BC Bitcoin Review
Summary
BC Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency brokerage who has great customer service, is easily contactable, and will process orders for almost any cryptocurrency you’re after.
But there’s a catch:
You’ll normally pay 4% in fees when buying Bitcoin (BTC) or 5% when buying any other cryptocurrency with GBP using a UK bank transfer. This is MUCH more expensive than numerous other places I’ve reviewed.
And while the BC Bitcoin website is functional, it’s nowhere near as user-friendly as alternatives I’ve checked out. There’s also no mobile app, which is a bit of a rarity in 2023.
Looking for more information about BC Bitcoin?
You’re in the right place! In this BC Bitcoin review, I cover everything you need to know about this service – including how it works, supported cryptocurrencies, limits, fees, and more!
Let’s get to it.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
- Supports loads of cryptocurrencies.
- Transparent and upfront fees (no hidden costs).
- Support automatic recurring payments.
- Friendly and professional customer service (4.9-star Trustpilot rating).
- Easily contactable (email, phone, and live chat).
Disadvantages
- High minimum order value (£250).
- High fees when buying bitcoin (4%) and other cryptocurrencies (5%).
- They’re not a 24/7 service (7 days a week, but 8 AM – 8 PM).
- Don’t support privacy coins like Monero (XMR).
What is BC Bitcoin?
BC Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency brokerage which was established in October 2017.
It was previously operated by J&M Trading Limited, which is a UK-based company (1138596). But since the 1st April 2022, it has been operated by a Lithuanian company called UAB HM Trading. Jamie Green and Mark Lemon are listed as directors for both these companies.
They offer standard services like other cryptocurrency brokers, where they’ll buy and sell various coins. However, they advertise themselves as bespoke brokerage service who will customise their service to suit each individual customer.
They have more than 9000 users and its trading volume is growing month-on-month.
Here’s what they said (in full) when I asked them what made BC Bitcoin unique (I’ve bolded the main points).
Our service can be tailored to the clients specific needs and instruction, this gives them a lot of flexibility.
We are easily contactable and our customer support is unrivalled.
We have never turned a customer away or failed to assist them with any technical difficulties. I have even personally visited clients to assist them at no charge. Purely to help more people to engage with Cryptocurrency and resolve technical difficulties such as token migrations, wallet maintenance or upgrades, etc. (we really do care).
We are transparent with our fees. You will never receive any additional costs as we will bear all costs associated with transactions. Exchange rate, trading fees, withdrawal fees, etc. Once we receive a payment we look across the best exchanges, markets, and liquidity to fill the order at the best price on the customers behalf.
Our team is made up of veteran trades and investors. We deliver significant savings and value to the customer in service and trade execution.
All information is transparently communicated via our transaction reports.
They currently have a 4.9 Trustpilot rating (more than 500 reviews).
I found lots of praise for their professional customer service and how easy they’ve made the buying/selling process.
When I looked at some of the cryptocurrency platforms with the best customer service in the UK, they came out of it looking good – with a response time of under 2 minutes via live chat.
How’s It Work?
The buying process for a completely new customer varies, but shouldn’t usually take more than about 30 minutes.
- Create a new account (2-3 minutes).
- Submit ID documents for KYC compliance (5-10 minutes).
- Place an order and make the payment (5-10 minutes).
- Once payment arrives, BC Bitcoin checks that the wallet address is valid (2-3 minutes).
- If it’s valid, they’ll purchase and send the coins to you (5-10 minutes).
- Finito! You’ll be emailed a report of the transaction and asked to confirm when the coins arrive in your wallets.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
BC Bitcoin supports many popular cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple) on its website. Even if a specific coin isn’t listed, I’ve been told that they will support and process orders for almost any cryptocurrency that’s requested.
The only exception is privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC). I’m told that’s not by choice, but because of restrictions placed on them by their banking partners.
Supported Countries
BC Bitcoin’s services are available to residents in the UK, countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), and a small number of other countries.
You can find the full list of permitted jurisdictions here.
Fees
Fees are dependent on how much cryptocurrency you’re buying or selling.
The buy and sell minimum is £250 – which is higher than most other places I’ve checked.
Buying Fees
These are the fees you’ll be charged if you buy cryptocurrencies on BC Bitcoin using a UK bank transfer.
| Cryptocurrency | Fees |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 4% |
| Other Cryptocurrencies | 5% |
If you buy more than £5000 worth of cryptoassets in a single order, you should be charged a lower fee of 4%.
