Bitpanda under test: experiences and review 2019

Brief information

>> Buy and sell Cryptocurrencies on Bitpanda* <<

About Bitpanda

In Europe, Bitpanda, which was founded in Vienna in 2014, is one of the largest and best-known brokers on the cryptocurrency market. Bitpanda celebrated a milestone in July 2019 when the platform registered its millionth customer.

Already in June 2019 Bitpanda announced the extension of its service to include the Bitpanda Global Exchange and the Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) for the Bitpanda Ecosystem Token (BEST). In the medium term, the company intends to become the largest European crypto exchange with the Bitpanda Global Exchange.

It is very important for investors to know that Bitpanda is fully regulated under EU law due to its location in Vienna. Accordingly, Bitpanda can be classified as serious and safe. In order to ensure the best possible security of the cryptocurrencies, Bitpanda stores almost all deposits and customer funds and cryptocurrencies offline.

This means that all crypto holdings are always stored in cold wallets and are therefore not connected to the Internet. Thus they are very effectively protected against hacker attacks. Bitpanda uses 2-factor authentication via the Google Authenticator App to protect customer accounts. This allows users of the platform to protect their account in the best possible way.

Another advantage of the exchange is that there are many different deposit options. In particular, Bitpanda also offers four Fiat currency wallets for US dollars, euros, Swiss francs and British pounds. Through these, users of the brokerage service can deposit Fiat currencies into their account and buy and sell cryptocurrencies immediately.

Bitpanda Services

In addition to the brokerage service, Bitpanda offers numerous other services:

What cryptocurrencies does Bitpanda offer?

The Bitpanda Brokerage Service currently includes 29 cryptocurrencies, including the BEST token:

>> Sign up now on Bitpanda to buy and sell cryptocurrencies*<<

The fees of Bitpanda

When you visit the Bitpanda website, you will see all the prices in real time, including all the fees. The update is carried out every 60 seconds. The fees also include a spread which denotes the difference between the purchase price and the sale price. For Bitcoin, for example, the spread is 1.49 percent (at the time of writing) and 1.29 percent at the time of sale. You can see the selling price (with fees) before concluding a trade.

The table below gives you an overview of the fees and minimum amounts for deposits and withdrawals:

In addition to the fees listed in the table, exchange fees may also apply. This is the case if you make the deposit or withdrawal in a Fiat currency other than USD, EUR, GBP or CHF. This fee is not charged by Bitpanda but by the payment service provider. Therefore it is not included in the prices of Bitpanda.

There are no fees for sending cryptocurrencies to other Bitpanda users and for internal wallet transactions. In addition, there are no minimum amounts for deposits and withdrawals.

How do I set up a Bitpanda account?

Account opening and verification is somewhat more complicated with Bitpanda than with other crypto brokers. With our instructions and the instructions from Bitpanda you should have no problems to fully verify your account to unlock the full functionality and the highest limits for trading on the platform. And that’s how it works:

The first step is to visit the official website of Bitpanda (click here!). There you will find the “Get started now” button that you have to click on. You will then be asked to provide some personal information: your name, e-mail address, password and nationality.

The acceptance of the GTC and the data protection declaration is also obligatory. Once you have entered all the information, you can request the creation of your account by clicking on the “Create account” button.

You should then receive an email within a few seconds containing a confirmation link to verify your email address. After clicking on this link you can log in to your Bitpanda for the first time. Your account has now been created. You can’t trade cryptocurrencies yet, though. For this a verification of your identity by Bitpanda is mandatory.

>> Open an Account on Bitpanda now easily and securely*<<

Verification at Bitpanda

The verification is based on the legal regulations in Austria and the European Union. The verification is carried out by a service provider in a video identification procedure. It is therefore very important that you have a stable Internet connection and a webcam. To start the verification process, click on “Verify now” on the homepage of your account (see screenshot).

First of all, you will be asked for further information: your full address, a telephone number and your date of birth. To confirm your details, you can upload either an identity card or a passport. You also have the choice between a “Light verification” and a “Full verification”:

Light Verification

Light Verification requires you to verify your personal information by scanning your ID document with a webcam. This process is carried out by eID, a partner company of Bitpanda. With the Light Verification you can unlock the following functions on Bitpanda:

1. Deposit and withdrawal of Fiat currencies by bank transfer
2. Trading of cryptocurrencies as well as gold and silver

Full verification

With full verification, you can get the full functionality of the brokerage platform. This also includes the right to use the Bitpanda Global Exchange. Verification is performed by IdentityTM or IDNow.

Our experience with the service was as follows: For the video call via webcam, we received a call partner within just one minute. During the phone call we were asked numerous questions. We also had to explain that we were aware of the dangers of trading cryptocurrencies. The identity document was checked very carefully by pointing it several times – from all angles – into the webcam (to make the security features visible). In total, the phone call lasted about 4-5 minutes.

Upon completion of full verification, you will receive a limit of 2,500 EUR for deposits made using these payment methods:

1. EPS
2. GiroPay
3. SOFORT

This limit will be completely removed once you have made a verification deposit. You can do this by bank transfer, SOFORT or GiroPay /EPS. The deposit amount must be between 25 EUR and 2,500 EUR.

By the complete verification you unlock the following functions:

• All features of Bitpanda, including swap and savings plan
• Deposit and withdrawal of Fiat currencies by bank transfer, credit card and various online payment service providers, such as SOFORT, iDEAL, Neteller, Skrill, Zimpler, etc.
• Trading on the Bitpanda Global Exchange

>> Buy and sell cryptocurrencies on Bitpanda <<

The limits at Bitpanda

The limits for deposits and withdrawals of Fiat currencies depend on the type of verification and the chosen deposit or withdrawal method. The following table shows the restrictions on depositing in Euro:

The next table shows the restricitions on depositing USD:

The Bitpanda Wallet

The Bitpanda Wallets offer you the possibility to manage all cryptocurrencies, which you can buy on the platform, in one of Bitpanda’s Wallets. Basically, you save yourself the trouble of setting up an external wallet.

