BTC Alpha Review
- Excellent trading platform
- Competitive trading fees
- Extensive range of cryptocurrencies
- Bad customer service
- Not regulated
- Lacking company information
- Unknown security protocol
BTC-Alpha is a new cryptocurrency exchange that was just recently launched in 2018 by a man by the name of Vitalii Bodnar. The exchanges headquarters are located in the UK at 53 Whateleys Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. However, we assume that they mostly service traders from Russia as the chat box is primarily comprised of Russian traders. Also, the CEO, Vitalii Bodnar, is Russian.
BTC-Alpha is a very new exchange and is still unregulated, much like other cryptocurrency exchanges. Also, the liquidity of BTC-Alpha is rather low due to the exchange being so new, but this could change if the exchange performs well. After all, BTC-Alpha does have some impressive features and aspects. So, let’s learn about these aspects and what BTC-Alpha has too offer in our following in-depth review.
Trading Platform
As with most cryptocurrency exchanges, the platform utilized by BTC-Alpha is a proprietary web-based trading platform. The platform is compatible with most web browsers across all desktop computers as well as iOS and Android mobile devices. Overall, the platform looks and feels really good. The user interface is very well designed and packs in all the advanced tools and features one would expect from a competent crypto exchange. The charting package is provided by TradingView, which is probably the most prominent charting package in the industry. The TradingView charts feature numerous technical indicators, many chart types, time frames, and so on. Apart from the charts, BTC-Alpha has a very neat order book and organized market sentiment data and information. As well, the platform has a chat box and twitter feed where traders can communicate and share their thoughts and ideas. Overall, the platform is really well designed and accomodates the needs of both beginner and advanced traders.
Exchange Markets
Despite being a relatively new crypto exchange in the industry, BTC-Alpha features an impressive number of cryptocurrencies available to buy, sell, and trade on their platform. As well, the exchange supports trading with the US Dollar (USD) fiat currency for a number cryptos. The markets in which cryptocurrencies can be exchanged include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and the US Dollar (USD) markets. Bitcoin has the largest number of crypto trading pairs with over 70 cryptocurrencies available to trade against Bitcoin. Thereum is the next largest with 23 cryptocurrency trading pairs. Litecoin has 2 crypto trading pairs, and the USD market has 40 available trading pairs. The extent of the USD to crypto market is huge. We have never seen a cryptocurrency exchange offer this many trading pairs with the USD as BTC-Alpha. Therefore, in terms of exchange markets, BTC-Alpha seems to outdo much of the competition.
Fees and Commission
BTC-Alpha offers traders a dynamic fees structure which allows traders with a high 30 day trading volume to benefit from lower fees. This type of fee structure is common among leading exchanges and is preferable for large professional traders. Overall, the trading fees imposed on traders are reasonable and even competitive with much of the competition. The maker and taker fees are priced the same and range from 0.20% for a 30 day trading volume of less than 100 BTC to 0.10% for a 30 day trading volume of 5000 BTC or more.
As for deposit and withdrawal fees; all crypto deposits are free of charge, and crypto withdrawals vary between cryptos but are in line with industry standards. On the other hand, fiat currency deposits are 6% for deposits via Perfect Money and AdvCash. This is extremely high and very disappointing considering the other fees are relatively low. Fiat currency withdrawal fees are 5.5% for Perfect Money and 3.5% for AdvCash. All in all, the fees are quite competitive, except for the fiat currency deposits and withdrawals. Therefore, we would advise traders using this exchange to only trade using cryptos rather than with USD.
Security and Fairness
The biggest downside to the BTC-Alpha exchange is their level of transparency, or simply lack of information. The exchange does not share how or where they store user funds, while most exchange clearly state that they store them offline in cold storage wallets. As well, there is no mention of the security measures they take or any company information in general. The exchange platform is great, but that’s all they have. There is major lack of information about the company and their security which is rather unsettling. However, BTC-Alpha is very new and may be working to address these issues.
Support
Another area where BTC-Alpha is slightly lacking is their level of customer support. We came across numerous user reviews stating that the exchange was not responding to emails or taking a very long time with unhelpful responses. While customer support is generally not the best for crypto exchanges, this raises some red flags for us. The support methods available include email or contact through social media. The exchange has no helpful guides, no FAQ page, and no additional resources for support.
Conclusion
At first glance, the BTC-Alpha cryptocurrency exchange looks like a viable option for trading cryptos. The trading platform is great, they have competitive fees and commissions, and the exchange features an extensive range of cryptos available to trade across numerous markets including USD. However, the lack of experience, company information and customer support, really change our viewpoints on BTC-Alpha. Although they are very new and may improve on these aspects through time. Until then, we would proceed with caution when dealing with BTC-Alpha.
BTC-Alpha Q&A
The following are the common questions that customers inquired about BTC-Alpha.
Is BTC-Alpha regulated?
No, it is not regulated.
Is BTC-Alpha a scam?
No, BTC-Alpha does offer the services they claim, but have not built up a reputation yet.
Where is BTC-Alpha based?
BTC-Alpha is based in the UK at 53 Whateleys Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.
Screenshot
