Bitso Review

Fifteen years after Bitcoin came into existence as the first cryptocurrency, the crypto exchange scene is getting a bit crowded. Whether you’re a newcomer looking for your first platform or a seasoned trader just trying to see what else is out there, you can have your pick! Not all of them are created equal, though – as this Bitso review is going to show, some are more specialized than others.

In the ever-expanding sea of global crypto exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Kraken, Bitso stands out as a platform created with the local user base in mind, first and foremost. It was the first crypto exchange in Mexico, and the first one to offer the option of trading with the Mexican peso. Currently the largest exchange in Latin America, Bitso prides itself on its extensive security and privacy frameworks, beginner-friendly interface, and attractive fees.

I couldn’t help but ask, then – is this crypto exchange really all it’s cracked up to be? Only one way to find out! Let’s take a closer look and unpack the strengths and weaknesses of the Bitso cryptocurrency exchange together.

Verdict at a glance: Bitso is a relatively safe, reliable and convenient cryptocurrency exchange that was created for the Latin American market. It comes with a convenient user interface and has both mobile and web platforms, as well as other, adjacent services. However, its cryptocurrency selection is somewhat limited, and customer support could use some improvement.

What Is Bitso?

Let's kick off this Bitso review with some basic facts.

Bitso is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows people to trade various crypto coins and other digital assets. It was launched in Mexico in 2014. Bitso exchange founders are Ben Peters, Pablo Gonzalez, and Daniel Vogel.

To answer the question “What is Bitso?” in more detail, though, we’re going to need some cultural context first.

Back then, there were no cryptocurrency exchanges that accepted the Mexican peso, so you could say Bitso played a pioneering role in filling that niche. It gave users the opportunity to exchange Mexican pesos for Bitcoin directly – which opened up the crypto market for a demographic of 127 million people!

At the time, Bitso was responsible for 50% of the trading volume for the Mexican peso/Bitcoin trading pair. The exchange successfully established itself as an alternative to the traditional Mexican financial system, which was often unstable.

It was also the first Latin American company to be regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.

Bitso has successfully branched out since then. Today, it operates in four countries: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia.

In 2024, seeking to elevate its security measures to the next level, Bitso formed a partnership with a blockchain protection company CoinCover.

The exchange now has over 8 million users globally, over 3.3 billion crypto international transfers, and over 1,700 B2B clients – which is quite a feat for a regional exchange platform!

When it comes to features, Bitso packs quite a punch. It offers both basic and advanced trading options, supports over 50 cryptocurrencies, and has a number of additional features, too, like Bitso Pay, Bitso card, and two types of crypto wallets – the standard custodial Bitso wallet and a non-custodial Web3 wallet.

Bitso Review: PROS

Now that I got you up to date with the company’s development history, it’s about time to get to the review part of this Bitso review!

I’ll start off with the exchange’s strong suits first. What is Bitso’s best feature? The answer will be up to you, depending on your priorities; all I can say is, there are definitely enough to choose from.

Security-and-Privacy-First Approach

One of the first questions any user would ask is: “Is Bitso safe?” When it comes to privacy and security, as I’m about to show in this Bitso review, the company certainly cuts no corners.

To begin with,  aside from the two-factor authentication (2FA) and KYC protocols, which are now standard to every crypto exchange^[1] (including Bybit and Kraken), Bitso offers two extra ways to protect your account: a transaction PIN you can use to confirm every transaction you make, and a PGP key that encrypts and protect the emails that you get from Bitso.

To highlight one notable detail I’ve already mentioned in the previous section of my Bitso review – this exchange is the first Latin American platform to be licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) under its Distributed Ledger Technology Regulatory Framework. The company is audited by a third party and undergoes thorough risk assessments to ensure secure custody of their customers' funds.

Another feature to deserve a mention in this Bitso review is the cryptographic zero-knowledge method the exchange implements to prove its solvency. It works by concealing the information in the ledger, while still allowing to validate the data.^[2]

Bitso has a partnership with Proven, a cryptographic company that developed its own zero-knowledge proof technology, enabling crypto exchanges like Bitso to authenticate their liabilities and reserves cryptographically via the zk-SNARK protocol and then disclose the proof of solvency publicly in a smart contract within the Ethereum blockchain.

That's not the only partnership Bitso has under its belt: in 2024, it joined forces with Coincover, a blockchain protection company that provides a non-custodial Disaster Recovery Solution by seamlessly connecting with Bitso’s multi-party computation (MPC) infrastructure. It works by evaluating ongoing transactions in real-time to actively identify and mitigate security threats, supplementing Bitso’s current protection procedures.

