including Venezuela, Egypt, and Uganda, due to regulations.
Richie Lai is the CEO of Bittrex. Alongside the other two co-founders, Lai was part of Amazon’s information security team. He specialized in cyber security and spent 12 years at Microsoft developing digital security systems.
Bill Shihara is the Chairman of Bittrex. Before joining the Bittrex crypto exchange founding team, he spent 2 years as the security engineering manager at BlackBerry. He also worked as the Lead Program Manager for Microsoft.
Rami Kawach is the former CTO of Bittrex. He was Amazon’s principal security engineer. He was also part of the Microsoft security team, having worked on various software engineering projects for over a decade.
