The world of cryptocurrency can be overwhelming for newcomers. There are more than 13,000 different digital currencies available across over 400 cryptocurrency exchange platforms, according to Coinmarketcap. This large number can make it difficult for beginner crypto traders to decide which exchange platforms are trustworthy and suitable for their needs.
For example, if you’re only interested in trading the most popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), you’ll find these coins on almost every exchange. However, if you want to trade some less well-known cryptocurrencies that have a lower market value but are gaining attention due to their features, you might need to look for those coins on different exchanges.
Why Use Multiple Exchanges?
In many situations, you might find it useful to have accounts on several exchange platforms. This allows you to take advantage of the benefits offered by different platforms. For instance, you might want to open an account on one of the most popular exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Bitstamp for your initial investments. Later, you might try to buy some less-known coins that aren’t available on these platforms. That’s when you’ll probably need to open another account on an exchange that has less trading activity but offers many more coins, such as Bittrex.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at both Coinbase and Bittrex. We’ll explore the main features of each platform and discuss how long it takes to move funds from Coinbase to Bittrex.
Coinbase: A Popular Choice for Beginners
Coinbase is one of the most well-known exchanges in the cryptocurrency market. The platform was launched in 2012, making it one of the oldest exchanges available. It’s fully regulated, which means it follows tax regulations and financial laws in the regions where it operates. Coinbase is known for providing some of the most reliable trading services among crypto platforms. It’s praised for its strong security measures, good selection of cryptocurrencies, wide range of trading features, and very user-friendly interface.
Why Choose Coinbase?
Coinbase is perfect for people who are new to crypto because it’s really easy to use. It offers direct cryptocurrency purchases with regular money (also called fiat currency) and provides all the necessary trading tools.
According to the company, Coinbase has:
- A quarterly trading volume of 462 billion USD
- Operations in more than 100 countries
- More than 68 million verified users
All of this wouldn’t be possible without the highly reliable services provided by the platform. When you use Coinbase, you can be confident that you’ll receive the cryptocurrencies you purchase, and there’s very little risk of falling victim to any kind of scam. This reliability and high speed come at a cost, which is why Coinbase fees are somewhat higher compared to other exchanges. However, many users find it worth the price because they know their crypto trading will always be done safely and quickly.
Trading Features on Coinbase
Coinbase offers users a simple and straightforward trading experience. If you’re new to cryptocurrency exchanges, trading on Coinbase is a great way to start your crypto journey because it’s so user-friendly. Here’s what you get:
- A simple overview of your asset portfolio
- A market interface where you can choose trading pairs
- Options to place buy or sell orders
- Market charts to analyze price changes
- The ability to send or receive funds to your Coinbase wallet
For more experienced traders who want access to advanced trading tools, Coinbase has its own Coinbase Pro platform (formerly known as GDAX). The Coinbase Pro platform is more complex and offers traders a very detailed trading interface. It has more interactive price charts that allow traders to perform detailed market analysis and implement advanced trading strategies. Pro traders also have access to a range of advanced trading options such as margin trading, and the fees are lower compared to the basic platform.
Cryptocurrency Selection on Coinbase
Coinbase offers a great selection of cryptocurrencies. You can find most of the top trending coins and tokens on the platform. In total, more than 50 of the most popular digital currencies are available for trading on Coinbase, including:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Dash (DASH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Tether (USDT)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- EOS (EOS)
- And many others
It’s important to note that Coinbase is a fiat-friendly exchange platform. This means you can deposit regular currency (like US dollars or euros) and withdraw your profits in the same currency after selling your cryptocurrencies.
Understanding Coinbase Fees
Coinbase fees are higher compared to most other popular exchange platforms. This is because the convenience of having a wide range of highly reliable and fast crypto services comes with a cost. Here’s a breakdown of the fees:
- Card purchases: If you’re buying cryptocurrencies with a bank card (credit or debit), you’ll be charged a 3.99% fee.
- Wire transfers: Crypto purchases with a wire transfer incur a 10 USD standard fee.
- ACH transactions: These are free of charge.
- Bank account transfers: If you want to buy coins with a bank account transfer, you’ll incur a standard 1.49% fee.
