Bitrue Review – Is This Crypto Exchange Worth Using?

With nearly 500 crypto exchanges providing cryptocurrency trading services in the industry, it can, at times, be a mindboggling feat when attempting to find a mainstay exchange. Doubly so when an individual is looking for an entry-level exchange for their first exchange. Bitrue may be a viable exchange for some, especially for investors looking to trade XRP.

Most crypto exchanges have noteworthy aspects that contribute to their competitive edge. What sets Bitrue apart from other exchanges? This Bitrue review will highlight the services offered on this digital asset management platform and give a comprehensive overview of the exchange itself. Some things covered in this Bitrue review include:

• Brief background (“Is Bitrue Regulated?”)
• Bitrue trading platform and associated trading pairs
• Trading fees and other fees
• Deposit and withdrawal methods
• Support 
• Setting up a Bitrue account

While this Bitrue review will highlight the key features of this crypto exchange, the negative aspects will also be covered. A list of pros and cons, as well as a rating of how Bitrue ranks against most other exchanges in the industry, will be given towards the end of the review. The contents in this review do not constitute financial advice of any kind.

Brief Background of Bitrue

The Bitrue digital asset management platform was founded in Singapore in 2018. Since its inception, the Bitrue crypto exchange has seen a growing trading volume, especially in the year 2021 where the exchange has reached a benchmark of over 4 million registered accounts.  The trading volume for Bitrue in 2021 has ranged from an average of $500 million per day to over $6.3 billion, reflecting the global interest in the cryptocurrency industry and overall market cycles. The Bitrue company currently holds offices in Europe, the United States, and Singapore. Bitrue has been rapidly expanding, being the first exchange to offer interest-earning services and crypto-collateralized loan services.

Is Bitrue Regulated?

For those wondering, “Is Bitrue Regulated?” Yes, the Bitrue exchange is currently a regulated centralized exchange. However, while no KYC is required, not all cryptocurrency trading services offered on the Bitrue digital asset management platform are available for users located within restricted regions due to regulatory compliance.

Restricted Countries and Territories

The Bitrue platform is open to global customers with the exclusion of residents of the U.S. states of Texas and New York, as well as the Republic of China. Due to regulatory compliance, users must not reside in any territory that appears on a sanctions list. Users must also not be on the “Denied Persons List” of the U.S. Commerce Department or the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department’s “Specially Designated National” list. 

Due to the local laws for each jurisdiction, ETF and Futures trading services provided on Bitrue are not offered for the following countries: 

Bitrue Trading Platform

The Bitrue exchange features a very intuitive trading platform to trade digital assets. The chart interface is integrated with Trading View charts, offering some of the best technical analysis tools in the industry. The overall layout of the trading platform is very similar to Binance and other exchanges, giving the exchange a familiar feel to those interested in using this exchange.

There are currently three different trading markets available on the Bitrue trading platform, including:

• Spot trading
• ETF trading with 3x leverage
• Futures trading of perpetual contracts with up to 20x leverage

Digital Assets Offered on Spot Market

There is a wide variety of digital assets available on Bitrue’s spot market. This wide variety expands exponentially with a number of different base pair markets, including USDT, BTC, ETH, and XRP. Currently, there are 164 USDT trading pairs; 64 BTC trading pairs; 32 ETH trading pairs; and 58 pairs for XRP trading.

Perhaps the most appealing feature of the spot trading platform (especially to the XRP community) is the ability to trade digital assets using XRP as a base pair. In fact, Bitrue is perhaps the first exchange to offer this ability. XRP trading in this fashion will allow users to make profits in XRP (as opposed to USDT or BTC). It is not often that these types of XRP trading pairs are found on exchanges. For traders and investors looking to buy and sell Bitcoin and a wide range of other cryptocurrencies, this might be a worthwhile thing to research.

Digital Assets Offered on ETF Platform

Bitrue offers a decent number of ETFs available for 3x leveraged trading. Users can purchase either a Long or Short position ETF on over 30 different crypto assets, including:

• BTC
• SUSHI
• XEM
• DOGE
• THETA
• BNB
• AXS
• 1Inch

Digital Assets Offered on Futures Platform

While Bitrue does offer perpetual futures contracts on their platform, this section of the exchange has nowhere near the number of pairs available compared to the other services. Currently, there are 7 different pairs available with 20x leverage, including:

• BTC/USDT
• XRP/USDT
• ETH/USDT
• LINK/USDT
• ADA/USDT
• ETC/USDT
• BCH/USDT

Digital Asset Management Platform

Currently, there are a few methods available for making fiat currency deposits to Bitrue. For those interested in using fiat currency (or government-mandated money) to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Bitrue has a few different services available depending on the customer’s preferences. Each of these services is handled by 3rd party partners, and each method has its different fees. 

One such method is through Legend Trading, which has a minimal trading fee of 0.08% with no fee for USD transfers made with ACH. There is support for multiple fiat currencies via fiat wire transfer, including:

• USD
• EUR
• GBP
• HKD
• SGD
• AUD
• CHF
• MXN

Simplex is also offered on Bitrue for those interested in using a credit card to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Customers can make credit card deposits with MasterCard, Visa, or Apple Pay to purchase the digital asset of their choice. Simplex has become a standard 3rd party service, providing similar services for many exchanges in the industry. 

Trust Token is another 3rd party partner, allowing customers to buy and sell using fiat currencies. Customers will be able to keep track of the funds with Trust Token’s escrowed bank method. Trust Token’s operations span beyond 5 different continents. 

Bitrue Mobile App

For traders and investors looking to manage their orders and portfolios on the go, Bitrue offers a fully immersive mobile application. Traders can trade all of Bitrue’s markets, including the spot platform and futures platform, through the Bitrue mobile app. Investors can also take advantage of Bitrue’s passive income services with the application as well. The mobile application is available for both Android and iOS devices. Users can simplify their download process by scanning the QR code found on the main website, which leads directly to the Bitrue app download.

Crypto Loans

Cryptocurrency lending is also a service available on the Bitrue crypto exchange. Users can borrow cryptocurrencies by using other cryptocurrency assets (such as stablecoins, altcoins, and primary coins) as collateral. Loans can be paid out in:

• BTC
• ETH
• XRP
• USDT

While this is not a feature seen on most crypto exchanges, this can be a handy service for some traders and investors that wish to use the buying power of their holdings in another currency for a short period of time while retaining the ownership of their original funds. There are a number of instances that this service could be convenient for, and having the service on the same platform as the exchange is extra convenient for traders.

Power Piggy

Bitrue also offers Power Piggy, which allows users to earn interest on their cryptocurrency holdings. There are currently over 50 different cryptocurrencies compatible with the Power Piggy service, with users able to earn interest with interest rates up to 35% annual percentage rate with some tokens.

Tokens can be locked up for as long as the user wishes (in many cases), though there are some options available for 30-day and 60-day lockup periods. There does appear to be an exchange-wide daily cap for the amount of each type of digital asset that can be put into the service. This high annual percentage rate could be a great option for those looking for passive income opportunities. 

BTR Lockups

Another of Bitrue’s additional features relating to passive income is BTR Lockups, which essentially allows investors to stake the Bitrue Coin on Bitrue’s mining platform for interest rate rewards. By making a deposit, users can stake Bitrue Coin for a large number of cryptocurrencies, including:

• BTC
• ETH
• XRP
• ADA
• LINK
• LUNA
• VET
• ZIL
• USDT

Users will receive their rewards (based on a set APY rate of interest, unique for each token) by making a deposit of BTR funds in a set lock-up period in exchange for the company to perform voting functions on DeFi blockchains. Currently, the mining service is only available via Bitrue’s mobile app (available for Android and iOS devices).

Trading Fees

Like nearly every other cryptocurrency exchange, Bitrue does have a low fee structure for trading fees. For the most part, Bitrue has a flat fee model, with a variety of different fees based on the trading pair. The general flat fee model of trading fees is as follows:

• 0.2% fee for XRP/USDT, XRP/BTC, and XRP/ETH
• Other listings with a base currency of USDT, BTC, and ETH have a fee of 0.098%
• Pairs with XRP as the base currency have a flat fee model of 0.28%

Holders of BTR (Bitrue Coin) will be able to take advantage of a low fee structure, with a 30% discount subtracted from trading fees. The discounted fees are as follows:

• 0.14% fee for XRP/USDT, XRP/BTC, and XRP/ETH
• Other listings with base pair of USDT, BTC, and ETH have a fee of 0.0686%
• Pairs with XRP as the base currency have a discounted flat fee model of 0.196%

Withdrawal Fees

While the exchange does not appear to have any deposit fees, Bitrue does have withdrawal fees that apply when traders and investors withdraw funds from the exchange. The withdrawal fees one will pay greatly depend on the asset being withdrawn, as the withdrawal fee is a dynamic fee based on each token network’s current necessities for the transaction. While not a complete list, the following is an example of some of the withdrawal fees found on Bitrue:

• Withdrawal fee for ADA – 1 ADA
• Withdrawal fee for BTC – 0.0005 BTC
• Withdrawal fee for ETH – 0.01 ETH 

Depending on the coin being withdrawn, this transaction fee can likely eat up profits. Traders and investors can likely find better alternatives with fees by sending their funds as a different asset, depending on the network conditions of said better alternatives.

Customer Support

For those looking to stay current on Bitrue company happenings, an Announcements page is available on the website. This section of Bitrue contains all of the latest news announcements relating to the exchange. Users can also stay current on the latest Bitrue events as well. The company also has social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Medium for those looking to keep up with the latest news via the user’s channel of choice. 

For individuals that may have an issue, an FAQ and Help center is available to answer any commonly held questions. The Bitrue support team can also be contacted via email for those that have an issue that cannot be solved by information found in the FAQ. Once a claim is made, a Bitrue company support member will contact the user with viable solutions. Users should take heed that there have been instances of individuals reporting poor customer service, particularly due to technical bugs on the exchange as well as issues with the Bitrue app. 

Creating a New Account on Bitrue

Creating a Bitrue account is relatively straightforward and can be done in a short period of time. To set up a Bitrue account, users will need to provide a valid email address (verified by a link sent via an official Bitrue email). If a user signed up with their phone on Bitrue mobile, they will need to provide the corresponding code within the app to use the desktop version of the exchange with their portfolio.

Because Bitrue is a KYC-free exchange, users can deposit their digital asset of choice into their accounts and trade after their Bitrue account is set up. However, to use Crypto Loans and other services, users will need to further verify their Bitrue account by providing KYC information. 

Bitrue Review Conclusion

Bitrue is an exchange that has seen growing trading volume and liquidity over 2021. While many services available to Bitrue are comparable to other exchanges, the Bitrue exchange does have some attractive features that could make this a viable entry-level exchange for new investors, as well as a comprehensive exchange for more experienced traders. Passive income opportunities with this company are also extremely attractive and may be a viable solution for those that are looking for such services.