From Cointelegraph
Bill Shihara, CEO of Bittrex, confirmed during a Unikrn Radio podcast with Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood on Jan. 31 that the Bittrex exchange will be opening up USD trading to the majority of its customers.Read more: https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-cryptocurrency-exchange-bittrex-to-add-usd-trading-reopen-new-user-sign-upsBittrex was founded in 2013 by Shihara and two business partners, all of whom previously worked for security at Microsoft. Shihara told Sood that Bittrex’s initial success was due to a combination of the founders’ security background, as well as their willingness to put their resumes with photos of themselves online at a time when most exchanges were anonymous.
Bittrex made the news in October 2017 for its sudden decision to disable thousands of accounts for compliance reviews without warning its users in advance.
Perhaps due to this customer service hiccup, the exchange announced in December 2017 that it had temporarily stopped taking on new users, citing the backlog of user support tickets and their current inability to accurately verify each new user with such high demand.
In the podcast, Shihara noted that since Bittrex is a US-based exchange, they take their KYC and AML legal obligations very seriously, which requires a large number of staff to do verifications. In response to a question about the challenges of customer support service, Shihara said that they are hoping to add another 20 support contractors this spring, bringing the total up to 80.
Shihara also added that user signups for the exchange would open again soon, but there will be additional requirements for new users, like minimum trade deposits. According to Shihara, this ensures that the new users are “people that understand what they are doing.”
Bittrex is not designed for the retail customer, but is aimed at a target audience of more sophisticated or institutional traders, Shihara told Sood,
“I don’t think that Bittrex will ever be a retail shop. I’m not looking to be the Fidelity for crypto.”
This is really good news for STEEM and SBD. Bittrex is one of the few major exchanges with STEEM and STEEM Backed Dollars. I'm hoping that their addition of USD will enable a cheap and direct path from fiat currency into Bitcoin and then to STEEM or SBD on the same platform.
This will avoid the nasty step many take right now having to buy with fiat at Coinbase and then pay high transfer fees to get their Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ethereum to another exchange where STEEM is. Bittrex could end up being the best priced one stop shop for USD to STEEM!
Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Follow @contentjunkie to stay up to date on more great posts like this one.
Yay! Freedom from Coinbase! It is about time. Thanks for the great info, @contentjunkie.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thanks to the fact that you gave us the information you gave us so beautiful information, I pray that thank you for giving us the opportunity to know new information in this way.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That's pretty phenomenal news! I've been looking for a long time to find another exchange that will take fiat for crypto...coinbase is solid, but very limited. This could really push Bittrex to the top of the exchanges. Guess I better start saving up!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Having trustworthy, cheap and easily accessible on-ramps to buy into the crypto space is a very positive thing. The more there are the merrier and the more options there are the more people that can be reached. This may be a good way for Brittrex to regain some of the market that they have lost to Binance and Kucoin.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thanks for the information
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thank you for the news.
Good luck
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Excellent information dear friend very good graphics thank you for sharing well, you can support me with a vote, blessings
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Coins mentioned in post:
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Adding an USD pair will be a game changer in my opinion.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This post has received a 6.53 % upvote from @boomerang thanks to: @contentjunkie
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You got a 3.80% upvote from @buildawhale courtesy of @contentjunkie!
If you believe this post is spam or abuse, please report it to our Discord #abuse channel.
If you want to support our Curation Digest or our Spam & Abuse prevention efforts, please vote @themarkymark as witness.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit