When it comes to operating with crypto, choosing the right exchange can either make or break your trading experience. A good exchange isn’t only about flashy interfaces or wide coin selections. First of all, it’s about security, reliability, and fees that won’t drain your wallet. With countless platforms competing for attention, understanding what sets one apart from the others is crucial for both newcomers and seasoned traders.
In this review, we’ll dive deep into WhiteBIT, one of the leading European crypto exchanges, exploring its standout features and assessing whether it deserves a spot in your crypto toolkit.
TL;DR
- WhiteBIT is one of the largest European cryptocurrency exchanges. It is used by 4 million users daily, while its daily trading volume counts up to $2.5 billion. WhiteBIT is an official partner of FC Barcelona and Trabzonspor, as well as a donor for a range of charitable initiatives.
- WhiteBIT stands out for its top-notch security, advanced trading options, swift user interface, and low futures trading fees.
- By contrast, WhiteBIT lacks deposit options for certain fiat currencies.
- WhiteBIT is a home for many self-sustainable products – Whitechain network, WhiteBIT Coin, Whitepool, and more. All of them deliver benefits for the users.
WhiteBIT: brief introduction
WhiteBIT is one of the largest European centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX). Established in 2018, it has quickly gained the bright spot in the sector, with 4 million daily users and a daily volume of $2.5 billion as of today. It was founded in Kharkiv, Ukraine by the company’s CEO Volodymyr Nosov.
Apart from cryptocurrency exchange, WhiteBIT takes over a complex ecosystem of technical features and products. The centerpiece of it is WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) – a native token of WhiteBIT, owning of which opens a wide range of advantages – from commission discounts to free security checks.
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Crucially, WhiteBIT is renowned for its charitable contributions. Case in point: purchase of the Eurovision microphone trophy at 2022 auction for $900,000. The funds eventually went to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Apart from this, WhiteBIT and Volodymyr Nosov took part in numerous voluntary initiatives.
WhiteBIT is the official cryptocurrency partner of FC Barcelona, as well as Trabzonspor football club, Faceit, TradingView, and other global companies. It is worth noting that WhiteBIT stands out by its robust security measures, as verified by Hacken.io CER.live rating.
WhiteBIT Pros
High-end Security
First things first, WhiteBIT is massively renowned for its top-notch security level, distinguished by Hacken.io audits, CER.live rating, and cybersecurity experts. The exchange stores 96% of digital assets on cold wallets and uses a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block hacker attacks. Letting alone the multi-signature access system as a second-layer precaution for cold wallets and an insurance fund to protect users’ funds.
WhiteBIT’s robustness is primarily achieved by a complex exchange infrastructure that merges a wide array of user security features and sharp anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
For starters, WhiteBIT users are enabled with two-factor authentication (2FA) – a technology that protects the account from unauthorized access. In WhiteBIT, it can be activated via a comprehensive list of 2FA utilities to choose from – all to ensure the user’s comprehensive control over the balance and information.
Apart from a common 2FA, WhiteBIT provides customers with reliable anti-phishing measures. The exchange allows users to add their anti-phishing code, which will be attached to any emails they receive from WhiteBIT, to distinguish credible messages from potential threats.
What is more, users can manage the addresses for withdrawals on WhiteBIT. Simply put, the function allows to creation of a personalized whitelist of white addresses or, vice versa, flags the suspicious ones to restrict insecure transactions. To note, WhiteBIT customers may require an address check for criminal involvement for a fee of 1 USDT. For the holders of WhiteBIT Coin, the exchange offers free daily AML checks.
As for the AML precautions, WhiteBIT assures its strict compliance with global anti-money laundering policies. This can be proven by numerous cases of WhiteBIT’s AML department taking security actions in favor of third-party companies. Namely, in October 2023, the company managed to track down and freeze over 445,000 XRP tokens, stolen from the Coins.ph crypto exchange. Earlier that year, WhiteBIT’s AML department had spotted suspicious activity on the wallets of Chris Larsen, Ripple’s executive chairman and co-founder, informing XRP Ledger about the potential exploit.
On top of all, you can trade on WhiteBIT only if you successfully pass Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification. Otherwise, users are limited to demo tokens, which offer a deep look into WhiteBIT’s functions.
User-friendly interface
The first look at WhiteBIT reveals its intuitive interface. Its clear layout and smart, logic framework, combined with swift functionality, makes it easy to understand for the newbies and comfortable to operate with for the pros.
Crucially, the user interface allows users to navigate through the services directly from the headout, while a clear layout and minimalistic visualization facilitate the process of choosing the function you need. The most popular ones are highlighted with specific buttons as a way of shortcut.
