Bitpanda Exchange Review

What is Bitpanda Exchange?

Bitpanda (formerly known as Coinimal) is the cryptocurrency exchange with the specific focus on the European market. Bitpanda GmbH was founded in 2014 by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer. As for the head office, it is located in Vienna, Austria. At the moment of this writing, Bitpanda has over 850,000 users and this number is constantly growing.

Despite Bitpanda popularity in the crypto community, we wanted to verify, is Bitpanda legit? Although it is not licensed or registered with any regulatory institution, there is actually no requirement for it to be, as it is based in Austria. However, the company is still open about its activity. One can easily learn about the firm, its management, and check other relevant information on their website as well as on social media, e.g Facebook or Reddit.

How Secure is Bitpanda?

It is fair to say that Bitpanda takes its own security seriously. Bitpanda stores almost the entire cryptocurrency in the cold storage to ensure maximum safety.  Besides, it also enables its users to activate the two-factor authentication (2FA) as an additional security layer. Thus, is Bitpanda safe? There are no reports of previous hackings or data loss, hence we tend to believe that Bitpanda does a great job here.

Opening an Account at Bitpanda

Registering an account should not take a while. The user has to provide a name/surname, email, password, and country of residence. Once the account is created, it is possible to start using Bitpanda services straightaway, but the functionality would be limited to withdrawals after selling the specific cryptocurrency only. In fact, the platform restricts any purchases or deposits with fiat currency for unverified users.

In order to enjoy Bitpanda services to the full extent, it is advisable to verify the account. To do so, Bitpanda would require the client to provide the phone number, passport/ID (driver’s license not sufficient), and some additional personal information. Apart from this, Bitpanda also requests the user to make the verification deposit with an amount between 25 EUR to 2500 EUR via SEPA, SOFORT or GIROPAY/EPS. Once the verification is finished, Bitpanda will unlock the deposit option.  You may see the comparison for unverified and verified account in EUR below.

For those who are willing to increase the limits and trade in large volumes, Bitpanda has designed an exclusive service named Bitpanda Plus. It is tailored for the individual customers that are interested in purchasing or selling the cryptocurrency worth more than €1 million as well as obtaining the specialized service. To join it, the client has to fill in and submit the corresponding form. Afterward, Bitpanda reviews the application for the further approval.

Deposits and Withdrawals at Bitpanda Crypto Exchange

Making deposits and buying/selling the cryptocurrency is only possible with the fiat money at Bitpanda. However, it is important to note that buying the cryptocurrency on Bitpanda is available exclusively for European customers (EU and EEA), while selling is permitted for clients worldwide.  The exchange currently supports 4 currencies such as EUR, USD, CHF, and GBP. Transfers in other currencies are also accepted, but in such a case the exchange fees may apply.

All the payments can be conducted with multiple options – credit/debit cards (Visa or MasterCard), Skrill, Neteller (EUR/GBP/CHF only), EPS (EUR only), GIROPAY (EUR only), SOFORT (EUR/CHF only), SEPA (EUR/GBP/CHF only), Amazon.de (EUR only). Additionally, Bitpanda allows making the deposit in euros with the “Bitpanda To Go” voucher, but this option is limited to Austrian customers.

Unfortunately, our Bitpanda review discovered that the platform does not allow carrying out the credit/debit card withdrawals. The only payout methods are SEPA, Amazon.de, Skrill, and Neteller. The worst situation is with USD, where Skrill is the only way to cash out. Although Bitpanda deems the multiple fiat payment options as its selling point, in fact, most of them support only EUR transfers. For withdrawals, the inability to have the payout with credit/debit card is definitely the noticeable disadvantage.

Bitpanda Supported Cryptocurrencies Review

At Bitpanda, one can trade 7 cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, BitcoinCash, Dash, Ethereum, Komodo, Litecoin and Ripple. Trading the given digital currencies on margin is not possible on this platform.

Fees and Commissions

Bitpanda charges additional fees for deposits and withdrawals that depend on the cryptocurrency traded. In Bitcoin, the wallet deposit fee is 0.0001 BTC, while the wallet withdrawal fee is 0.00001 BTC. However, Bitpanda may also waive the deposit fee on the special condition. Returning to the Bitcoin example, the client may enjoy the free deposit if its amount is greater than 0.05 BTC.  You may see the full table of transaction costs here.

As pretty much expected, the trader will also incur the commission for buying/selling cryptocurrency on Bitpanda. Moreover, this commission will be already incorporated in the price at which the order is executed. What is quite controversial in this regard is that Bitpanda does not disclose how big this fee is and how it is determined. The only exception is the size of the flat commission applied to Bitcoin – Bitpanda charges 1.39% for the purchase and 1.29% for the sale. For other cryptocurrencies, no information is stated.

Such policy is not a good sign and you may even wonder, is Bitpanda scam? It would be a bit radical to consider Bitpanda a fraud, but the lack of transparency in this aspect leaves a mixed feeling.

Bitpanda Customer Support

The client support at Bitpanda is presented only with the email and FAQ. In addition, both the website and the support is available in two languages – English and German. For the time being, no phone support or live chat is provided by this exchange.

Bitpanda Review 2018: Conclusion

Essentially, Bitpanda is a beginner-friendly option to buy or sell popular cryptocurrencies. The exchange may especially appeal to the European customers willing to trade using the fiat money. However, for customers outside Europe, it is recommendable to look for other exchanges in the market.

Bitpanda is far from perfect – it still has a small selection of cryptocurrencies and lacks the functionality for more advanced users. What’s more, the exchange should introduce the clear trading fee schedule in order to avoid the transparency concerns.