bitFlyer Review 2023 – Pros & Cons of Trading on BitFlyer.com

82 82

Get to know Japan’s largest Bitcoin exchange bitFlyer that is also operating in Europe and the USA. With bitFlyer you can invest in Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies. Our bitFlyer experience shows what the offer is worth. In this bitFlyer review we will examine the offer and all features of the crypto exchange to help you decide whether this is the right place for you to buy and sell bitcoins & Co.

Company Background

bitFlyer is one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges approved by the Japanese regulatory authority JFSA. The Bitcoin exchange was founded in Tokyo already in 2014, making it one of the older and more experienced bitcoin exchanges. The company records the largest trading volume for BTC in Japan, with more than 1 million customers in its country of origin. In 2018, bitFlyer expanded to Europe.

bitFlyer scores especially with the trading options with the Japanese yen (JPY). In addition, the platform offers high security standards for sending, storing and trading cryptocurrencies.

Trading for Professionals and Advanced Traders

The Bitcoin trading platform offers a small number of altcoins in addition to Bitcoin. The more extensive bitFlyer Lightning offering is only available to customers under certain conditions. bitFlyer Lightning offers a variety of useful trading and charting tools that appeal mainly to experienced traders.

Depending on your country, the base currency of your account will be in USD, EUR or JPY.

bitFlyer Review – The Offer

With trading and leverage options available on the bitFlyer Lightning page, bitFlyer is both crypto exchange and broker. Accordingly, financial instruments such as forex and futures as well as leveraged options are available to you when you get activated for bitFlyer Lightning. This requires a verification of your profile by bitFlyer. However, we searched for BitFyler CfDs in vain.

Direct access was previously available to the trading options of the “Bitcoin Easy Exchange”. With this offer, cryptocurrencies could be traded against each other. Only Bitcoin could be bought with fiat money. The cryptocurrencies that can be traded on bitFlyer are listed below.

bitFlyer Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Lisk (LSK)
• Monacoin (MONA)

Step by Step Guide for Trading at bitFlyer

bitFlyer is one of the largest exchanges for cryptocurrencies. However, if you want to use the offer, you first need to open an account.

You don’t pay anything for the creation and account management at bitFlyer. The platform only charges fees for transactions.

The account creation is quite simple, but we still want to give you a clear step-by-step guide in case you want to know the procedure in advance.

Step 1: The Registration

Registration is quick and self-explanatory. On the start page you enter your e-mail. After that you have to confirm it. Then you have to set a password and accept the terms and conditions. You also have to confirm that you are not a citizen of the USA. Next, you have to enter your personal data. Those include:

• First Name
• Last name
• Date of Birth
• Nationality
• Country of birth
• Country of residence & address

The next step requires an active phone number as they will send you a text message to verify your ownership of this phone number.

The last thing you need to do is to verify your identity – for example, with your ID card.

Step 2: The deposit

Now you can deposit money or cryptocurrencies with different methods. To do this, you need to click on the left menu item “Account Funding” where you will get to the different deposit options.

Step 3: Trading at bitFlyer

Now you can buy bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. In addition, you can also make use of bitFlyer’s broker platform via the menu item “bitFlyer Lightning”.

bitFlyer Features

While it was originally only possible to buy Bitcoin for fiat currency with bitFlyer, the platform now also supports a number of altcoins as well as the option to trade them against each other.

bitFlyer’s offer is composed of two different pages: On bitFlyer’s “Bitcoin Easy Exchange,” you can buy cryptocurrencies for fiat money. The “bitFlyer Lightning” site, on the other hand, offers a similar architecture to popular forex platforms. Here, until May 2019, trading with a leverage of 1:15 was also possible. Since then, however, only a leverage of 1:4 is available. In addition to cryptocurrencies, forex and futures options are also traded on bitFlyer Lightning. Thus, bitFlyer is a broker and an exchange at the same time.