And if that's not enough, Bitso also adopts multi-signature (MultiSig) wallets to secure customer assets, requiring several private keys to validate transactions.

Last but not least, the security section of this Bitso review wouldn't be complete without addressing another safety check: account limits. The Bitso exchange has a monthly restriction for the number of transactions you can make. If you reach the limit, no matter how much of the month you have left, you will have to increase the ceiling to keep withdrawing and depositing until the end of the month.

Don't worry, though – even if you hit your threshold, your funds aren’t blocked! You can still keep buying and selling crypto. Bitso exchange limits are just a preemptive mechanism to reduce the chances of fraud.

As you can see from this review, Bitso really went the extra mile with their security measures. By now, you must be wondering – do they actually pay off, or are some of them just bells and whistles? Is Bitso safer than other crypto exchanges?

Well, yes and no. Their customer funds have never been hacked, so that’s one point in their favor. However, Bitso did suffer a security breach in 2017 due to a technical issue. To the company’s credit, they quickly acknowledged it and issued an apology, which is exactly how any decent company should handle it.

As with any other exchange, be sure to exercise caution and common sense.

Easy to Use

Let's be honest – nobody likes dealing with complicated platforms. Even when the platform in question is meant to accommodate power users as well as beginners, that doesn't mean it needs to be confusing and unwieldy, now does it? Which is why Bitso prides itself on its user-friendliness from the get-go.

To begin with, it has a pretty good mobile app. Released in 2018, it provides a fully optimized experience for both IOS and Android users. The app has the same functionalities as its web counterpart, such as checking cryptocurrency prices, instantly buying and selling crypto coins, depositing or withdrawing funds, managing your wallet, and more!

The mobile app also comes with a neat feature called Bitso Transfer, which lets you deposit or withdraw cryptocurrencies immediately without being hampered by network delays or having to pay the mining fees for Bitcoin transfers.

One of the only areas where Bitso mobile app falls short is wire transfer; unfortunately, this feature is only available on the web version.

Speaking of the web app – this is where the Bitso exchange showcases its versatility and willingness to cater to different tiers of users. Just like some other popular exchanges, such as Binance and Kraken, Bitso presents its users with two different modes of navigating the platform, depending on how much complexity they need.

For those at the beginning stages of their crypto trading journey, hoping for an easy entrance, there’s Alpha Classic with its elegant and stripped-down interface laying out all the basic functionalities a novice could be looking for. In contrast, more experienced or adventurous traders can benefit from Alpha Pro with its range of advanced technical tools, multiple order types, charting, and graphical analysis.

Which leads to the third positive aspect I’m going to delve into in this Bitso review…

A Whole Array of Trading Features

If you’re the kind of crypto enthusiast who likes to sample a little bit of everything, the Bitso cryptocurrency exchange won’t just meet you halfway!

Whatever floats your boat when it comes to various approaches to crypto trading, chances are Bitso has it on the plate. Prefer to own your crypto right here and now? You can try spot trading. Want to borrow money to cover your crypto investments instead? Margin trading is also an option here. Or would you rather execute more advanced, high-risk, high-reward strategies for a potential payoff? That’s where derivatives come into the picture.

Another crucial thing to mention in this Bitso review is order types. In line with other well-known platforms, the Bitso exchange offers multiple order types: limit order, market orders, and stop-loss orders.

If you're more of a visual thinker, I recommend checking out Bitso’s charting tools in Alpha Pro to help you make more informed trading decisions.

Finally, if you subscribe to the HODL philosophy and are dead-set on playing the long game, Bitso has something for you, too! Loyal customers are invited to participate in the staking program called Bitso Earnings by keeping their coins on the platform. This generates daily yields which get deposited into the users’ accounts every Monday at a 2% annual rate, with no additional fees.

More Than Just an Exchange Platform

Trading options aren't where Bitso’s strong points end, though. As this Bitso review will have you know, the platform has plenty more to offer!

According to the founders themselves, the intent behind Bitso was to harness the potential of blockchain and create a platform that empowers global businesses and customers to make and receive payments in local currency.

To that end, the company launched another service – a merchant payment platform called Bitso Pay that allows its members to accept Bitcoin payments with zero fees, both in physical retail stores and e-commerce stores. Bitcoin can then be immediately converted into Mexican pesos with no commission fees involved.

