YoBit is one of the most hard to evaluate cryptocurrency exchanges around. While relatively large volumes are being traded (especially in some altcoins), the exchange has received a lot of criticism.
YoBit Advantages
Competitive Fees – Trading fees on YoBit vary by the asset you trade, but the company states they can’t get above 0.20%. This is in-line with the offers of other exchanges.
Fiat currencies accepted – Fiat currencies are accepted at YoBit, although via payment methods which are not that popular outside Russia.
Sadly, credit cards are not supported. This is without a doubt one of the easiest ways to get into the world of cryptocurrencies, but there are a couple of details you should know.
Lots of altcoins – There are a plethora of coins available at YoBit. The total number of instruments was over 250 at the time of writing of this review. Trading is done against BTC, ETH, DOGE, WAVES and the fiat USD and RUB (although the obsolete symbol is used for the latter). Be sure to check out Bittrex and Cryptopia, in case you are looking for other altcoin-focused exchanges.
Decent trading platform – The platform provided by YoBit leaves a positive impression (with the charts being the major exception). As you can see from the screenshot below, things look well organized, with a live chat also being available:
YoBit Disadvantages
Unknown company background – This is one of the few crypto-exchanges which doesn’t provide any information on the location from which they operate or the team behind the project. While portions of their website would lead you to believe they are Russia-centric, we have no way to prove they are based in Russia.
Poor presentation – The lack of information does not stop with the company hiding (or forgetting to mention) its information. As an example, we had to register an account in order to get to the trading fees. This is yet another factor which doesn’t inspire trust.
Negative user comments – A lot of the user reviews on YoBit are very negative. People make all sorts of claims, with the most condemning one being that this company does not facilitate the withdrawal of altcoins. While the user reviews should always be viewed with mild scepticism, the number of warnings about this exchange vastly outweigh the positive comments.
Withdrawal fees – YoBit imposes withdrawal fees on both fiat and cryptocurrency transfers out of the exchange. This is not all that uncommon, but leaves a bad taste. You can find all the details about the fees in the screenshot, in the previous section.
No Leverage – Trading with leverage is not available at YoBit. This shouldn’t surprise you, as implementing a solution for this is very complicated (and probably not that necessary). In case you are willing to speculate more aggressively with Bitcoin, a forex broker may present a decent alternative.
We must mention there is a serious difference between dealing with a crypto-exchange and a Forex broker. You will not actually be in possession of the given coin, but only make or loose money, based on its price movements. Read all about it here.
Other gimmicks on the website – We mostly focused on the exchange functionality of YoBit, but there are a lot of other things available at the website. They include a Dice game and InvestBox Option (available only after you have played dice). While everyone can decide if this form of gambling is suitable for them, the latter option seems shady at best.
Poor charting – While the rest of the trading platform provided by YoBit seems fine, the charting is just not up to date with the financial services industry.
YoBit is a cryptocurrency exchange which leaves mixed feelings. On paper their trading conditions and multiple altcoins would make it an interesting alternative to Bittrex (probably the current leader, in terms of exchanges offering so many coins). But the user criticism makes us doubt the honesty of this exchange.
The fact YoBit does not provide any information on the people behind it, as well as its base of operations is also not impressive. Some reports suggest the company is under the investigation of Russian authorities, but we couldn’t verify them.
At the end of the day, one’s security of funds will always be much more important than the available trading instruments. While dealing with crypto-exchanges is always associated with some counterparty risk, YoBit appears to be shadier than most counterparts. That being said, you can always find a trustworthy forex broker, if you are interested in the speculative aspect of cryptocurrencies.