Payment Methods

To use crypto exchanges, you usually have to transfer money to your registered profile. This is by no means different with bitFlyer.

There are several possible ways to buy Bitcoin & Co. after your bitFlyer signup. For example, users can initiate a credit card or Paypal payment or make a classic bank transfer. Transferring and paying with certain cryptocurrencies is also supported. The selection here is likely to be limited to the coins also listed for purchase and trading on the exchange (you can find a list of these in the section “bitFlyer Review – the Offer.”) bitFlyer supports deposits and withdrawals in YEN, USD and in EUR, depending on your country.

So, you are relatively flexible in choosing your payment method if you want to use bitFlyer for buying cryptocurrencies. Keep in mind that credit card transfers often incur additional fees. And if you choose bank transfer, you have to be prepared for 2-3 business days waiting time. For the EUR zone the Bitcoin exchange also supports the cheap and quick SEPA transfers.

• Credit cards
• Bank transfer
• Paypal

bitFlyer Security

bitFlyer is regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA). Although the country’s government is notorious for being rather hostile towards cryptocurrencies, the authority has licensed bitFlyer.

Bafin, in a sense the German equivalent of the JFSA, is quite different. In recent years, it has been characterized by its inactivity towards the new financial instruments. Thus, Bitcoin & Co. are not clearly regulated in Germany. Their unclear status brings certain advantages, but also many disadvantages. For example, the risk for investors is greater as long as the authorities remain inactive.

The fact that bitFlyer is now temporarily – according to its own information due to difficulties in coordinating with the authorities – no longer allowing European new customers on the exchange, is probably primarily related to the trading options that the exchange also offers. After all, this is where established financial instruments come into play, the use of which is subject to clear guidelines in Europe and Germany. However, it remains difficult to understand why buying Bitcoin & Co. is currently not possible via bitFlyer either.

Security when buying cryptocurrencies directly

If you buy cryptocurrencies directly, you are your own bank. This means that you are responsible for their safekeeping yourself. This basic principle of cryptocurrencies is a double-edged sword. It is true that you can transfer cryptos from A to B worldwide at lightning speed, independently of banks, at much more favorable conditions. However, you have to think about security issues yourself. This starts with the choice of a suitable wallet and ends with the proper documentation and secure storage of important data. For beginners who do not have the time or leisure to deal with all this, this is a good reason to trade cryptocurrencies with brokers like eToro with certificates, and to refrain from buying directly.

However, trading CfD derivatives comes with a not inconsiderable risk, which you should by no means underestimate. But even purchased cryptocurrencies can, as the past has shown, suddenly lose massive value. So whether buying or trading cryptocurrencies is the better choice depends primarily on how much you are willing to familiarize yourself with the matter. It is worthwhile to examine all options in detail before you decide on one. Our guide texts can be a good help for you.

How do you protect yourself against bitFlyer Scams?

In general, we advise you to be careful whenever you use a crypto exchange or crypto wallet. Because fraud is not uncommon here. That’s why you are better off with the established exchanges than with the unknown, small ones, even if they often entice you with particularly attractive bonuses. When using an exchange, always make sure that you are really on the official site of the provider. With so-called phishing, scammers redirect you to exact duplicates of the exchange portals and then intercept your bitFlyer login data. Where available, you should also make use of the two-factor authentication (2FA). It additionally protects your account from unauthorized access. How you can effectively protect yourself from fraud damage, we have highlighted for you in more detail in the linked article.

bitFlyer has effective security measures, the exchange has not succumbed to any hacker attack to date. All user data is encrypted. The site is SSL certified and uses SHA-256 hash encryption.

The bitFlyer App

There is currently no bitFlyer app for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is surprising, because the very trading options that bitFlyer offers would certainly justify an app. When it comes to trading, good apps are actually indispensable nowadays, because traders need to be able to stay aware of price movements and new trends at any time, regardless of location, and react as quickly as possible.

