BitPanda

Given the sheer number of cryptocurrency exchanges out there, half the battle when people start up a new exchange is getting their voice heard. When you first visit the website, an exchange’s number-one priority is to grab your attention and hold it. Bitpanda takes this to the extreme. Literally the first thing you see is “Home of Cryptocurrency” in big letters. And just below that, “Europe’s leading retail broker for buying and selling Bitcoin.” If you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of sites in Europe offering this service, so this is quite a claim! In this Bitpanda review, I’ll investigate whether there’s substance to back up these confident declarations and whether Bitpanda really belongs on our best Bitcoin exchanges list. Let’s start.

Bitpanda Key Features

Bitpanda is very much a “do it all” cryptocurrency exchange. Unlike other places, which offer more specialized services, it essentially aims to be the only website you’ll ever use for your crypto needs.

Let’s take a quick look at some of its key features. I’ll explore all of these in more detail later in the review.

Markets

Bitpanda is much more than a simple Bitcoin exchange. In fact, on the home page, it advertises itself as offering “all cryptocurrencies in one place.” All of them!

The number of supported cryptos on the Bitpanda exchange really is impressive. You can trade big-hitters like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ripple, alongside less-heralded cryptos like Cardano and Chainlink.

When it comes to fiats, Bitpanda is also far more versatile than your average exchange. You can use USD, GBP, EUR, and CHF (Swiss franc).

Payment Options

Just as with the list of available markets, Bitpanda’s range of payment options is admirably wide. You can use more traditional methods like credit and debit cards, as well as bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, and even Amazon vouchers.

Again, in this respect, Bitpanda represents an extremely versatile option.

Mobile App

Despite on-the-go trading becoming increasingly popular, this is still one area in which exchanges are generally found wanting. In fact, many of the biggest exchanges still don’t have their own app.

Not so with Bit Panda. You’ll find a dedicated Android app, here, that offers every feature you could hope for. You can buy and sell cryptos and send cryptos directly to another user. You can also check on your portfolio, make deposits into your account, and more.

The only problem? There’s still no iOS version. Fix this soon please, Bitpanda!

Instant Exchange

Many people who use a cryptocurrency exchange aren’t interested in being full-fledged “traders.” They simply want to buy or sell some Bitcoin as quickly as possible.

Bitpanda caters to these users admirably with Bitpanda Swap. This feature allows you to exchange one crypto for another instantly, via a stripped-down interface, without any transaction limits. You can even transfer your funds elsewhere with the dedicated Bitpanda wallet.

Fees

Fees are undoubtedly one of the first things people look at when evaluating an exchange. And when it comes to Bitpanda, this is a rare weak spot.

The fees themselves aren’t too bad (they’re currently 1.49% to buy Bitcoin, for example, and 1.29% to sell it), although there are certainly cheaper exchanges out there. A bigger problem is simply that it’s annoyingly difficult to find out how much you’re being charged, because the fees are automatically included in the cryptos’ prices.

I’ll expand upon that, and everything else I’ve touched on here, throughout the review.

Supported Currencies

When you’re trying to appeal to as many people as possible, having a wide range of payment options is a must. Fortunately, the list of Bitpanda supported currencies is extensive and covers every major base.

Bitpanda’s aforementioned claim that it offers “all cryptocurrencies in one place” is an exaggeration. Nevertheless there’s still a very good selection here. These range from the most famous cryptos, like BTC, ETH, DASH, and XRP. There are also some lesser-known variants like OMG, ZRX, and XTZ. New cryptos are being added fairly regularly too, to bulk up this already impressive collection.

Likewise, the fiat selection here is better than you’ll find from many exchanges. There are only four options—US dollars, euros, pounds, and Swiss francs—but this is actually an upgrade from most of Bitpanda’s competitors, which often support only USD and EUR.

Overall, even though it doesn’t quite have the widest range of supported currencies, the Bitpanda website is certainly better than most in this regard.

