HitBTC is a cryptocurrency exchange established in 2013. Over the years of operation, it has considerably expanded its market coverage. Today, the exchange is one of the most experienced representatives of the sector. The platform offers the widest choice of more than 800 currency pairs. The exchange offers access to over 450 trading instruments, including a broad selection of cryptocurrencies and a possibility to use fiat money: USD, EUR, GBP and others (source: www.coinmarketcap.com ).
HitBTC is popular in many countries, with leaders being Turkey, the USA, Brazil, India and other regions. The crypto exchange focuses on spot trading. It provides users with a high liquidity ratio of 464, according to Coinmarketcap). The daily trading volume at the time of this review was $1,362,669,764.69 or 63,197 BTC. The platform also offers an opportunity to trade futures with leverage up to x100. Staking is offered as a passive income option. Calculation of the yield is performed daily for this option.
The cryptocurrency exchange is owned by HiTech Digital Business Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The exchange is positioned as a reliable and totally safe platform for trading. Its clients can use two-factor authentication, and the funds are kept in cold wallets. However, there is no information about the license and regulation of the company. In addition, according to its official website, “HitBTC is not responsible for any loss of money, assets, securities and other types of property that happened because of using any information from the HitBTC or trading on HitBTC.”
HitBTC Rating
| Total score | 7 |
|---|---|
Commissions and fees
|
8 |
Security and regulation
|
4 |
Markets
|
10 |
Passive income
|
6 |
Account opening
|
9 |
Deposit and withdrawal
|
9 |
Trading platforms
|
8 |
Analytics
|
6 |
Education
|
6 |
Customer support
|
5 |
Bonuses
|
5 |
HitBTC Pros and Cons
Basic information
| Name | HitBTC |
|---|---|
| Website | www.hitbtc.com |
| Exchange type | Centralized |
| Regulation | No information |
| Taker’s fee | 0.05% – futures trading; 0.08-0.2% – spot trading |
| Maker’s fee | 0.02% – futures trading; 0-0.2% – spot trading (plus a 0.01 discount is available subject to certain trading volume) |
| Demo account | Yes |
| Minimum deposit | $1 or an equivalent |
| BTC withdrawal limits | Depending on the user’s tier |
| USD withdrawal limits | Depending on the user’s tier |
| Withdrawal in Fiat | Access after verification |
| Time frame for account opening | Up to 5 minutes (excluding verification) |
| Leverage | From x50 to x100 (depending on the chosen currency) in the futures market |
| Markets | Over 800 |
| Passive income options | Staking |
| Customer support languages | English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese |
| Withdrawal fee | No information |
| Deposit methods | Cryptocurrency wallets and debit/credit cards |
| Withdrawal methods | Cryptocurrency wallets and debit/credit cards |
| Account currencies | Cryptocurrencies and fiat money |
| Promos | Referral program, promo codes, trader competitions |
HitBTC Commissions and Fees
The crypto exchange offers rather attractive conditions fee-wise. For futures trading, the fees are fixed, but for spot trading they directly depend on the trading volume and token tier, which clients can increase by actively trading tokens. The more active the trader, the lower the fees. For example, takers can reduce their fee from 0.2% to 0.08%, and makers with high trading volume can not only get rid of the need to pay the fee, but also get an additional discount.
Trading fees
Trading fees charged by HitBTC in the spot and futures market need to be reviewed separately. Let’s start with futures, as the fees there are fixed for all levels:
- 0.02% – Maker;
- 0.05% – Taker.
Notably, the crypto exchange does not charge additional fees related to financing rates. At that, the exchange reserves the right to change the current indicators based on the latest situation in the market. Therefore, users need to monitor latest interest rates to ensure that their trades are as profitable as possible.
In spot trading, taker and maker fees depend on two indicators: daily trading volume and token tier. The latter allows traders to enjoy an additional discount.