Private customers aren't left behind, either: the company also offers Bitso Card, a versatile payment system available both as a digital and physical card. The physical card works exactly like a traditional debit card – you can use it to withdraw cash from an ATM anywhere in the world, with no annual fee. It can be loaded with funds from your existing MXN balance.

To top it all off, Bitso has ventured deeper into the world of Web3 by introducing a Web3 wallet. Unlike the standard wallet that serves as the default option on Bitso exchange, it's a non-custodial wallet, which means you’re the one responsible for protecting your funds (if you lose your private key or your seed phase, you lose access to your wallet).

It can be integrated with any decentralized application (dApp) from Web3. This wallet is powered by MPC (multi-party computation) technology that safely stores your access keys in different locations.

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Bitso Review: CONS

As exciting as it is to dig into all those noteworthy features the platform has to offer, you probably wouldn’t think much of this Bitso review if it didn’t look at the other side of the scoreboard as well.

Let's look at some of the weak links, then.

Only Available in Latin America

While their commitment to localization is commendable, from my point of view (and probably yours, statistically speaking!), these geographical limitations would still count as a shortcoming. Bitso currently operates in only four countries:

• Mexico;
• Brazil;
• Argentina;
• Colombia.

To my knowledge, the company has no intentions to branch out; although in 2021, it extended some of its services to El Salvador, which could indicate that, in time, its coverage could span more countries in Central and South America. When you think about it, globalization does typically advance one country at a time, after all!

In the meanwhile, however, these geographical constraints affect a few other features, too. For instance, at present, the Bitso exchange platform only accepts deposits in four fiat currencies – Mexican peso, Argentinian peso, Brazilian real, and US dollar. The platform supports English and the three local languages of every country it’s available in:

• Argentine Spanish;
• Colombian Spanish;
• Portuguese.

Here’s a piece of good news, though – you don't have to be a citizen of one of the above-mentioned countries to be able to use Bitso! You can still access the platform as a legal resident.

Limited Cryptocurrency Selection

Geographical availability isn’t the only area where Bitso has chosen not to cast a wide net. It applies the same targeted precision to its cryptocurrency choices, too.

If the previous bit in this Bitso review scared you off a little – don’t worry! Fortunately, the Bitso exchange covers a lot more cryptocurrencies than it does countries.

Still, the selection leaves much to be desired. At the moment, you can find 54 different coins on Bitso – which might seem like more than enough at first glance, but it does fall woefully short when you learn that, today, in 2024, there are over 20,000 cryptocurrencies out there! For comparison, some of the top exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Kraken offer between 200 and 1,400 cryptocurrencies.

Of course, chances are you won’t need that many, anyway! Bitso does have 18 out of the top 30 most popular coins, which would probably be enough for all but the most discerning crypto traders looking for something a bit more eccentric for a change.

Customer Support Shortcomings

There is one area every crypto exchange should excel at regardless of its specificities, however. An area none of us like to think about until we actually need it… But need it we do, and this is where a platform can truly show its dedication to the users.

Can you guess what the last con I’m going to talk about in this Bitso review is going to be? Customer support, of course!

Bitso has all the usual support channels you can find in most other crypto exchanges:

• 24/7 live chat;
• Email;
• Support tickets;
• Help Center articles (including video tutorials);
• FAQs.

There’s only one common option that’s lacking – phone support.

Bitso exchange also has a solid social media presence, with Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram channels.

The problem, in this case, isn’t with the lack of diversity in support options but rather the efficacy of the service. While, in theory, Bitso seems to have everything it needs to provide high-quality customer support for their users, in practice, many have found it lacking – especially what concerns urgent issues.

Aside from the lack of phone support I’ve already mentioned, a lot of users have complained about slow response times with email and live chat as well, especially during peak times.

The comprehensive and well-written documentation makes up for it to some degree, but still – a crypto exchange platform is only as good as its weakest link, and nothing can sour your trading experience faster than getting bogged down with some problem you can’t immediately solve!

Bitso Fees

And now we’ve reached the part of this Bitso review that, I’m guessing, concerns your average user the most. It’s all very well to find out what Bitso is, or to gain some insight into whether Bitso is safe to trust your crypto and debit card with. But what about the fees?

Let me lay the numbers out for you.

When it comes to crypto exchanges, there are three types of fees the users are concerned with: deposit and withdrawal fees (for moving your crypto or fiat funds in and out of the exchange), and trading fees (for buying and selling your crypto).

