bitFlyer Review
Summary
Established in 2014, bitFlyer is available in the EU, US, and Japan.
You can simply and easily buy Bitcoin (BTC) and six other cryptocurrencies on the ‘Easy Exchange’. There’s also the ‘bitFlyer Lightning’ exchange, which allows you to trade Bitcoin (BTC) with low fees (up to 0.1%).
However, I’m not that impressed with what they’re offering in the EU. Alternatives like CoinJar, Coinbase, or Kraken seem like better options to me (more supported cryptocurrencies, more payment options, and easier to use).
bitFlyer is a cryptocurrency exchange established in 2014 which now operates in the EU, the US, and Japan.
But is bitFlyer trustworthy? How does it work? How competitive are its fees?
In this bitFlyer review, I’ll cover everything you need to know before you give it a shot.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
- Available in Europe, USA, and Japan.
- Supports Bitcoin (BTC) and 10 other cryptocurrencies via Instant Buy.
- ‘Quick ID Verification’ system, which allows you to get verified quickly.
- Low trading fees on the bitFlyer Lightning exchange (up to 0.1%).
- Costs nothing to deposit EUR with a SEPA bank transfer.
- Mobile app available for iOS and Android.
- Never suffered from a security compromise (e.g., hacked funds).
Disadvantages
- bitFlyer Lightning exchange only supports Bitcoin (BTC).
- Beginners might find the bitFlyer Lightning exchange difficult to use (aimed at traders).
What Is bitFlyer?
bitFlyer was established in early 2014 in Japan by Yuzo Kano and Takafumi Komiyama. It then expanded into the US in 2016 with bitFlyer USA, then launched in Europe in early 2018 with bitFlyer EU. It now has offices in Tokyo, San Francisco, and Luxembourg.
In 2023, bitFlyer is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan and has had the highest Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume of any exchange that’s based in Japan. It’s currently ranked as a top 15 global cryptocurrency exchange on CoinMarketCap (based on traffic, liquidity, and trading volumes).
On top of this, bitFlyer recently reported that it now has more than 2.5 million customers across Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Signup Requirements
Getting started with bitFlyer is quick and easy (they claim it takes just 5 minutes).
However, you will need to:
- Tell them who you are and where you live.
- Verify your email address.
- Confirm your phone number.
- Show a form of identification (passport/driving licence/identity card).
- Take a picture of your face.
- Set a password.
When you’ve submitted all this, you should be upgraded to its ‘Trade Pro’ account class (with unlimited deposits/withdrawals).
How Does bitFlyer Work?
There are two ways that you can use bitFlyer.
First off, there’s the ‘Easy Exchange’ dashboard which is shown below. On this, you’ll be buying or selling directly with bitFlyer (the broker). This is more expensive, but it’s simple, easy-to-use, and perfect for beginners.
When you register on bitFlyer, you’ll also get access to the bitFlyer Lightning exchange. This is aimed at traders and crypto-enthusiasts and is going to be a little more intimidating for new cryptocurrency users.
In contrast to the ‘Easy Exchange’ dashboard, bitFlyer is only facilitating transactions between their customers on the bitFlyer Lightning exchange (i.e. they’re not the ones providing liquidity).
It has everything all the basics that you’d expect from a cryptocurrency exchange, plus much more. This includes IFD (‘if done’ orders), OCO (‘one-cancels-the-other’ orders), and IFDOCO (a combination of IFD and OCO). You can find out a little more about this here, or see how all these options look here.
Supported Countries
bitFlyer is available in Japan, most states in the USA, the United Kingdom, and all countries within the European Economic Area (EEA).
However, each of these areas is segregated from one another. You’ll have to signup with the appropriate one depending on where you are:
| Website | Supported Fiat Currency |
|---|---|
| bitFlyer EU | Euro (EUR) |
| bitFlyer USA | US Dollar (USD) |
| bitFlyer Japan | Japanese Yen (JPY) |
Supported Cryptocurrencies
bitFlyer EU currently supports the following cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Basic Attention Token (BAT)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Monacoin (MONA)
- Lisk (LSK)
However, only Bitcoin (BTC) is currently supported on the bitFlyer EU Lightning exchange.
This is a little disappointing, as you can trade multiple cryptocurrencies on alternative cryptocurrency exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase.
Payment Methods
You can fund your bitFlyer EU account with:
- SEPA bank transfer
You could previously use a credit or debit card to buy cryptocurrency on bitFlyer EU. However, this doesn’t seem to be available right now. When it was, you had to deposit using a SEPA bank transfer before you could withdraw any funds deposited with a card.