On top of these fees, Coinbase also charges a spread fee. This can vary from 0.50% for purchases worth up to 10,000 US dollars, down to 0.05% for market takers and 0.00% for market makers with 30-day trading volumes of 500 million USD or more.
Security Measures on Coinbase
Coinbase takes platform security very seriously. Here are some of their security measures:
- Offline storage: 98% of all funds traded on the platform are kept safely offline in the company’s cold storage.
- Insurance: The 2% that’s kept online is used for platform liquidity. If these funds get compromised by a cyberattack, users are insured up to the amount of 250,000 USD.
- KYC protocol: The platform uses a Know Your Customer (KYC) protocol to prevent scams and money laundering. This means you’ll have to provide personal information such as your full name, address, email, phone number, and a photo of a government-issued identification document (like your ID card, passport, or driver’s license). All of this information is kept confidential and stored safely on Coinbase servers.
- Two-factor authentication: You can set up 2FA (two-factor authentication) when logging in to ensure that no one else can access your account.
Coinbase Mobile App
Coinbase also has an excellent mobile app that brings all of the platform’s features to your mobile device. It’s compatible with both Android and iOS devices and comes with a very user-friendly interface suitable for crypto beginners. All the necessary trading options are just a few taps away, giving you the convenience of crypto trading on the go.
Bittrex: A Platform for More Experienced Traders
Bittrex offers users many of the same features as Coinbase, but it has a couple of key differences, such as lower fees and a broader selection of cryptocurrencies. Bittrex is also a veteran crypto exchange that was launched two years after Coinbase, in 2014.
Important Regulatory Differences
A key aspect of Bittrex which you should consider is that, unlike Coinbase, this exchange isn’t legally regulated in the US or Europe. Bittrex is actually registered in Bermuda and has the Bermuda Digital Asset Business Act license. This might cause some users to look for an alternative exchange that is regulated in their region. The issue is that users don’t really know what kind of protection they have as Bittrex clients, because the Bermuda financial authorities can’t provide as much legal protection as US or EU financial regulatory bodies. In terms of legal protection, Coinbase is considered safer because it’s fully regulated under US laws.
Trading Features on Bittrex
Bittrex is definitely a crypto exchange platform that is more suitable for experienced traders than beginners. However, if you’re just looking for a marketplace to buy some less popular coins or tokens, then your experience level isn’t as important. You can buy or exchange cryptocurrencies quite easily.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to implement more complex trading strategies and want to have in-depth market analytics and price charts at your disposal, then Bittrex is a great choice.
One important thing to check when using Bittrex for crypto trading is whether depositing regular money (fiat currency) to your Bittrex account is available in your region. For example, US customers can’t buy cryptocurrencies with fiat money on Bittrex if they want to use a VISA or MasterCard bank card. They need to buy cryptocurrencies with another digital currency such as Bitcoin. This is a common reason why users often need to send intermediary crypto like BTC or ETH from their crypto wallet or another exchange platform account to their Bittrex account before they can buy the coin they want.
Cryptocurrency Selection on Bittrex
The huge selection of cryptocurrencies is the key reason why people use Bittrex. Most of the top exchange platforms don’t offer as many cryptocurrencies. It’s not that Coinbase doesn’t have a good crypto selection – all of the most popular coins are there. It’s just that Coinbase doesn’t offer some less popular coins that might provide more trading opportunities to users because of their high price volatility.
Bittrex enables users to trade more than 1000 crypto coins and tokens, which makes it one of the top exchanges on the market in terms of supported cryptocurrencies. You can find all of the top trading cryptos along with hundreds of low-cap crypto projects which might prove to be profitable investments in the future.
You can buy, sell, or exchange cryptocurrencies like:
- DigiByte (DGB)
- OMG Network (OMG)
- Vera (VRA)
- Jasmy (JASMY)
- Xels (XELS)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Terra Luna (LUNA)
- And hundreds of other altcoins
Understanding Bittrex Fees
Bittrex fees are lower than those on Coinbase. Here’s a breakdown:
- Card purchases: If you want to purchase cryptocurrencies with a payment card, the fee is 3%.
- Deposits: You won’t incur any fees for depositing money into your platform wallet through a bank transfer or if you’re depositing other cryptocurrencies.
