Bitstamp is one of the longest-running exchanges in the world. That means Bitstamp has seen a lot go down in the cryptocurrency world, and has been able to adjust as necessary.

The main thing that really stops the platform from being more competitive in terms of popularity is that its interface is not as user-friendly as its competitors, as well as the lack of convenient payment methods.

If you want to trade with large amounts of money, Bitstamp is one of the best options for you.

Bitstamp allows trading between US dollars and euros for various crypto-conversions, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Exchange is one of the few that accept debit and credit cards.

Bitstamp also offers its own API, allowing users to create their own software to access and use their accounts.

Besides, you can deposit fiat through Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) bank transfer. SEPA transfers to Bitstamp are efficient, cheap, and fast (usually two days).

Bitstamp review

The  two 20-year-old Slovenian college-dropouts (Damijan and Nejc) decided to set up Bitstamp as an alternative to Mt. Gox and as an easy option for Bitcoin users in Slovenia and surrounding countries. When Mt. Gox collapsed in early 2014, Bitstamp started to receive more international clientele. It has since grown to become a major player in the industry.

If you are not familiar with Mt. Gox, it was a massive exchange in Tokyo, which processed about 70% of all bitcoin transactions at one point. Mountain. The Mt. Gox story ended with shame, as over 850,000 bitcoins (worth 450 million dollars at the time) suddenly disappeared due to a hack.

Bitstamp has moved its headquarters twice. First it moved from Slovenia to London in April 2013 in search of the best financial and legal opportunities for their business. At that time, almost all governments around the world worked hard to deal with Bitcoin and the companies that arose around him. Nevertheless, Slovenia proved to be a difficult place for Damijan and Nejc to run a bitcoin exchange.

While regulators in the UK have not yet developed a regulatory framework for issuing a business license for the cryptocurrency, they gave the exchange the go-ahead.

In April 2016, the company moved its headquarters again. This time they went to Luxembourg after the government granted them a license to work as a payment institution. Regulatory recognition has made Bitstamp the first fully regulated virtual currency exchange in the EU. With a new license, he can conduct business in all 28 EU member states.

Bitstamp supports offices in London, Slovenia and Berkeley, California. Outside Europe Bitstamp supports services in 50 countries. The list includes the United States, China, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil and Australia.

Pros

• Has significant trading volumes and therefore represents a good exchange for major purchases or sales.
• Supports the purchase of cryptos using debit and credit cards
• Regulated by the CSSF in Luxembourg – thus, good standards for ensuring the safety of uses
• Will support trading of  Bitcoin Cash and will allocate all owed BCH tokens to customers.
• Cheaper and more efficient than P2P exchanges.

Cons

• Private keys are controlled by exchange operators.
• Account verification takes more than three days.
• Users must share an invasive amount of personal information when transactions reach a threshold (~ ten thousand US dollars)