BitPrime

BitPrime Review

What is BitPrime?

BitPrime is what we call a "crypto shop" from New Zealand. It has been active since 2017. On its website, BitPrime refers to themselves as “fast secure cryptocurrency retailer”. They also proudly state that they are owned by New Zealanders and operates in New Zealand. 

One quick clarification should be made here though: BitPrime is not an exchange per se. They do not connect buyers with sellers. Rather, they buy and sell their own coins. So they are in a sense much more like a “crypto-shop”. They explain the process like this:

US-investors

Why do so many exchanges not allow US citizens to open accounts with them? The answer has only three letters. S, E and C (the Securities Exchange Commission). The reason the SEC is so scary is because the US does not allow foreign companies to solicit US investors, unless those foreign companies are also registered in the US (with the SEC). If foreign companies solicit US investors anyway, the SEC can sue them. There are many examples of when the SEC has sued crypto exchanges, one of which being when they sued EtherDelta for operating an unregistered exchange. Another example was when they sued Bitfinex and claimed that the stablecoin Tether (USDT) was misleading investors. It is very likely that more cases will follow.

According to information from the exchange, US-investors are actually permitted to trade here as long as they use the credit card option at the platform. 

BitPrime Trading View

Different exchanges have different trading views. And there is no “this overview is the best”-view. You should yourself determine which trading view that suits you the best. What the trading views normally have in common is that they all show the order book or at least part of the order book, a price chart of the chosen cryptocurrency and order history. They normally also have buy and sell-boxes. Before you choose an exchange, try to have a look at the trading view so that you can ascertain that it feels right to you. At this exchange, there is only a search function and then an order box. This makes it easily understandable for new crypto investors, while it might lack some features that more experienced traders look for. The below is a picture of the initial purchase interface (i.e., the search function) at BitPrime:

BitPrime Fees

BitPrime Trading fees

Every trade occurs between two parties: the maker, whose order exists on the order book prior to the trade. The maker thus “makes” the order being carried out. The other party is the taker, who places the order that matches (or “takes”) the maker’s order. The maker-taker model normally encourages market liquidity by giving the makers of that liquidity a fee discount.

At BitPrime, you don't pay taker or maker fees, but you pay the so called spread. The spread is 2.90% for trades with a value between USD 100 and USD 20,000, and a bit lower (2.00%) for trades with a value between USD 20,000 and USD 50,000, as set out below:

BitPrime Withdrawal fees

According to our information BitPrime does not charge any withdrawal fees.

Deposit Methods

BitPrime lets you deposit assets to the exchange in many different ways, through wire transfer, debit card, and of course also by just depositing existing cryptocurrency assets.

Seeing as fiat currency deposits are possible at this trading platform, BitPrime qualifies as an “entry-level exchange”, meaning an exchange where new crypto investors can start their journey into the exciting crypto world.