Is Bitget Safe?
Bitget is one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms currently available, yet concerns have been raised about its safety. We cover Bitget’s security features and how the platform works.
28th May, 2024
Is Bitget safe?
Bitget is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers a variety of trading options, such as spot and derivative trading, as well as copy trading (a similar mechanic to eToro). Bitget is currently the eighth-largest crypto exchange in the world.
In this article, we cover everything you need to know about Bitget, including the various features the platform offers and also how safe the platform is.
Overview of Bitget
Bitget was founded by Sandra Lou in 2018. Bitget’s founding team started in 2015 after a fascination with Bitcoin’s whitepaper and the creation of Ethereum.
Today, Bitget is based in the Seychelles and serves over 20 million users in 100 different countries. The cryptocurrency platform has a wide range of products and continues to make advances with its futuristic offerings and big-name sponsorships.
Key features of Bitget
Bitget is a centralised exchange (CEX), that while technically unregulated, has a good presence in the crypto industry. On the platform, there are currently 814 cryptocurrencies, 15 fiat currencies and 1,096 crypto pairs available to customers.
Here are some of the main features of Bitget:
Spot Trading
Essentially, the main purpose of Bitget is for users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies at current market prices, and receive immediate delivery. Bitget supports a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs, so users always have options to trade the cryptos that they’re interested in.
Futures trading
Bitget like several other big CEXs offer a range of futures contracts, including USDT-margined and USDC-margined futures. Users have access to perpetual and quarterly futures contracts with leverage options up to 125x.
Copy trading
For users who aren’t necessarily interested in crypto trading themselves, or simply don't have the time or the expertise, Bitget has the option for users to copy another trader. This way, users can have their funds taken care of by more experienced traders.
Bitget Wallet
Users have the option to use the Bitget Wallet to store their crypto, which is a decentralised multi-chain wallet which can integrate with other wallets, swap transactions and NFT markets. 90 chains are available on the Bitget wallet.
Bitget Token (BGB)
The Bitget Token (BGB) is the main utility token of Bitget, which is designed for a range of benefits to users, and incentivises users to stay with the platform. It is designed on the Ethereum blockchain.
BGB offers a range of benefits, such as:
- Trading fee discounts (20% off spot transaction fees)
- Access to exclusive events
- Staking rewards
BGB, much like any other native token, is crucial for maintaining an ecosystem. As users can stake their tokens and receive rewards, they are much more inclined to stay with the platform.
There are 1.4 billion BGB coins in circulation out of a total supply of 2 billion.
Is Bitget safe?
Bitget has over 20 million users and is a legitimate platform on which to buy and sell cryptocurrency. As a centralised exchange, Bitget has several layers of security in its offering which means customers can be assured of the platform’s security overall.
However, there are some recent complaints that have surfaced about Bitget’s security and customer service, with many customers complaining that their crypto is stuck within the platform.
The FCA considers Bitget to be high risk and is not approved, so if you are investing any of your money, then you should be aware of the potential consequences.
Having said this, Bitget still takes plenty of measures to ensure that the platform is safe for its users, and with a user base of 20 million, the platform is trusted all across the globe.
Bitget Cold Storage
One of the main safety features of Bitget is Bitget’s Cold Storage, which is the most secure way of storing crypto. Cold storage involves storing the digital assets offline in multi-signature wallets, meaning that no exchange or individual can access them, except the owner. This way, a user can ensure that they are the true owner of the crypto.
Bitget offers its own version of this technology to users and allows users to be assured that their crypto is safe – even from Bitget itself.
Withdrawal Whitelisting
Bitget employs a method of withdrawal verification known as withdrawal whitelisting. Users must add a specific wallet to a whitelist, and only the added wallets are withdrawal options.
Adding a new address requires confirmation by email or two-factor authentication (2FA) in order to pass. By only allowing pre-approved addresses for withdrawals, this means that fraud is significantly reduced.
Bitget Protection Fund
Perhaps one of the most impressive security measures of Bitget is the Bitget Protection Fund, which is a dynamic insurance fund of the exchange. Established in August 2022 (a similar time to the collapse of FTX), it is now one of the largest self-insured funds in the cryptocurrency industry.
A portion of the platform’s revenue, taken from trading fees and listing fees, is channelled into the Protection Fund. The fund has grown over time, and in April 2024, the Bitget Protection Fund was valued at $577 million.
In the event of a security breach or a collapse, the Protection Fund will automatically be triggered to compensate affected users.
This wouldn’t cover the entirety of the platform, as Bitget currently has a TVL of roughly $2 billion but generally breaches only affect a portion of users, so this fund would significantly minimise impact.
Bug Bounty Program
Bitget also has a Bug Bounty Program which incentivises researchers and white hat hackers to find vulnerabilities in the Bitget network. The ‘bounties’ can be found on BugRap.
Common complaints
A common complaint of Bitget is accounts being frozen or locked, without explanation, and then poor response times when trying to recover the funds. This has caused Bitget’s popularity to wane in the last few years, and has contributed to a decrease in TVL and trading volume.
Conclusion
Bitget remains a secure platform, and the crypto industry is still relatively new, with many exchanges being less than 10 years old, so there are still inefficiencies and vulnerabilities. Bitget remains a secure platform on which to trade crypto, but the lack of customer satisfaction must be taken into account.
If you are looking for a different type of crypto exchange, then you can also try Uniswap or Sushi, which operate as decentralised exchanges (DEXs), where there is no central authority in control of the cryptocurrency.
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Author
Caleb is a financial copywriter with a specialisation in fintech and forex. Former copywriter at Barclays and Paysafe. Contributing writer for LiquidityFinder. You can message Caleb here. |