Bitso allows you to deposit both cryptocurrencies and fiat money. All deposits are free of charge, regardless of whether you’re depositing fiat currency or crypto coins.

Withdrawing US dollars, Mexican/Argentinian/Colombian pesos or Brazilian reals won’t cost you anything, either! The only category subject to withdrawal fees is cryptocurrencies. All crypto withdrawals get charged a flat fee that’s different for each coin, depending on the amount of computing power it takes to mine them. Just to give you an example – withdrawing Bitcoin (BTC) will cost you 0.00004500 BTC.

With that out of the way, let’s move over to trading fees.

Like a lot of popular exchange platforms, the Bitso cryptocurrency exchange employs the maker-taker model to determine trading fees.

If you’re a newbie in the crypto sphere, let me break this down for you in simple terms; then we can continue with this Bitso review.

Basically, a lot of exchanges apply different fees to traders who buy or sell crypto coins immediately at whatever price it currently happens to be at (by placing market orders), and traders who want to buy or sell at a specific price point and don’t mind waiting until the coin they’re trying to trade reaches said price (by placing limit orders).

It pays off for exchanges to treat those two types of traders as different categories based on their effect on the liquidity of the crypto market. This is where their names come from: “takers” are the traders who reduce liquidity by buying or selling at market price, whereas “makers” increase liquidity by setting their own price.

Typically, exchanges set higher trading fees for takers than makers to attract more makers and keep the market dynamic. Bitso is no exception here.

Another factor that affects trading fees on Bitso exchanges is trading volume. Whether you’re a maker or a taker, the more you trade over a 30-day period, the lower your trading fees will get.

What does this look like in practice, then, you ask?

Maker fees run the gamut between 0.040% (when trading with US dollars for those with over 30,000 USD monthly transaction volume) and 0.500% (when trading Mexican or Colombian pesos for those with under 1,500,000 MXN or 15,000,000 COP monthly transaction volume).

In contrast, taker fees range from 0.050% on the cheapest end of the spectrum to 0.650% at the most expensive.

How to Sign Up on Bitso?

Now that we’ve gotten through everything you need to know before you can start using this platform, all that’s left for me to cover in this Bitso review is how to actually use it!

Living up to the claims on its website, Bitso makes it easy enough; the process is pretty standard and nothing out of the ordinary for a crypto exchange platform.

Let me walk you through it, anyway – just in case.

Step 1: Visit the official Bitso website and click "Register today".

Step 2: Fill in the registration form – select your country of residence, provide your email and password, check the Terms and Conditions, complete the CAPTCHA, and click “Start”.

Step 3: Complete the KYC verification process by uploading the required identification documents. The verification could take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so don’t worry if it seems to be dragging on a bit!

Step 4: Check your email for a verification link and click on the link to verify your account.

Pros

• Very low trading fees
• Exceptional functionality
• Mobile trading app

Main Features

• Very competitive trading fees
• An intuitive mobile app
• Up to 100x leverage available

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Pros

• A very well-known crypto exchange platform
• More than 500 different cryptos available
• Two-factor authentication

Main Features

• Over 500 different cryptocurrencies available
• Strong security
• Small withdrawal fees

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Pros

• Fully reserved and transparent
• Multiple tradable asset classes
• Early new token support

Main Features

• 265 supports cryptocurrencies
• Secure & transparent
• Fully reserved

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Conclusions

Hopefully, by the time I’m through with this Bitso review, you have a better idea what Bitso is and how it works.

Stringent security measures, streamlined user interface and competitive fees make Bitso a safe and suitable platform for traders of all levels, while adjacent features like Bitso Pay, Bitso Card and a Web3 wallet serve as the icing on the cake.

While Bitso’s narrow regional focus unavoidably makes it pretty niche from the global vantage point, and it’s unlikely to reach the scale of top exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, or Kraken, those who fit the target audience might very well find what they’re looking for in this exchange platform.

The content published on this website is not aimed to give any kind of financial, investment, trading, or any other form of advice. BitDegree.org does not endorse or suggest you to buy, sell or hold any kind of cryptocurrency. Before making financial investment decisions, do consult your financial advisor.

Scientific References

1. C. Ikegwu, N. Uzougbo and A. Adewusi. 'Enhancing Consumer Protection in Cryptocurrency Transactions: Legal Strategies and Policy Recommendations';

2. E. Morais, T. Koens, C. van Wijk, et al.: ‘A survey on zero knowledge range proofs and applications’.