New users of the crypto exchange, regardless of their category, pay a 0.2% fee. The higher their tier, the lower the fee. You can reach a new tier by increasing your daily trading volume. For makers, the fee is lowered once a trading volume of 100 BTC is achieved. Once they reach a trading volume of 6,000 BTC, they are provided with a discount. For takers, the conditions are different. They need to reach a high trading volume in order to reduce their fees. You can review the fees in more detail in the table below.
| Market | Trading volume | Taker | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot trading | > 0 BTC | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| > 100 BTC | 0.2% | 0.08% | |
| > 200 BTC | 0.2% | 0.06% | |
| > 500 BTC | 0.2% | 0.04% | |
| > 1000 BTC | 0.2% | 0.02% | |
| > 1500 BTC | 0.2% | 0% | |
| > 2000 BTC | 0.18% | 0% | |
| > 3000 BTC | 0.16% | 0% | |
| > 4000 BTC | 0.14% | 0% | |
| > 5000 BTC | 0.12% | 0% | |
| > 6000 BTC | 0.1% | -0.01% | |
| Futures trading | -- | 0.05% | 0.02% |
Average commission compared to competitors
| HitBTC | Binance | HTX (Huobi) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taker | 0.17% | 0.06% | 0.09% |
| Maker | 0.04% | 0.05% | 0.08% |
The average indicator for each category is calculated for spot trading, without taking into account the discounts for the token tier.
Margin lending
For futures trading, the users of the HitBTC exchange are provided with leverage. The leverage varies within x50 and x100 depending on the chosen cryptocurrency. For example, the leverage is x100 for a BTC/USDT contract, but for other cryptocurrencies it will be lower: ETH – x75, ADA – x75, BNB – x50, etc.
This, however, is not the only thing to consider. A client of the exchange has to pay a daily interest rate to the exchange for using margin funds. The Interest is charged 3 times per day at 00:00 UTC, 08:00 UTC, and 16:00 UTC. Its amount also depends on the chosen currency, and ranges within 0.021% - 0.09%. You can learn about this fee in more detail on the official website of HitBTC, in the Fees and Limits section.
Also there, you can check out the borrowing limits. When using the services of margin trading, you will not be able to go beyond these limits. The limits depend on the chosen cryptocurrency and the type of the position: short or long. For example, for the BTC/USDT currency pair, the borrowing limit for short positions is 40 BTC, long positions – USDT 2,000,000. You can see the rest of the limits in the table on the website.
Reliability and regulation
It is quite difficult to definitively evaluate the level of reliability and security of this exchange. The platform employs many latest technologies to keep personal data and the money on the accounts of users safe.
These instruments include the following:
- Two different types of storage: top-tier security custody based on HDKey technology for the top 10 currencies, standard security for other digital assets;
- Strict policy against running third-party software;
- Cold wallets;
- White lists for secure management;
- Two-factor authentication and a reliable encryption technology.
This, however, concerns only the technical part, while legal security remains in question. Despite the fact that the owner, namely HiTech Digital Business Ltd, is mentioned on the website of the exchange, there is no information about its license and registration. The same applies to regulation. This means that in case of money loss or other problem, a client will not receive legal support from the crypt exchange. It is up to every trader to decide whether to trust such a company or not.
Markets and products
HitBTC offers its clients access to a very wide choice of markets and instruments. Using the services of the crypto exchange is convenient and profitable both for novice traders and experienced market players. The exchange offers over 800 trading pairs, which means that even little popular and new cryptocurrencies are available.
HitBTC Markets
| HitBTC | Binance | HTX (Huobi) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptocurrencies* | 458 | 387 | 595 |
| Trading pairs* | 842 | 1,702 | 1,096 |
| Bitcoin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Etherium | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Altcoins | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Futures and options | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency funds (a basket of cryptocurrencies in one lot) | No | No | No |
| NFT | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Cryptocurrencies (spot)
Spot trading is the main service available to the clients of the exchange. They are offered one of the widest choices of trading pairs. The most popular ones include BTC/USDT, BTC/USDC, ETH/BTC and others. It is also possible to trade using the exchange’s native cryptocurrency HIT. For many exchange options, there is a possibility of using leverage up to x12. However, you need to take into account that leverage trading is not available for all currencies.