BitPanda Signup and Login

An annoying registration process shouldn’t be enough to put you off an exchange entirely, but it definitely gets things off to a bad start.

The not-so-good news: you can’t look around the user area here—not even a preview of it—until you’ve actually signed up. That’s something you are allowed to do with some of Bitpanda’s competitors. The good news is that actually signing up is very easy indeed!

The registration screen is clearly laid out and only requires a few basic pieces of information:

After you’ve filled in these forms, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click the link to activate your account, and you’ll be ready to start using the Bitpanda Bitcoin exchange. The entire process takes less than a minute, and you can immediately enable Two Factor Authentication if you so desire.

Logging back in again is just as easy. Simply input your email address and password, and that’s it!

Interface

The importance of an exchange’s interface should not be underestimated. You’re looking for a website that you can use for a significant number of hours, over many years, after all. When you consider that time frame, you can understand how vital it is that a website is laid out in an attractive and intuitive manner.

The whole thing looks clean, and both the writing and other elements stand out nicely. They’ve also managed to keep the levels of text to a minimum, preferring to stick with a pretty self-explanatory visual layout, only including small amounts of text where necessary.

Now let’s talk about the overall layout of the website. I absolutely love how the interface is arranged. Navigating it for the first time was easily one of the highlights of my Bitpanda review research. It walks the tightrope brilliantly between being tight and sleek and not being too stripped down (which can often be counterproductive).

Your home base, when using Bitpanda, will be the Dashboard. This has the current prices of all the major cryptos lined up along the top. Just below is your portfolio, with a small section containing any notifications you’ve received.

I must say that I like the design of this Panda Bitcoin exchange very much. The color scheme is simple, sleek, and modern, mixing cool blue elements with black, white, and grey.

Scroll down a little further, and you’ll see your wallets for any fiat currencies you’ve deposited into your Bitpanda account (or your Bitpanda euro wallet, for example), and a list of your recent transactions. In short, one convenient page contains everything you might reasonably want to check up on.

By clicking on the cryptocurrency prices at the top, you’ll go straight through to the Charts section. Alternatively, you can use the top bar to access this section, or to see your wallets, make a trade, or make a deposit.

I can’t overstate how easy it is to navigate this interface. It’s an absolute cinch for beginners, but its simplicity won’t frustrate veteran traders. Finding that level of balance is difficult, but Bitpanda has nailed it. Coinbase probably was my previous favorite interface, but in the Bitpanda vs Coinbase debate, I might just have to give Bitpanda the edge here.

Markets

Bitpanda is essentially a cryptocurrency broker. That means that, rather than trading directly with another person, you place your order for one of the available markets with Bitpanda, and they then complete the rest of the transaction.

The number of markets available here is pretty good, but not as extensive as what you’ll find from a dedicated P2P service, like LocalBitcoins. One note: all the Bitpanda supported countries are primarily in Europe, so make sure you live in a location where you can use the platform.

There are 21 supported cryptocurrencies in total, which is a respectable number. These cryptos can only be traded against fiats on the Bitpanda Web platform, though. Additionally, you can’t carry out true crypto-for-crypto trading (except by using the Bitpanda Swap feature, which I’ll look at later)—something that might frustrate some traders. The fact that it isn’t for users outside Europe may also frustrate some would-be Bitpanda traders in the USA and beyond, even though USD is an acceptable fiat currency.

Trading Tools

One thing must be made very clear—Bitpanda is not the most feature-packed cryptocurrency exchange out there. While its simplicity is brilliant for inexperienced or casual traders, it simply won’t satisfy the demands of those seeking the utmost control over their trades.

With that said, the charts available through the Bitpanda website are actually very nice indeed. This is primarily because the Bitpanda team has made the smart choice to partner up with TradingView.

Thanks to this, you can basically use TradingView’s charts through Bitpanda (albeit with a time frame that’s one year). You can add a variety of indicators to these charts to help analyze price movement. These include moving averages, Bollinger Bands, and VWAP.