What’s catchy, WhiteBIT’s UI does not overcomplicate the experience but implies a minimalistic framework to avoid ‘littering’ with piles of news, updates, and functions. Instead, the latter ones are distributed via the page.
Importantly, WhiteBIT developers seem to understand that its users are foremostly seeking service. Hence, the website does not jump right away into promoting benefits as a majority of the landing pages do but puts the utility in the forefront.
Advanced trading terminal and leverage
The benefits of WhiteBIT’s smart interface unfold in the trading features. First and foremost, the exchange allows you to convert the funds in one fell swoop, with no need to use a trading terminal. All a user has to do is choose from a wide list of currencies and enter the needed amount. This function is best for HODLers and users who do not participate in regular trading. These very users can further send the funds via the easier way – through WB codes – without extra network fees.
For more seasoned market surfers, WhiteBIT tried its best to smooth out this complicated endeavor. Its trading terminal offers wide customization options – from choosing between light and dark themes to ordering book positions and performance limitations for less powerful software. What is more, it can boast an editor mode, which allows users to move and replace the elements of the terminal wherever they are comfortable.
The part and parcel of the WhiteBIT trading terminal is a wide integration with the TradingView interface, which offers a full array of tools and indicators, whose defaults require a paid subscription, for free. Hence, users would not even need to switch platforms to carry out the trend analysis.
The same features also apply both to margin and futures terminals. Consequently, WhiteBIT offers reasonable leverage rates for those trading options – 10x for margin and 100x for futures. The leverage can be easily changed in a separate menu, in which you’ll be kindly warned of the collateral risks.
However, WhiteBIT is not limited to the basic trading options. The exchange offers a Competition exchange feature that allows users to participate in games against other traders and win cryptocurrencies. You’ll be matched with traders of similar expertise, and you’ll race against them to trade more assets, reach a certain earnings threshold, etc. Such gamification brings fresh excitement to the platform.
Given a large number of available assets and a wide array of trading opportunities, it could become difficult to carry out a thorough monitoring of the trading balance. Gladly, WhiteBIT solves this problem with its one-of-a-kind analytical dashboard. In it, users will receive a detailed outlook on profit and loss, equity trends, and portfolio performance in any chronological order possible.
Supported currencies
WhiteBIT offers over 270 cryptocurrencies for trading. Users can choose from over 520 trading pairs available – with the market cornerstones, such as Bitcoin or Ether, as well as with the prominent Web3 projects’ tokens, like Celestia (TIA) or Hedera (HBAR). Not to mention a wide range of stablecoins i.e. USDT and USDC and fiat currencies – from the euro and U.S. dollar to the Turkish lira (TLY) and Polish zloty (PLN).
What is more, WhiteBIT is keen on the constant updates. Namely, the exchange was one of the first ones to list Toncoin (TON) and DOGS (DOGS) – prominent Telegram-based tokens.
Extensive Income Options
Besides traditional crypto trading, WhiteBIT offers several other ways for people to access crypto funds. Namely, users can stake cryptocurrencies and earn rewards via various holding plans. Crypto Lending (as it’s known for WhiteBIT users) offers an array of opportunities and rates not only with Bitcoin or Ether, but also with altcoins – Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), or even Dogecoin (DOGE).
The exchange fosters the community as well. For active participants, WhiteBIT maintains a referral program, allowing for up to 50% returns from the exchange fees. For businesses and influencers, the exchange recently launched an affiliate program, which delivers higher return rates, support for creators, and an advanced analytical dashboard. It is also essential to mention WhiteBIT Launchpad, which kickstarted many prominent projects while allowing users to invest in tokens way lower than their actual price.
Cons of WhiteBIT
Geographic Restrictions
While WhiteBIT is widely available globally, there are certain countries and territories, residents of which are restricted from using the exchange. Among these are:
- USA
- Afghanistan
- Iran
- Belarus
- Russia
- Yemen
- Libya
- State of Palestine
- Puerto Rico
- Somalia
- North Korea
- Syria
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Nicaragua
- Venezuela
- Myanmar
Also, WhiteBIT is restricted in globally unrecognized or partially-recognized territories – Transnistria, temporarily occupied Georgian territories, the Turkish Republic of Nothern Cyprus, Western Sahara, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Kosovo, and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
While this list is way lesser compared to the countries where WhiteBIT is available, such restrictions still make sense, as they demonstrate the company’s compliance with the standards of international law.
Relative newness
One potential drawback of WhiteBIT is its relative newness in the crypto market. Usually, fresh platforms may come with certain risks. The lack of an established track record means there’s less historical data to evaluate its long-term performance. Traders may be hesitant to commit large volumes of funds to an exchange that hasn’t yet proven itself through market fluctuations or stress-tested its systems during high-demand periods.