Cryptocurrencies (futures)
In terms of futures trading, the choice of trading pairs is more modest. There are slightly over 20 of them in total. The most popular cryptocurrencies include BTC, EOS, ADA, ETH, BNB, LTC and others. Trading is possible between them and USDT. Other pair options are not available. The exchange does not offer very many markets if you compare these offers with competitors. In addition, there are no trading pairs with fiat money, which, for example, is offered on Binance.
Passive income on HitBTC
Staking is the only passive income option offered to the users of the crypto exchange. You can earn additional coins with it. Their number is calculated daily. At that, the APY depends on the currencies that are used for staking. For example, the APY for HYDRA is 20%, for AXS – 40%, and for WBTC – only 1.1%. You can review this passive income option in more detail in the Staking section on the exchange’s website.
The platform does not offer any other passive income options, and thus does not compare favorably with competitors in terms of this feature. This could be considered a drawback of the crypto exchange.
Account opening on HitBTC
You need to register and deposit money to your account in order to become a full-fledged client of the crypto exchange. It does not take too much time. In addition, HitBTC does not require mandatory verification. However, you should take into account that every user can pass verification at will in order to avoid some deposit and withdrawal limits in the future. It is important to understand that there may be situations, when the crypto exchange will require identity verification for some reason and you will have to spend additional time for that.
In order to open the verification form tap or click the Settings icon in the shape of a gear. Next, you need to click Account verification and follow the instructions: provide copies of your identity documents.
Account opening on HitBTC
Residents of which countries can trade at the exchange?
The cryptocurrency exchange is available in many countries, although there are some restrictions. Registration and use of the services of the exchange is prohibited to residents of the U.S., North Korea, Cuba, Syria and other regions that are embargoed by the U.S., or in case the law prohibits it. You can find more information on this topic in the Terms of Service (Par. 2.2). The residents of the countries that are not on this list can freely trade at the exchange.
How to open an account on HitBTC:
a step-by-step guide
Below, we describe the sequence of actions you will need to take to successfully register on the website of the crypto exchange. Take notice of all the nuances so that you don’t experience any issues during the registration procedure.
To open the registration form, click the Sign Up button in the top right corner of the homepage of the exchange’s website. It can also be found to the right of the trading table. www.hitbtc.com
In the electronic form that opens, you need to provide only your Email and come up with a password. There are certain requirements for the passwords: they must contain at least 8 characters and consist of uppercase, lowercase letters and numbers.
Once you’ve entered the information and clicked Sign up, you will see the message below, which means that you need to go to your email and open the letter sent by the exchange. If you don’t find it in your Inbox, check the Spam folder.
In the letter, as seen on the screenshot below, you need to follow the link. Once you do that, you will be directed back to the website of the crypto exchange.
Next, the system will offer you to read the Privacy Policy. To go to the next step, you need to scroll through all paragraphs and check the boxes, confirming your agreement. After that, click Confirm.
Once the registration is complete, the exchange will offer you to deposit funds to your account in cryptocurrency or buy crypto with fiat money.
Now you can start trading and using other features of the crypto exchange.
Minimum deposit
| HitBTC | Binance | HTX (Huobi) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $1 | $1 (for trading Spot 10) | $1 (for trading Spot 20) |
Account types
If you are ready to start trading, you need to deposit funds to your main account and use them for any type of trading.
If you don’t have the proper trading experience yet, you can use a demo account. You will be provided with virtual funds you can use for various transactions and for learning the features of the exchange. Notably, opening a demo account requires additional registration on a separate page. It is also easy; you just need to follow the instructions. You can access the demo section by clicking Demo in the footer of the page.
Deposit and withdrawal
To deposit money to your account, click Deposit in the top menu of the website on the right. Deposits can be made in cryptocurrency and in fiat money. In the former case, users can transfer funds from electronic cryptocurrency wallets, and in the latter – use debit/credit cards.
To withdraw money, you need to click the Withdrawal button. However, this feature will become available only after you perform transactions at the exchange.
