BTC-e, the notoriously private bitcoin exchange rumoured to be based out of Bulgaria, has revealed that it has reduced fees across three of its third-party withdrawal services.
The news was revealed via a string of Twitter posts beginning on 27th February and continuing into 28th February that called for USD and EUR withdrawal fees to be reduced to as low as 1%.
The move brings withdrawal fees closer to the site’s USD deposit fees, which were slashed to 0% on OKPAY and Perfect Money earlier in February. BTC-e imposes an additional standard fee of 0.2 to 0.5% fee on every transaction.
Commissions to deposit funds at Perfect Money USD, EUR – 0% #btce
— BTC-E (@btcecom) February 28, 2014
BTC-e’s new pricing model notably coincided with the news that Mt. Gox, once one of the company’s leading competitors, will likely not re-enter the market.
Representatives from the exchange confirmed the price cuts to CoinDesk, claiming the moves were made to “make clients happy”.
Pricing changes
BTC-e reduced fees for withdrawing USD funds via money transfer service Payeer and OKPAY to 1%. EUR withdrawals via OKPAY were brought down to 1%, as of press time.
Reduced commissions to withdraw funds at Payeer USD – 1% #btce
— BTC-E (@btcecom) February 28, 2014
Notably, BTC-e indicated that it has been experimenting with different price points. For example, one day prior to dropping USD commissions for withdrawing funds via OKPAY to 1%, it announced the same fees would be dropped to 2%.
Reduced commissions to withdraw funds at Okpay USD – 2% #btce
— BTC-E (@btcecom) February 27, 2014
Service errors
BTC-e has also been beset by technical delays since 11th February when a ‘massive and concerted attack’ was launched against most major bitcoin exchanges.
The company has confirmed DDoS attacks as recently as 27th February, which were also disclosed via Twitter.
ddos attack #btce
— BTC-E (@btcecom) February 27, 2014
BTC-e has not yet revealed the extent of the company’s technical problems, though users have taken to reddit in recent days to discuss service errors.
About BTC-e
The notoriously secretive exchange is gaining notoriety in the wake of Mt. Gox as one of the market leaders in the bitcoin exchange industry, but the company’s latest bid at acquiring customers may not be successful.
Media articles are already beginning to question the legality of the exchange and its practices, and major investors in the industry have issued warnings to new users.
Exciting to see the resiliance of #bitcoin ecosystem. Scary to see how many people are now trading on btc-e. No good will come of that.
— jeremy liew (@jeremysliew) February 26, 2014
This compounds growing suspicions in the community about BTC-e given that so little is known about the exchange or its operators.
For our complete review of BTC-e, view our introductory guide here. To learn more about how it works with its various financial service providers, click here.