HitBTC Review – A Look At One Of The Oldest Cryptocurrency Exchanges

About HitBTC

Out of all of the exchanges in the cryptocurrency space today, HitBTC is perhaps one of the oldest. Age is often considered to be a worthy benchmark in regards to measuring a company’s reputation, but do the benchmarks and reputation add up? 

A Brief History of HitBTC

HitBTC was founded as a collaboration between traders, technological architects, and professionals in finance in 2013 with the help of a €6 million investment. Hit Solutions Limited, a Hong-Kong company, currently manages the exchange. The company also has a representative office open in Chile. As of 2018, HitBTC has suspended their operations in Japan due to regulatory restrictions. 

Since their inception, the company has strived to create a marketplace built on the fundamental values of dependability, functionality, and customer security, as well as offering customers the best price available across markets. 

Opening an Account on HitBTC

The process of opening an account on HitBTC is extremely straightforward. Simply, click on the red “Sign Up” button found in the top right-hand corner of HitBTC’s website. Enter your E-mail and password (ideally a password not used on any other website) into the corresponding boxes, and click the “Sign Up” button below.

Afterwards, HitBTC will ask your location, full name, and phone number. The registration will be complete once the customer verifies their email via a clickable link in an E-mail sent by HitBTC. It is highly recommended users set up proper security measures to keep their account safe.  As of 2019, HitBTC is available in over 90 countries, translated in 5 different languages.

HitBTC Product Offerings

Many of the top coins, as well as many obscure alternative tokens (altcoins) can be found on HitBTC. The exchange offers well over 500 different tokens to trade, with over 850 trading pairs. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, and stablecoins such as DAI and TUSD can all be found available in the market. 

The bountiful amount of options HitBTC has makes the exchange an attractive location to trade cryptocurrencies. Though the platform offers a vast range of tokens, it should be noted that, out of their own financial safety, the customer needs to do their own research for scams and shady projects and tokens, as the exchange may host tokens on their platform that may not be the best for a person’s portfolio.  

HitBTC Fees

HitBTC currently implements a Maker/Taker fee schedule, with .01% fee to anyone operating as a Taker on the exchange. Conversely, the exchange rebates 0.01% of any trade made as a Maker. This is one of HitBTC’s advantages, as Makers will not have to pay fees, but will be rewarded for making liquidity available on the exchange. This helps the exchange not only keep their doors open by generating profit, but incentivizes customers to create their own prices, thus creating more liquidity across the exchange. To review: A maker creates their own buy/sell points in the order book (and pays no fees, but receives a 0.01% rebate), rather than choosing to engage the trade at current market price (as a taker, and paying a 0.1% fee), executing the trade immediately. 

HitBTC’s Platforms, Tools, and Services

HitBTC currently offers spot trading on their platform. The marketplace operates like many other exchanges in the space, offering users the option to place buy and sell orders with many cryptocurrencies. However, one key difference is the option to place different order types. Many exchanges offer only Limit and Market order types; HitBTC, however, offers Scaled orders, Market orders, and 5 different Limit orders (including Good-til-Close; Day; Fill or Kill; Immediate or Cancel Order; and Good-til-Date/Time). The actual trading window uses TradingView charts and tools, offering TradingView’s top-of-the-line charting tools to meet any trader’s needs.

The exchange also offers Market-Making contracts, which further incentivize the Makers in the market with bonuses and discounts. These month-long Market-Making contracts come in several categories, with only one trading pair attached to each contract. Customers receive daily updates in regards to their trading performance. Once the month-long contract is fulfilled, the customer will receive a 0.01 to 0.04% discount bonus, as well as a possible 1-10000 USDT bonus in addition.

HitBTC offers a referral program, allowing users to earn up to 75% of the trading fees of any person they refer. The platform allows for the use of multiple links, with click data provided on each link. The more volume a referral trades, the more of a commission the original referring customer will receive. The exchange allows referral withdrawals at 0.01 BTC, with no more than 0.1 BTC being able to be withdrawn at once. 

For the trader wanting to make trades of 100,000 USDT or more at once, without the need of using the public order book, HitBTC offers their Over The Counter (OTC) Trading. This essentially lets a customer privately buy a large amount of cryptocurrency without the need of using the public exchange, using HitBTC’s partner, Trusted Volumes, as the intermediary party. Over 200 cryptocurrencies are offered through Trusted Volumes, with a monthly revenue of $1.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. 

A unique implementation that HitBTC has to offer is “TrollBox”, their chat client that allows traders on the platform to chat with each other in real time. This creates a sort of social element to what could otherwise be considered a purely individual ritual. The typical conversation ranges from off-topic banter to general customer support. 

HitBTC also has a “System Monitor” which allows users to view the number of Deposits, Withdrawals, Trades, Transfers, and any maintenance status across the exchange. This is a handy feature for any customer who may be experiencing problems or waiting for transactions to complete. This feature also helps hold HitBTC accountable for any problems that may arise on the platform.

Similarly to other exchanges, HitBTC offers trading contests. These competitions allow customers an opportunity at winning a token selected as a prize. Winners are determined by total trading volumes within the given date parameters. A leaderboard shows each user contending for the top prize. 

HitBTC Customer Service

HitBTC does have a support center that customers can go to in search of answers to common problems one may have. Should a customer have any issue, it is recommended that they open a support ticket with HitBTC directly. Over the years, HitBTC’s reputation has taken a hit in regards to their lack of customer service. Long withdrawal times and lengthy response times have played a direct impact into the perception many have of HitBTC. 

A look at the comments on the Tweets of their Twitter profile will reveal negative sentiment, with many people commenting and asking why support hasn’t resolved their issues. Many people have reported lost funds and locked wallets. This is highly concerning, and should be taken into account when considering opening an account with HitBTC. 

Differentiators 

The vast amount of different cryptocurrencies available, in addition to the many trading pair offered make HitBTC a possible worthwhile exchange. This is somewhat of an oasis of alternative tokens that should fit anyone’s needs. The fact that HitBTC has implemented 5 different limit order types gives the customer plenty of options to best suit their needs. The system monitor is also a neat feature to allow users to see the total amount of transactions happening across the exchange at any given time.  

Is HitBTC Safe and Trustworthy? Is it Recommended?

Long story short, it is not recommended that anyone use HitBTC. They have built themselves a reputation as a shady cryptocurrency market exchange. The sheer amount of customers unleashing backlash at HitBTC on their Twitter and Reddit (their Reddit account was banned, and their subreddit was closed down due to loss of control). Many people have claimed their support issues not having been resolved; people have also claimed loss of funds/inability to withdraw. These are big red flags, and it is surprising a company could exist for so long and still have liquidity (average of over $300,000,000 USD in a 24 hr time frame). These issues, plus the fact that their website looks and feels a little outdated and rudimentary would be great cause to look at the many other different exchanges in the space that have so much more to offer than HitBTC. The “TrollBox” feature also makes the website feel unprofessional, as if 4Chan were executing trades.

Conclusion

While HitBTC has managed to operate as a cryptocurrency exchange since 2013, their severely lacking customer support has put a massive dent in their reputation; it may perhaps be the company’s achilles heel. Despite their issues, the exchange still has a high turnover rate and could be a viable option for anyone looking for exotic coins, and does not take their security seriously.