However, if you don’t want to trade cryptocurrencies but buy or trade them directly, an app is less important for you. This is because it is advisable to make such purchases at your leisure from home. The extra personal responsibility that comes with buying cryptocurrencies directly is best taken care of when you have the peace of mind to double-check everything, keep track of your wallets, and handle your filing. You want to make sure your wallets are set up correctly, and you can access your records if you ever need them. You also want to properly document every purchase so you can explain it to your taxes later. For all of this, your home desk is still the best place to be.

For these reasons, it usually doesn’t affect our rating of crypto exchanges if they don’t offer an app. Unless trading is also possible on the platforms. Because this applies to bitFlyer, there is a deduction in this category.

Customer Service

A good customer service is characterized by constant availability and the competence of the support team. Depending on the crypto exchange, support can be made up of a variety of components. Good support can prove to be a real boon when you’re having trouble using a platform. It’s not a nice feeling to be helpless in the face of a platform when you suddenly can’t access your savings, for example. That’s why the support of the crypto exchanges we reviewed, such as bitFlyer, is a very important criterion for their rating.

bitFlyer offers an extensive, but incomplete FAQ on the site. This is not available in German, but in English. Unfortunately, some of our questions remain unanswered. We have to search for information about the current problems that lead to bitFlyer temporarily not allowing new registrations. We also do not get any information about the supported payment methods in the FAQ. This could be better.
bitFlyer support only available via contact form

bitFlyer support offers neither a telephone contact nor a live chat. Apart from the FAQ, users in Europe can only contact the customer support via a contact form. This is staffed from 9:00 to 18:00.

Furthermore, users of the bitFlyer Lightning offer can communicate with other users in a chat window. This way, you might find help in the community in case of minor problems.

All in all, this is rather thin, considering that bitFlyer is Japan’s largest Bitcoin exchange. In our rating, there are clear deductions for this.

Customer support contact options

• Contact form
• FAQ

bitFlyer Fees

Please note: What fees the versatile exchange bitFlyer charges for trading cryptocurrencies can currently only be determined for the offer that has applied so far. Since this is currently under reconstruction, your bitFlyer experience may differ from ours.

bitFlyer does not charge any fees for registering an account or maintaining your profile. This also applies to transfers to your profile. However, fees may be charged by your financial service provider (e.g. your bank).

The trading fees of bitFlyer range between 0.01 and 0.15 percent. The fee amount depends on your trading volume of the past 30 days. Customers who trade more than 500 million yen per month receive the lowest fees above 0.01 percent.

Like other exchanges, bitFlyer also charges a fee for withdrawals. This varies depending on the currency you want to withdraw. See our table for that.

Fee Type Costs

• Registration and holding an account: Free of charge

• Bitcoin withdrawals 0.0004 BTC
• Litecoin withdrawals 0.001 LTC
• Ethereum withdrawals 0.005 ETH
• Bitcoin Cash withdrawals 0.0002 BCH
• Ethereum Classic withdrawals 0.005 ETC
• Lisk withdrawals 0.1 LSK
• Monacoin withdrawals none

• Trading fees: 0.01 – 0.15 %

Many CFD brokers charge the so-called inactivity fee for long periods of inactivity. For crypto exchanges like bitFlyer, this is often not the case. bitFlyer offers both trading and buying options. Nevertheless, there is no inactivity fee. The bitFlyer fees thus remain manageable.

bitFlyer Review Conclusion

For our review, we had to rely on the information that bitFlyer provides via its website. Because this is incomplete, we also had to access information from third parties. These are not ideal conditions for a fair evaluation of the platform. However, it does indicate something: After all, one should actually be able to expect a complete FAQ from such a professional and large exchange as bitFlyer.

Our research was additionally complicated due to the fact that bitFlyer is currently not accepting new registrations. Thus, we had to scrutinize the offer without a bitFlyer login of our own. Nevertheless, we dare to give bitFlyer a rating, but it has to be enjoyed in relation to the circumstances under which our review was written.