Fees
Deposit Fees
It’s FREE to make a EUR deposit with a SEPA bank transfer.
Trading Fees
You’ll pay the lowest fees on bitFlyer EU if you use its ‘bitFlyer Lightning’ exchange to buy Bitcoin (BTC). You’ll get the real exchange rate (i.e., no hidden fees) and you’ll pay these fees whenever you buy or sell Bitcoin (BTC).
If you’re buying a few thousand euros worth every month or so, then bitFlyer Lightning has starting fees which are more than half that of Coinbase Advanced.
| Volume in Past 30 Days | Trading Fees |
|---|---|
| €0 - €50,000 | 0.10% |
| €50,000 - €500,000 | 0.09% |
| €500,000 - €1 million | 0.08% |
| €1 million - €5 million | 0.07% |
| €5 million - €10 million | 0.06% |
| €10 million - €50 million | 0.05% |
| €50 million - €500 million | 0.04% |
| More than €500 million | 0.03% |
The prices you’re quoted on the ‘Buy/Sell’ interface will be different from the real exchange rate, but it’s not clear by how much.
There are no other fees charged when buying or selling in this area on bitFlyer.
Withdrawal Fees
It’s cheap to withdraw EUR from your bitFlyer account. You’ll pay just €0.30 for withdrawals that are less than €250,000.
You can find the current withdrawal fees for the supported EU cryptocurrencies on the bitFlyer website.
Is bitFlyer Safe?
bitFlyer works closely with authorities in Europe, the US, and Japan to ensure that they remain compliant with regulations intended to keep your money safe. It’s also worth noting that it’s not faced any security compromises since it was established.
You can find lots of detail here about the steps they take to keep bitFlyer as safe and secure as possible.
Here are some of the bits I picked out:
- Platinum member of the Japan Blockchain Association (JBA), which means they’re compliant with various trading and security guidelines.
- Everything uses SHA-2 (SHA-256), which is essentially an improved version of SHA-1 which is less vulnerable.
- bitFlyer is protected by a firewall and unauthorised access is constantly monitored through a Web Application Firewall (WAF).
- Forces everyone to use a strong password, locks out access to your account if the password is entered incorrectly too many times, and supports two-factor authentication (2FA) via SMS or an authenticator mobile app.
- Uses multi-signature Bitcoin (BTC) wallets and stores over 80% of the cryptocurrency it holds offline in cold-storage wallets that are isolated from the network.
Customer Support
If you have a question for bitFlyer support, you can find their FAQ or submit a ticket to their support team via the bitFlyer dashboard.
To check their response time, I opened a ticket asking some simple questions over a weekend. I didn’t get a response until Monday, but it clearly addressed the questions I’d asked. I immediately sent a follow-up with more questions and got a response just 10 minutes later (which seems like a good response time).
Alternatives
In 2023, there are more cryptocurrency exchanges in the EU to choose from them ever before.
Two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the UK are:
- Coinbase Advanced: Supports many cryptocurrencies, with maximum fees of 0.6%. Has numerous EUR and GBP trading pairs.
- Kraken: Supports many cryptocurrencies, with maximum fees of 0.26%. Also has numerous EUR and GBP trading pairs.
While Kraken has slightly higher fees than bitFlyer, it gives you access to a much wider selection of cryptocurrencies and has higher trading volume across the exchange.
Visit its website, or check out my Kraken review, to learn more.
The Bottom Line
While it might be a popular cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, I’m a bit underwhelmed by what bitFlyer is offering:
- You can only buy Bitcoin (BTC) and 10 other cryptocurrencies using its ‘Easy Exchange’. Most of the places I’ve reviewed support many more than this. For reference, CoinJar supports 50+ cryptocurrencies and Gemini supports 90+ cryptocurrencies.
- The ‘bitFlyer Lightning’ exchange only supports Bitcoin (BTC). Most popular cryptocurrency exchanges continue to add support for more cryptocurrencies, but bitFlyer haven’t added any new coins since I first wrote this review in 2020.
- It doesn’t have many payment methods. You can only deposit EUR with a SEPA bank transfer. Cryptocurrency brokers like LiteBit give you better choice (including debit cards).
Want to check it out yourself?
Head over to the bitFlyer EU website to get started now.
Any Questions?
Thanks for reading this bitFlyer review!
Have a question about bitFlyer EU? Or have something you want to share?
Comment below and let me know! I’ll respond ASAP.