If you buy any cryptocurrency using a debit or credit card on BC Bitcoin, then you’ll be charged higher fees (around 2.5% more).
Without a doubt…
There are numerous other places where you can buy Bitcoin (BTC) in the UK without paying such high fees.
But at least their fee schedule is transparent (i.e., they’re not hiding any fees within their exchange rate). They’ll always execute the trade at the best possible market price they’re able to get. This isn’t the case in some places I’ve used (even big names like the Crypto.com app).
Selling Fees
You’ll normally be charged about 5% when selling cryptoassets to BC Bitcoin. These fees are included in the exchange rate that you’re quoted.
There are numerous other places where you can sell Bitcoin (BTC) in the UK without getting quoted such a bad exchange rate.
OTC Sales
If you’re an experienced trader or institution looking to make a large buy/sell, then you’ll want to check out their OTC desk.
It’s appropriate for purchases/sales which are worth more than 25 BTC. You’ll usually get lower rates than shown above.
Payment Methods
BC Bitcoin accepts the following payment methods:
- UK Bank Transfer
- SEPA Bank Transfer
- Debit & Credit Cards
According to their website, they will (on request) consider supporting other payment methods on a case-by-case basis.
Their default payment method for UK residents is a UK bank transfer (with Faster Payments). This allows payments to be received quickly (usually within 1-2 minutes) by BC Bitcoin. You’ll also pay the lowest fees on BC Bitcoin if you use a UK bank transfer.
Looking to buy with a debit card?
Check out my guide to buying Bitcoin (BTC) with a debit card in the UK.
This lists the cheapest places I’ve found to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies with a debit card in the UK.
Additional Services
In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrency, BC Bitcoin offers these two services:
- Cold Storage Solutions:Â Store your cryptocurrencies with BC Bitcoin (charges 0.5% entry/exit fee and 0.75% annual management fee). This isn’t insured, but assets in their possession are guaranteed by the directors.
- Recurring Purchases: You can setup an automatic regular purchase of any combination of cryptocurrencies with a standing order or direct debit (min. £100).
- Consists of several offline wallets and devices which aren’t held on their premises.
- Held within regulated financial instructions (e.g. safety deposit boxes at banks).
- To access these funds, a director must go to the secure premises and complete:
- ID check.
- Bio-metric security check.
- Key card and PIN check.
- Consistently re-assess the possibility of insuring assets, but do currently guarantee assets in their possession (in the event of breach/loss).
- Prefer to educate customers about safely storing their own cryptocurrencies.
The Bottom Line
The number of cryptocurrencies which you can buy and sell on BC Bitcoin with a GBP bank transfer is impressive
And yeah, it does offers a convenient way to get your hands on some smaller, lesser-known cryptocurrencies without the faff of using a cryptocurrency exchange.
But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room:
The fees that BC Bitcoin are charging aren’t competitive with what’s available in 2023. There are numerous other places where you can buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies without paying more than about 1% in fees (e.g., CoinJar).
So why would anyone use BC Bitcoin?
The one thing that stands out is its excellent customer service.
Right from the beginning in 2018, they’ve put a lot of emphasis on this – which is reflected in the company’s consistently high Trustpilot rating.
As always, there’s a tradeoff between fees and customer service.
With options like BC Bitcoin, you have a real person you can talk to – but you’ll pay a premium for that support. Cheaper routes don’t include this level of customer service.
What Do You Think?
Thanks for checking out this BC Bitcoin review!
Have a question about BC Bitcoin?
Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for this Dean.. Really informative and easy to understand!
Thank you for this easy to understand informative review. I’ve been looking at buying bitcoin for a while, but have found that a couple of the ‘top’ trading apps don’t explain how to buy & sell bitcoin in understandable terms – too many terms and phrases to understand (even though they say that they’re good platforms for beginners).
This will help me to decide where to buy.
Hi Tracey,
Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you’ve found this useful.
BC Bitcoin is proud of their customer service – and it’s really the thing that seems to set them apart. You won’t find anything like this if you use popular services like Coinbase, Crypto.com, etc.
The exclusive fees they’re offering if you register through the links on this page (not available elsewhere yet to my knowledge) make them more competitive if you’re looking to buy Bitcoin (BTC) too.