Founded in 2013 by Bill Shihara and two business associates, all of whom worked previously at Microsoft, helped shape Bittrex into the renowned exchange it is today.
US-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is one of world largest cryptocurrency exchanges, often finding its way into the top 3 US exchanges in terms of trading volume.
Based in Seattle, Bittrex is also one of the largest suppliers of alternative cryptocurrencies, which currently lists hundreds of different coins to choose from.
Bittrex is an intuitive and easy to navigate exchange platform that provides simple solutions to all your crypto needs, let’s dive right in.
Signing up
Note: Due to geoblocking you may be redirected to the international landing page.
Upon signing up you will be prompted to enter an email address and desired password before you receive a link to verify your account in your email inbox.
Once you have verified your account, you will then be asked to read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before proceeding, read and click ‘Accept The Terms’ and you’ll be directed to your account management settings.
Security
Go ahead and enter your personal information inside the ‘My Profile’ tab under ‘Account’, ensure you fill all details correctly.
Underneath you will see ‘Identity Verification’ click on that and start the process.
From there you will be asked to provide identification in the form of official government ID such as your passport or driver’s license.
Once you have submitted the appropriate documentation for the process you will be redirected to another page to await verification, which takes about 10 minutes.
Hint: Try hitting the refresh button in your browser when you have been redirected to the waiting screen (10-minute wait), so as to be able to check the status of the verification process. You should get approved after 4-8 minutes of wait time.
Once you have been approved that’s it, for now, add funds to your wallet to start trading.
Loading up your wallet
Under the “Wallet” tab you will discover your account balance summary along with a list of coins you are looking to withdraw from and deposit to the Bittrex exchange.
In the blue search bar we typed in bitcoin’s ticker BTC and saw the option to ‘deposit’ or ‘withdraw’ funds, click ‘make deposit’ (green icon).
You will then be taken a new screen asking you to ‘generate a new wallet address’ select that option. This can take time so just be patient and don’t refresh your page.
Once completed you will receive an automatically generated wallet address that you will need to use to transfer your bitcoin funds to, from an existing exchange wallet to your Bittrex wallet address (ensure you enter all address details correctly).
Hint: If you are wishing to load USD to your account so that you can trade in fiat pair, you can choose to file this form request, which could take some time getting verified, just be mindful of the $1000 minimum limit.
Once you have made a deposit i.e bitcoin or fiat, from another exchange, you are ready to begin trading on the Bittrex exchange.
On the exchange
In the top right corner on the main Bittrex website, you will see a tab named ‘Markets’, select that and you will be directed to the page (shown above) where you will be able to choose from your favorite token/coin and pairings.
After you have selected your desired token/coin, you will be brought to the markets exchange page where you can see the price chart, order book for both buy and sell as well as the list of assets with percentage changes on the left-hand side of the screen.
You can choose to enter a specific amount for your particular asset, in this case, we selected USD-BTC pairing with the order type set to default.
Next, choose your quantity and select ‘bid price’ from the drop-down menu then select “Good til canceled”.
“A Good-Til-Cancelled (GTC) order is an order to buy or sell a token that lasts until the order is completed, expired, or canceled.”
Meanwhile:
“An Immediate-Or-Cancel (IOC) order is an order to buy or sell a token that must be executed immediately. Any portion of an IOC order that cannot be filled immediately will be cancelled”.
Finally hit “Buy Bitcoin” and there you have it, you have now successfully purchased digital assets via the Bittrex exchange.
Security
Lastly, but definitely not least of all is the Two-Factor security feature on Bittrex that you should familiarize yourself with and use to authenticate your account further.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a feature that asks you to confirm your identity from two separate points (usually mobile and computer) by sending a code via an application such as Google Authenticator (located on the iTunes and Google play stores).
Simply download the application to your mobile and scan the QR Code that is provided to you under “Settings” > “Site Settings” > “Two-Way Authentication” then enter the code you received from your phone, at the bottom of the page.
Withdrawals
The process for withdrawing your funds is similar to when you first deposited them.
In the top-right hand corner of the screen click on “Wallets” and from the list select the cryptocurrency you are wishing to withdraw.
Select the red balloon with a red up arrow that says “Withdraw” when you highlight it.
Enter another wallet address (the one you wish to offramp to for example) and enter the desired amount then hit “Withdraw”.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Bittrex is considered one of the world’s most stable and secure exchanges, boasting a large array of crypto assets to choose from, making it one of the more popular platforms of choice.
- Highly secure platform with familiar user experience to that of its competitors, making the switch between exchanges, seamless.
- Bittrex draws its wealth of experience and knowledge from a pool of talented developers and businessmen.
Cons
- You will need to submit a somewhat lengthy form in order to be granted access to trade and purchase USD.
- A minimum amount of $1,000 is required on top of the form in order to be able to start using USD.
- You are having to file a form and await pending decisions by the exchange, which could prove costly to those wishing to create a new account and enter into a position quickly.
