BitBay Review – A Beginner’s Guide

By: Ofir Beigel | Last updated: 5/4/20

BitBay is the third largest cryptocurrency exchange in Europe. In this review, I’ll cover the different exchange services and let you know what to look out for before signing up.

BitBay Review Summary

BitBay initially started out as a dedicated Polish exchange, however, due to its unregulated nature, it migrated to Malta and from there to Estonia. The exchange offers a wide array of services with an attractive fee schedule.

It’s advised to be aware of the regulatory issues the exchange is facing. Other European alternatives include Bitstamp and Bitpanda.

That’s BitBay in a nutshell. For a more detailed review keep on reading, here’s what I’ll cover:

1. Company Overview

BitBay was originally owned by BitBay sp. Z.o.o, a Polish company founded in 2014, located in Katowice. However, due to regulatory issues the company migrated to Malta and was operated by Pinewood Holdings Limited. Today BitBay is operated by BB Trade Estonia OÜ with licenses in Estonia. The company has around 200 employees and is headed by Sylwester Suszek.

BitBay is registered in Malta and since November 2018 is in the process of obtaining Malta’s license for cryptocurrency exchanges. At the moment the company goes through audits and license procedures.

2. BitBay Services

BitBay Exchange

The basic BitBay service includes a cryptocurrency exchange. While originally aimed at Polish traders, nowadays the exchange serves most European countries. The exchange is the 3rd largest exchange in Europe with over 1m users.

BitBay Pro

BitBay Pro is a special trading interface for professional traders that includes advanced tools, MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence ), RSI (Relative Strength Index) indicators and a customized interface.

Bitcantor

Bitcantor is an “instant” cryptocurrency exchange aimed for Polish users. It allows for a fast transaction without signing up or verifying your identity. This convenience means you’ll be paying a higher rate than the traditional trading platform.

BitBay Pay

BitBay Pay allows businesses to easily accept crypto payments while not exposing them to the volatility of cryptocurrencies. Similar to BitPay, the company allows the business to charge the customer in crypto, while instantly converting the paid amount to fiat.

BitBay Cash

As the name suggests BitBay Cash allows users to buy Bitcoin with cash. This is done by finding a BitBay distributor and buying a voucher from them, that later on can be redeemed on BitBay’s website.

OTC Trading

Like many other exchanges today, BitBay offers OTC trading – a service aimed for buying large amounts of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. OTC services usually offer dedicated support and lower fees than traditional trading.

3. Currencies and Payment Methods

BitBay supports 35 different crypto assets including:

The platform supports the following fiat currencies:

USD

EUR

GBP

PLN

BitBay currently supports wire transfers only.

You can see the complete currency list here.

4. BitBay Fees

BitBay has a very attractive fee schedule.

The following actions are free of charge:

Account registration and maintenance

Cryptocurrency deposits

Fiat wire transfers

Crypto to crypto maker trades

“Takers” have a 0.1% on all crypto to crypto trades. Fiat trades start from 0.3% (relatively high taking into account alternatives like Bitstamp).

Withdrawal fees depend on the currency you’re withdrawing. You can see the complete fee schedule here.

5. Supported Countries

While originally BitBay was aimed at Polish customers, today it is an international exchange with no specific limits on where users can register from. Due to the fact that BitBay is not registered in the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), it is not able to provide service to US customers at the moment.

The exchange seems to be unregulated, with the only mention for AML/KYC policies coming from an internal memo. This, in turn, allows it to cater to a larger array of countries.

6. Customer Support and Reviews

BitBay offers support in the form of a helpdesk. From personal use of the helpdesk, I can say it’s really hard to find what you’re looking for in there, as the search function isn’t very precise.

There’s not a lot of online reviews about BitBay, this could be a sign of the exchange’s popularity. The reviews I could find don’t shed any new light on the exchange, aside from the fact that some claim the exchange is unregulated.

TrustPilot shows a limited amount of reviews, so that also doesn’t really paint a clear picture of the exchange.

7. Conclusion

BitBay seems to be a good option for trading cryptocurrencies, especially if you’re from a country that isn’t accepted in other exchanges.

If regulation is not an issue for you, perhaps it’s best to check out alternatives like Bitpanda or Bitstamp before using BitBay, as an unregulated exchange is always something to stay alert about.

Have you had any experience with BitBay? Let me know in the comment section below.