Today, we are going to review BitBay, Europe’s third-largest and oldest crypto exchanges. So, let’s start with a brief introduction of the exchange before looking into its services.

Introduction: BitBay Review

BitBay was established in 2014 in Poland by Sylwester Suszek and its initial goal was to create a versatile platform dedicated only to the Polish market.

However, due to not so favorable regulatory conditions in Europe, the exchange migrated to Malta in May 2018, where it got itself registered.

The exchange maintains its physical presence through its head office located in Poland, with the other two branch offices in Amsterdam and New Delhi.

According to its website, it has over 1 million unique users including 800,000+ active users with an annual volume of BTC 547,000 at the time of writing.

BitBay Services

By opening an account with BitBay, the users are entitled to the following services:

BitBay Cryptocurrency Exchange

BitBay’s trading platform supports more than 20 cryptocurrencies including the major ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, etc. The platform boasts all the important features like order book, order history, charts to provide a smooth trading experience.

BitBay Pro

BitBay PRO is a special trade interface designed to meet the unique needs of professional traders. The platform includes hosts of advanced tools like technical indicators (MACD, RSI, EMA, etc), different price charts (candles, bars), drawing mode to study and compare price charts. Additionally, users can also customize the interface according to their convenience.

BitCantor

The BitCantor service is aimed at providing instant buying and selling of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin without signing or verifying your account. Since the service offers full anonymity to users, the transaction fee is a bit higher compared to the traditional exchange. It claims to have an action rate of 10 seconds.

BitBay Pay

The service is aimed at facilitating Bitcoin as a medium of payment, both in online and offline mode. It can be implemented by any business and supports international transfers, wherein businesses can instantly convert the paid amount in fiat.

BitBay Cash

One of the most unique services and rare among any crypto exchanges at present. It is a service that allows the purchase of cryptocurrencies through cash (USD, EUR, GBP, PLN). The user needs to purchase a voucher from a BitBay distributor which is redeemable on the BitBay website.

Institutional Support

BitBay offers tailored-made cryptocurrency trading services to institutional clients and offers a host of benefits like:

  • Real-time market data and automated trading strategies
  • Customizable trading limits
  • No limited transactions
  • No daily limits for withdrawal

How to Get Start with BitBay

Setting up your account in BitBay is very easy and involves three important actions.

Registration

  • Click on “Register” or “Open Free Account” located in the BitBay homepage
  • In the registration page, click on the email and enter your valid email id
  • Tick the agreement boxes before proceeding to register your email id
  • Following submission, you’ll receive a verification mail in your inbox, there you click on the “Activate Account” button
  • Complete the registration process by creating user-name, password, and four-digit security PIN
  • Hit Next, and then select your country of residence and click on “Create Account” button

Your account is created, still, you need to verify and secure your account to complete the set-up process.

Verification

Post-registration, you need to get your account verified on BitBay if you are using a banking source for fund transfer. You need to log-in to your account and click on the Dashboard. Following that, click on “Verify Your Account” and fill the fields with the necessary details.

After successful submission, your account status will change within 24 hours.

Secure your Account

The third and most important step is to secure your account. Set-up 2FA on your BitBay account by clicking on the “Security” tab on the right panel. Select either email or Google Authenticator to set up 2FA. Post saving and confirming your actions, you will have to enter a code that you received in your inbox from BitBay.

Finally, you can now log-in and start trading bitcoin securely from your account.

Deposit and Withdrawal Option

One of the unique features of BitBay is, you can deposit or withdraw your funds in fiat currencies including USD, EUR, GBP and PLN (Polish Zloty). Besides fiat currencies, it also supports deposit and withdrawal in all supported cryptocurrencies and even game tokens.

The supported method for transfer of funds includes cryptocurrency wallet, bank wire transfer, credit/debit card, through the Polish post office and Express DotPay.

Additionally, BitBay offers its customers with MasterCard debit card, which can also be used for withdrawals at any MasterCard accepted ATMs.

Fees for Deposits and Withdrawal

The fee for deposits via any mode is NIL except for Poczta Polska or PLN Express deposit which charges 2% of the value of the deposit or minimum 5 PLN.

The withdrawal fee varies in each mode. The following are the charges for the top five withdrawal methods.

Withdrawal in PLN

  • Bank wire transfer: 6 PLN
  • via Post Office: 1% of the withdrawal value (min. 20 PLN, max 120 PLN)
  • ATM withdrawal: 10 PLN for an amount ranging between 100-1000 PLN

Withdrawal in USD and GBP

SWIFT bank transfer – 0.25% (min. 10 USD, max 125 USD)

Withdrawal in EUR

SEPA bank transfer – 0.1% (minimum 1.5 EUR)

Withdrawal rates in top 5 cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin: 0.00045
  • Ethereum: 0.00126
  • XRP: 0.1
  • Litecoin: 0.005
  • BCC: 0.0006

Safety Features Of BitBay

The exchange has not elaborated much on the security side of the platform but offers a very general idea of all security measures undertaken on the platform.

  • Two-factor authentication

Apart from the password, the platform offers two options, Google Authenticator and e-mail codes for completing the two-factor authentication.

  • Funds storage

All cryptocurrency funds are stored in an encrypted cold wallet that guarantees no third-party access to funds. And, the fiat currencies are backed by the bank, ensuring all-round protection to customer funds.

  • Encryption

The exchange servers are fully encrypted with full redundancy. Further, passwords, backups, wallets, and other all-important data are also encrypted.

  • Funds transfers

Every request for funds transfers whether it is deposits or withdrawals are authorized by exchange employees. 

KYC and AML 

BitBay exchange requires all users to complete the KYC and AML verification process to get benefitted for all its services. So if you are looking for a non KYC exchange then it is not the best fit. 

Users who want to pay and withdraw in fiat currencies need to verify their account by sending scans of an ID document and address confirmation document. Further, BitBay adds deposits to your account, only if they consist of a correct transfer title.

Supported Countries 

Despite being focused on the Polish and European market, the exchange offers its services internationally. The exchange offers its services in almost 197 countries including China. 

However, since BitBay is an unregulated exchange and is not registered in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), its services are restricted in the US.

Customer Support

BitBay provides customer support through its helpline number +44 20 80 89 80 80 within the business hour. Other dedicated email addresses to seek help regarding any transaction or issues are:

Conclusion

At first look, the exchange looks very decent in terms of features and functionality it offers. And, can be a good option to consider for trading cryptocurrencies. 

Pros and Cons of using BitBay exchange

Pros:

  • Support for four different fiat currency
  • Both fiat and crypto withdrawal and deposit
  • Supports ATM withdrawal through BitBay MasterCard debit card
  • Option to buy Bitcoin with cash
  • Low charges
  • Advanced exchange functions
  • Available in most countries
  • Excellent customer support

Pros:

  • Unregulated exchange in some places but mostly regulated
  • A limited number of crypto support
  • Some services including ATM withdrawals are only limited to Polish customers

The users of the exchange can benefit from their affiliation program, where one can earn 20% of the trading revenue from the transactions made by his/her affiliates.

If you have any thoughts or experiences regarding BitBay, then share it in the comment section below.

You might also like:

Sudhir Khatwani