Significant proportions of the trading of the two big players, 75% of Bitcoin’s and 50% of Ethereum’s trading volumes, are generated on Bithumb.
Some of Bithumb’s key features include simplicity of use, wide-currency coverage, 24/7 multi-language customer service, minimal trading fees.
There is room for improvement as well, as the main weaknesses of the platform are lack of cryptocurrency trading pairs, lack of updates and advanced features, and the only fiat currency accepted in Korea Won (KRW).
Users benefit from a multilingual step-by-step guide on fast account setup and user-friendliness.
Following website registration, the user can join as a company or individual. The account gets instantly verified and the user can start investing and making the most of the platform.
The South Korean exchange giant trading rates are higher than any other international exchange. For example, while Coindesk was trading Bitcoin at $10,853.58, Bithumb’s price was $11,265.20 with a $411 difference allowing a good opportunity for arbitraging.
Bithumb supports the following cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dash (DASH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), EOS (EOS), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), LiteCoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Qtum (QTUM), Ripple (XRP), Zcash (ZEC).
Bithumb prides itself on some of the lowest fees in the industry, especially for South Korean users who don’t have to consider conversion rates and international transfer fees.
Those who wish to make a KRW, Ethereum, or Bitcoin deposit are free from a deposit fee and they can deposit as much as they want to, without a minimum.
With regards to withdrawal, users are charged with 1,000 KRW if they are withdrawing KRW, 0.0005% when withdrawing Bitcoin, and 0.01% for all other cryptocurrencies. Users can withdraw a minimum of 5 000 KRW and a maximum of 50 000 000 KRW.
Bithumb’s trading commission is flat - 0.15% for both sides - the maker and the taker.
One of the weak points of the platform is deposit and withdrawal times. Deposit times depend on the transfer times of the user’s bank. Withdrawal times take longer –for most coins, it is 5 to 60 minutes, whereas Bitcoin’s withdrawal time can be up to 3 or 4 days.
Bithumb’s security has plenty of room for improvement, currently featuring two-factor SMS verification, encrypted transaction data. The platform, however, has suffered two major attacks in 2017. In July 2017 nearly 1.2 billion KRW was stolen from users’ accounts. Last November the exchange’s servers crashed during a simultaneous Bitcoin Cash selling. Due to the crash, many Bithumb users lost money as the coin’s price dropped immediately.
Despite these concerns, Bithumb remains the largest trading platform on the South Korean territory.