In terms of actual analytical tools, that’s all that this exchange has to offer. As I mentioned earlier in my Bitpanda review, there is also an excellent Android app, which effectively offers all the functionality of the desktop version. If you want to be kept abreast of all the latest developments in your portfolio while you’re on the move, this is a big plus.

Finally, many cryptocurrency exchanges bulk up their offering to tech-savvy users with APIs. Bitpanda disappoints in this regard, however. Despite mentioning “strong API applications” on the home page, users can only take advantage of a price ticker.

How to Make a Deposit

User-friendliness is definitely one of Bitpanda’s calling cards. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that the deposit options are varied and the actual depositing process is extremely smooth.

While you can’t actually make crypto-for-crypto trades here, you can still make Bitpanda Ethereum deposits (or those for any other supported crypto), and simply use the site as a wallet. Pleasingly, you don’t need to provide verification before doing so.

You do, however, need to verify your account before depositing fiats (which you’ll need to do if you actually want to make trades). You must provide Bitpanda with your date of birth and your address. After that, you have to send them a passport or ID card. If you value anonymity in your crypto trading, this could be a deal-breaker.

There is one exception. If you’re based in Austria, you can use the Bitpanda to Go service. In short, this allows you to buy vouchers worth a certain amount of money, which you then activate and use on the Bitpanda exchange. It’s a nice idea, but for everyone else who doesn’t live in Austria, you’d better get that ID ready.

There’s a lovely wide range of ways to deposit fiats. The ones available to you depend on where you’re based. Overall, Bitpanda’s supported methods include credit card, Skrill, Neteller, and SEPA. Deposits using online methods should be processed immediately. SEPA payments using bank transfers will take 2–3 working days to go through. Unfortunately, with Bitpanda, PayPal isn’t an option.

How to Make a Trade

Making trades is—surprise, surprise—extremely easy to do on Bitpanda! For the veteran traders out there, however, it might be a little too easy.

To start buying cryptos through Bitpanda Web (the main desktop version), simply click Trade on the top bar, then Buy. You pick the crypto you’d like to purchase through Bitpanda, Ethereum for example, and the wallet into which you’d like to deposit that crypto. Then, select the fiat wallet you want to use, enter in the amount you’d like to spend (e.g., $500), and confirm your order. The transaction will be processed, and your newly purchased cryptos will swiftly appear in your wallet.

This is essentially a market order, and there’s no option to use other types, like limit or stop orders. The only way to kind of make one of these orders is to utilize Bitpanda’s Price Alert feature. This tells you when a supported Bit Panda coin price hits a certain point, and you can then try to place a quick order.

Alternatively, you can use Bitpanda Swap. Unlike with the regular trading section, you can make crypto-for-crypto trades here. It’s an extremely basic service, simply exchanging one crypto for another at a predetermined rate, but it’s very easy to use, and swaps are processed instantly.

BitPanda Fees

Unlike with its trading fees (which I’ll touch on shortly), Bitpanda’s fees for deposits and withdrawals are clear and easy to understand. There is no fee whatsoever for making a USD, EUR, GBP, or CHF deposit into your account. If you’re depositing using a fiat that isn’t one of those four currencies, however, you may be charged a conversion fee.

There are Bitpanda deposit fees for putting cryptos into your wallet. These vary based on the type and volume of the crypto you’re depositing. You can find a full list here, but Bitcoin deposits of less than 0.05 BTC, for example, will be charged 0.0001 BTC.

The same is true for withdrawals. Fiat withdrawals are free (but must be over €25 in value), and the amount they charge you for crypto withdrawals depends on the specifics of the transaction.

Trading Fees

It’s only fair to mention in this Bitpanda review that the trading fees don’t seem to be terrible, by any means. It’s just a little difficult to find out what they actually are. Personally, I’d prefer an exchange to be completely transparent regarding its fees, even if they are a little high, rather than opaque about them.