However, since its launch in 2018, WhiteBIT managed to set foot in the door with robust security and established trust from users, and in the market overall. Let alone the constant development of the new products and growth of trading volume. Namely, WhiteBIT gained third position in terms of derivatives trading volume.
Withdrawal limitations for certain fiat currencies
Indeed, WhiteBIT can boast of a great number of withdrawal options – from SEPA transfers and integration with third-party payment services to different networks and protocols. However, this does not apply to a full list of fiat currencies represented on the exchange.
Case in point: Czech users can only withdraw korunas to bank cards, while Ukrainians and Turks are limited to GeoPay and other similar providers of their national currencies’ payments. By contrast, WhiteBIT compensates such minor drawbacks with internal peer-to-peer (P2P) service, which allows for a swifter swap and withdrawal.
WhiteBIT fees
Fees are one of the core criteria for traders in choosing a cryptocurrency exchange. Having said that, WhiteBIT offers a competitive outlook in terms of fees. Specifically, both the maker and taker are commissioned 0.1% when choosing spot trading, which is a rather standard rate. Importantly, ones can be reduced for the WBT holders.
As for the futures trading, the taker fee is 0.035%, while the maker one is only 0.01%. This is a significantly lower rate compared to a majority of leading exchanges, such as Binance which has 0.05% taker fees and 0.02% maker fees for regular traders. Importantly, the fees for withdrawals differ between the currencies. The good part is – a majority of blockchain-based transactions are commission-free.
WhiteBIT ecosystem features
There is more to WhiteBIT than cryptocurrency exchange. The company is branching the service with technological features, client-oriented initiatives, and self-sustainable products, which combined shape a complex ecosystem. All the features of this ecosystem, as reported by WhiteBIT, create exclusive benefits for the users and bridge the gap towards vaster cryptocurrency adoption.
Whitechain and WB Soul
Formerly WB Network, Whitechain is an EMV-compatible layer 1 blockchain that operates upon a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, ensuring the verified transaction validators.
Primarily, Whitechain was designed to reduce commissions for WhiteBIT exchange users and accelerate transaction processing. However, the network also comes with different methods of fostering the users.
One such is WB Soul – an unalterable and non-transferable NFT that allows users to recreate their identity within the blockchain without revealing any personal data. From owning WB Soul, users with WBT in Holding can get rewards for blockchain fees and funds redistribution.
Whitechain’s roadmap includes launching new products, enhancing liquidity, enabling cross-chain swaps, and integrating artificial intelligence with smart contracts. The plans are already leaving the papers, specifically with the recent launch of PocketRocket – A whitechain-powered TON-based crypto game.
Whitepool
Whitepool is a mining pool that aggregates computing power from miners worldwide, providing a cost-effective alternative to solo mining. Apart from the hashrate of over 6300 PH/s, this SHA256-powered pool also offers a 0% fee for receiving rewards, automatic balance updates, and 24/7 multilingual customer support, available in English, Ukrainian, Polish, Turkish, and other languages.
It also offers special programs for VIP clients, which provide lowered fees for using the pool, stable rewards for miners with powerful hardware, and other features that are soon to be announced.
WhiteBIT-based services
Apart from the WhiteBIT-integrated features, the company is also home to different services:
- WhiteSwap: a decentralized exchange (DEX) powered by the Ethereum, Tron, and Polygon blockchains. You can swap, farm, and bridge different assets via the service.
- WhiteEX: This feature provides physical cards that can be used to conveniently top up (deposit) funds into your WhiteBIT exchange account.
- WhitePay: A service aimed at businesses, providing tools for cryptocurrency payment processing. This includes solutions like crypto acquiring and point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
- GNCrypto: a global news outlet dedicated to elevating the understanding of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology
How to set up an account on WhiteBIT
WhiteBIT stands out with its swift yet secure registration process. To set up a WhiteBIT account, you’ll need to enter your email address and create a strong password in the Sign-Up menu. Finally, find the confirmation message WhiteBIT sent to your email and enter the verification code.
The next essential step is completing the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification. You need to provide your ID proof along with your address proof. The verification process usually takes a few minutes.
Now, only when the KYC is completed, you can access all WhiteBIT features.
Verdict: is WhiteBIT a good trading toolkit?
After taking a closer look at WhiteBIT, it’s clear that it brings a lot to the table for crypto traders of all levels. Its robust security measures, competitive fees, and user-oriented approach make it a strong contender in an increasingly crowded space.
Still, it’s essential to weigh these benefits against your own trading needs – whether it’s access to specific coins, advanced tools, or a mobile-first experience. At the end of the day, the right exchange is the one that best aligns with your goals, and WhiteBIT might just be the platform that gets you there.