Although Bitpanda is considered secure and trustworthy, for security reasons we recommend that you send your cryptocurrencies to a software or hardware wallet. Our top recommendation for a hardware wallet is the Ledger Nano X. You can find our big comparison test in this article!

How can I buy cryptocurrencies on Bitpanda?

To buy cryptocurrencies, you must first deposit your local currency into the Fiat Wallet of Bitpanda. Then you can exchange your local currency for one of currently 29 cryptocurrencies. Below we have created a guide with 9 steps until you buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and other Altcoins:

How can I sell cryptocurrencies on Bitpanda?

If you want to cash out and transfer your funds from Bitpanda to your bank account, you can do this very easily and quickly. Click on “Wallets” where you can find your Fiat Wallet. Select your Fiatwallet now to get to the following overview. Here you can select “Withdraw EUR” (or your local currency):

Bitpanda review

Security and seriousness

Bitpanda has integrated many security features into its platforms to best protect both the cryptocurrency reserves and the user accounts. Bitpanda algorithms almost the entire cryptocurrency deposits offline in a cold wallet. This means that the cryptocurrencies are not connected to the web servers. In addition, Bitpanda has implemented the following security measures:

1. Session management: New devices must be confirmed at the first login via the registered e-mail address.
2. reCAPTCHA: Protection against unauthorized access.
3. Confirmation e-mail: When sending cryptocurrencies or Fiat withdrawals, confirmations will be requested by email using the registered email address.
4. Samples: For important data changes such as e-mail, telephone number and resetting the two-factor authentication (2FA), Bitpanda contacts its customers randomly by telephone.
5. DDOS protection: According to the FAQ Bitpanda offers DDOS protection. The implementation is unknown.
6. SSL encryption: Encrypted https connection between Bitpanda servers and customers.
7. Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Bitpanda Fees

The fees for the purchase of cryptocurrencies are 1.49 percent and 1.29 percent for the sale. Since the prices are displayed in real time, the user immediately sees the final price – which is positive. However, it is also more difficult for the user to understand the fees.

Compared to Coinbase, Bitpanda’s fees are at about the same level (about 1.49%). The base prices are also very similar according to our comparisons (in real time), even though Coinbase obtains its prices from Coinbase Pro, while the source of Bitpanda is not known.

The differences we found in the Bitcoin price were in the range of less than USD 5.  Since Coinmama offers a very similar service to Bitpanda, a comparison with Coinmama is also worthwhile. There’s a clear winner in the fees here. Coinmama is much more expensive than Bitpanda with a 5.9% fee.

The fees of the best broker in comparison

Litebit	Coinmerce	Bitpanda	Coinmama	Coinbase
Available in: Europe	Available in: Europe	Available in: worldwide	Available in: worldwide	Availbale in: 103 countries
Fees: approx. 1-2%	Fees: approx. 1-3%	Fees: 1,49%	Fees: 5,9%	Fees: 1,49%
Visit Broker*	Visit Broker*	Visit Broker*	Visit Broker*	Visit Broker*

The Support

First of all Bitpanda offers a very extensive helpdesk, a knowledge database, where numerous questions are answered very detailed and extensive. If you don’t find an answer there, you can contact customer support via an email contact form.

In addition, you can inquire about your ticket status via Telegram. Basically Bitpanda wants to deliver an answer within 24 hours. According to our experience this has almost always worked. For personal matters, Bitpanda Support will call you on your mobile phone. The experiences with the Bitpanda support known to us are consistently positive.

Hacker attacks

We are not aware of any hack from Bitpanda.

Summary

There are good reasons why Bitpanda is one of the most popular cryptocurrency brokers in Europe! Customer support and platform security are exceptionally good. In addition, the fees are comparatively low.

In addition, Bitpanda offers four different Fiat Wallets for Euro, US Dollar, Swiss Franc and British Pound, with which transactions can be carried out very quickly. Bitpanda is therefore a very good choice to buy cryptocurrencies directly by Fiat money.

>> Buy and sell cryptocurrencies now on Bitpanda* <<

Bitpanda Alternatives

If you would rather buy cryptocurrencies from another broker, we will briefly introduce you to 4 alternatives below.

Litebit is our top recommendation for European customers. The broker offers 50 cryptocurrencies, which can be purchased directly by credit card, SEPA bank transfer, SOFORT, GiroPay and much more. The fees are in the lower area. We have been a regular customer of the exchange for 4 years and are very satisfied with both the platform and the customer support.  >> Read our Litebit review <<

Coinmama is a cryptocurrency broker from Great Britain who offers the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies worldwide. Payment is possible on Coinmama by credit card, bank transfer and PayPal. The purchased cryptocurrencies can be sent directly to an external wallet during the purchase process. >> Read our Coinmama review <<

Coinbase is an American broker offering its services in 103 countries worldwide. Coinbase currently offers 14 cryptocurrencies for sale and purchase at moderate fees, whereby German customers should rather choose another broker due to the unclear legal situation! With more than 30 million customers, Coinbase is one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency platforms. >> Read our Coinbase review <<

eToro is a very well known cryptocurrency CFD broker. On the one hand, the platform offers the purchase of “real” cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, cryptocurrency CFDs can also be bought and sold. With CFDs you can use a double lever.  >> Read our eToro review <<