There is no single page on the Bitpanda website that outlines all the trading fees. The only clearly stated ones are Bitpanda’s Bitcoin fees, which are 1.49% to buy and 1.29% to sell. This is higher than what you’ll find from many of Bitpanda’s competitors, but it’s not enormously expensive.

All other fees are there in the price they provide you with, before you make a transaction. It’s never clear how much they actually charge you—the prices they show you will simply be slightly higher than they are on other websites. I do not think this is a good system, whatsoever.

Trading Limits

Fortunately, Bitpanda’s trading limits are much clearer than its trading fees. Basically, that’s because … there are none! You can make as many trades as you want, on any of Bitpanda’s platforms, whether your account is verified or not.

There are, however, limits for any Bitpanda withdrawal or deposit. These depend on the payment method you choose to use and the currency in question. Regardless, the limits are high enough that they’re unlikely to be a problem—you can deposit €5 million per month, for example.

You can find a full list of the deposit and withdrawal limits here.

Security

It should go without saying in any Bitpanda review that whenever you’re trusting an online service with your hard-earned cash, you want to be reassured that it’s safe. Despite this, many cryptocurrency exchanges are bizarrely opaque about their security measures. Bitpanda isn’t the worst offender in this regard, but it’s not especially transparent either.

Along with the aforementioned 2FA, Bitpanda offers SSL encryption, DDoS protection, and cold storage for all funds. It’s also easy to see your browsing session history and the devices used for each login, which is a nice touch.

That’s just about all the information Bitpanda gives. It’s not a bad list of security features, but I’d like a little more detail. Still, if you were wondering whether Bitpanda is a scam, I can reassure you that it’s definitely not!

Customer Service

This is another area where crypto exchanges are often found wanting. It’s also another area in which Bitpanda isn’t exactly worse than its competition, but it doesn’t distinguish itself, either.

The only way to actually contact Bitpanda is by opening a ticket. Though the team does check Bitpanda’s social media accounts, they always simply refer users back to the ticketing page. There’s no opportunity to speak to anyone directly, via live chat or phone. So if you’ve got an urgent issue, tough luck!

Fortunately, Bitpanda does have a very good knowledge base in place. The articles range from a “Getting Started” guide, all the way up to details on the Bitpanda affiliate program. They’re written in a very clear, step-by-step manner, which is great, and should answer most of the questions you’re likely to have.

BitPanda Reputation

Bitpanda is a fairly new addition to the cryptocurrency exchange scene, having only been formed in 2014. This Austrian fintech outfit has made quite a mark in that time, however, with some 900,000 users already registered across 24 different countries.

Generally speaking, Bitpanda has a very good reputation online. In fact, it has one of the highest Trustpilot scores I’ve seen for a crypto exchange, with a solid 4-star average rating across over 1,000 reviews. I found no evidence of any major Bitpanda hacks, which is obviously reassuring. Critics’ Bitpanda reviews have also been generally positive, with particular praise being given for its ease-of-use and wide range of supported currencies.

The team has also done some great charity work, in both Austria and impoverished countries abroad, providing guidance for the former and financial support for the latter.

Conclusion

I’ve spent a lot of time with Bitpanda for the purposes of this review, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It’s so close to being an excellent exchange, but there are some significant negatives which simply can’t be ignored in any Bitpanda review.

It’s easily one of the most user-friendly crypto exchanges I’ve tried out. Everything is arranged very well, the layout is clear and intuitive, and it takes absolutely no time at all to get the hang of things. This user-friendliness extends to the extensive range of supported currencies too, and the lack of trading limits.

But this is far from being a perfect exchange. Handling trading fees is needlessly confusing. The fact that you can execute crypto-to-crypto trades on the underpowered Bitpanda Plus section, but not on the main Bitpanda Web platform, is bizarre. The trading tools are extremely basic. The customer service could (and should) also improve, considering the success Bitpanda has enjoyed.

In conclusion to my Bitpanda review, this is a very good cryptocurrency exchange, but it’s not a great one.