- Trading fees: Bittrex uses a market maker and taker model for trading fees. You’ll incur a 0.75% trading fee unless you have a 30-day trading volume of at least 5000 USD – then your fee drops to 0.50%. The lowest fee you can incur on Bittrex as a market taker is 0.05% if you have a 30-day trading volume of at least 100 million USD.
In terms of percentage, these fees aren’t lower than those on Coinbase, but the fee thresholds are considerably lower. For example, on Coinbase, you can get the market maker fee down to 0.05% only if you have a monthly trading volume of at least 500 million USD, which is five times more than the threshold on Bittrex for the same fee.
Security Measures on Bittrex
In terms of security, Bittrex offers solid services:
- Cold storage: Between 80% and 90% of all funds are always stored offline in cold crypto storage. These funds are out of the reach of any cyber attacker at all times.
- KYC protocol: The platform uses a standard Know Your Customer (KYC) protocol against scams and money laundering, so you’ll be required to provide detailed personal information as well as a photo of your government-issued identification documents.
- Two-factor authentication: This is an integral part of Bittrex policy, and you’ll always be required to authenticate your withdrawal requests either through an SMS or email code.
Bittrex Mobile App
Similar to Coinbase, Bittrex also has its own mobile app, which is compatible with Android and iOS devices. All of the features of the browser version of the platform are also available through the mobile app. You can buy, sell, and exchange your cryptocurrencies with the app, and you can also manage your whole portfolio within your Bittrex account.
How to Transfer Bitcoin From Coinbase to Bittrex
If you can’t fund your Bittrex account with a bank card payment or wire transfer from your region, and you happen to have a Coinbase account, then the simplest thing to do to buy some less popular coins or tokens on Bittrex is to send Bitcoin from your Coinbase account to Bittrex.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to transfer Bitcoin from Coinbase to Bittrex:
- Log into your Bittrex account and go to the Wallets section.
- Find the Account Balances field and look for Bitcoin.
- Click the blue plus sign next to Bitcoin. You’ll see the Bitcoin address of your Bittrex account.
- Select the BTC address and copy it.
- Open a new browser tab and log into your Coinbase account.
- Go to the Accounts tab and find your Bitcoin wallet. Make sure you have enough Bitcoin in your account for the transfer.
- Click the Send option in your Bitcoin wallet.
- Paste your Bittrex wallet address into the recipient field.
- Enter the amount of Bitcoin you want to send.
- After filling in all the necessary information, click Continue to start the Bitcoin transaction.
It’s important to note that the transaction time can be up to 4 or 5 hours when transferring from Coinbase to Bittrex. This is due to the nature of blockchain transactions and the security measures in place on both platforms.
Final Thoughts on Using Multiple Crypto Exchanges
When trading cryptocurrencies, it’s quite common and often beneficial to have accounts on more than one crypto exchange. There are several reasons for this:
- Availability of cryptocurrencies: Not all the coins you want to trade will be available on a single exchange.
- Different fees: You might find an exchange that offers lower transaction fees for certain types of trades.
- Varying services: Some exchanges might offer faster services or additional features that suit your trading style.
- Diversification: Having accounts on multiple exchanges can help spread your risk.
The combination of Coinbase and Bittrex works well for many traders because it provides a good balance. You can use Coinbase for its user-friendly interface, strong security, and ability to easily buy popular cryptocurrencies with fiat money. Then, you can use Bittrex to access a wider range of cryptocurrencies, including many lower cap cryptos with high market volatility.
If you can’t buy these less common cryptocurrencies directly with fiat currency on Bittrex, you can use your Coinbase account to send some Bitcoin and then use that to buy the coins you’re interested in on Bittrex.
However, it’s crucial to be careful when choosing a platform. Always do your research, understand the fees involved, check the security measures in place, and be aware of the regulatory status of the exchange in your region. Remember, while cryptocurrency trading can be exciting and potentially profitable, it also carries risks. Never invest more than you can afford to lose, and always stay informed about the latest developments in the crypto world.
By understanding how different exchanges work and how to use them together, you can make the most of the opportunities in the cryptocurrency market while managing your risks effectively.