BitPrime Review – Reliable Bitcoin Brokerage?

BitPrime, a New Zealand based Bitcoin brokerage, has experienced a substantial surge of growth since first introduced to the cryptocurrency marketplace in late January 2017. Found at BitPrime.co.nz, this fiat currency friendly Bitcoin exchange allows any investor with a New Zealand (NZ) bank account to partake in the buying and selling of various cryptocurrencies in an effective, secure and convenient manner. The community chatter revolving BitPrime is strongly encouraging which is a likely sign that this Bitcoin exchange will be around for a long time to come.

bitprime.co.nz
bitprime.co.nz

What is BitPrime?

BitPrime is a hassle-free cryptocurrency exchange tailored toward New Zealanders. Investors with a New Zealand citizenship and bank account are able to exchange fiat currency for bitcoins or vice versa. As BitPrime sells from the company’s own crypto reserves, liquidity in New Zealand is increased, and the transactions are processed timely.

BitPrime is 100% Kiwi owned and operated, meaning that they are ran solely by New Zealanders. In addition to exchanging fiat currency with bitcoins over their online trading platform investors also have the ability to exchange Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin and Ripple. One of their main goals at BitPrime would be to make Bitcoin “an accessible form of investment for everyday New Zealanders.”

How does BitPrime work?

This Bitcoin brokerage is relatively straightforward with their operational policies. Stern enforcement of security protocols are enacted which requires every potential investor to verify their identity prior to being able to register for an account. This is to meet their obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. These identity verification processes can last between anywhere between 24 to 72 hours and requires a minimum of 4 identifying attachments. Listed below are the 4 main attachments you will need to verify:

NZ Drivers License or Passport – Image must be a close-up photo that shows all features clearly (not scanned or cropped attachments).

A bank statement clearly showing your name and account number and dated within the past 3 months.

Once you have completed the extensive identification process and have been approved, you are given access to the BitPrime platform where you are then able to execute the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies with NZD.

Who is Behind BitPrime?

Ross Carter-Brown is a founding partner of BitPrime. No physical address is shared at BitPrime.co.nz for their office as they operate online. A DNC search will reveal that BitPrime NZ is the registrar behind BitPrime.co.nz. The company is a registered Financial Services Provider. The contact address, as provided, is 202 Riccarton Road, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand 0841. The telephone number provided is +64 8 00433355 while the contact email address is admin@bitprime.co.nz.

BitPrime.co.nz WHOIS

The official form of contacting BitPrime is via email: hello@bitprime.co.nz. Furthermore, they appear to be fairly active and reply on average within an hour on their Facebook Page along with their Twitter account.

Supported Cryptocurrencies

Having expanded their inventory of supported cryptocurrencies as of August 1st, 2018, BitPrime now supports over 50 listed cryptocurrencies and are able to source many more on special request. It should be noted that there is a bit of an upfront surcharge for the price value price of each cryptocurrency, but you won’t be crippled by miscellaneous service fees that most other Bitcoin exchanges will try to tack on. With the BitPrime platform, the price you see is the price you pay.

BitPrime in the Press

“We are a cryptocurrency trading platform, committed to buying and selling Bitcoin at the most competitive rates available today.” Reported ScoopBusiness during their exclusive interview with Geoffrey Palmer, the Founder of BitPrime. “The ultimate goal of our new site is to make the entire transaction safer and faster for everyone involved.”

In a separate interview conducted on September 27th, 2017, ScoopBusiness interview shares the reflection on the growing popularity of cryptocurrency investing with Ross Carter Brown, a senior partner at BitPrime. “The popularity of cryptocurrencies in NZ has been increasing rapidly, with trade volumes having grown more than eight-fold since we launched in March.” 

A confirmation of this statement can be proven by evaluating how the sum of the cryptocurrency market capitalization currently reflects a value of NZD$188 million. This marks an increase of nearly 830% since August 2016.

BitPrime Hardware

Although it is not necessary, BitPrime has a Bitcoin wallet that is available to purchase known as the Ledger Nano S. The Ledger Nano S has strong reviews and is considered the “next generation hardware wallet.” Having a Bitcoin wallet similar to the Ledger Nano S is recommended due to their robust security and safety features along with wide range of supported cryptocurrencies.

Ledger Nano S

BitPrime Popularity

During the time of posting this review, BitPrime possesses a SimilarWeb global rank of 522,139 with a rank of 3,037 in New Zealand. Approximately 92.43% of the visitors that view the site reside within New Zealand.

BitPrime Review Conclusion

BitPrime appears to be a reliable and user-friendly cryptocurrency brokerage for New Zealand inhabitants. Created with the intentions of taking the hassle out of exchanging cryptocurrencies and fiat currency it appears that this Bitcoin exchange has achieved their mission. Due to the strict business practices employed by this brokerage and supportive feedback about BitPrime, we trust this online platform to be available to New Zealanders in the years to come.

Please share any experiences about BitPrime with us by leaving your feedback below!

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4 Comments

  1. Katz

    Hi PD I am new to this and would like to know if they followed up with you and remedied your verification its now feb 2019. cheers

  2. PD

    On July 17 I purchased Ethereum from BitPrime after being verified according to their requirements. Using shapeshift, I later converted that to BTC. A couple of days ago I emailed with an enquiry to sell my BTC back to BitPrime via my same account and received the following curious email from ‘Logan’:

    ‘Hi there XXXX,

    You must have been an early customer – as we have no record of you buying Ethereum through us in our database.

    We’ll need you to become verified before we can accept any sell offers. We are currently closed for verification applications from new customers. We’ll be opening back up for new applicants in later January 2018.’

    This response is totally unacceptable! Is it appropriate to just say, sorry you’re not in our database, gee don’t know why, maybe you were an early client, our database records are useless. Too bad.

    I cannot find any mention of BitPrime associated (or not) with a Geoffrey Palmer on the NZ Company Register nor Open Corporates, suggesting the business is either under another name or a sole trader operation.

    So my immediate question is, ‘What is going on, and why is it that my Ethereum transaction is nowhere to be found in their database? Is this yet another example of typical slacker ‘she’ll be right’ Kiwi way of doing business? I sincerely hope not!

    I’ll be calling their phone numbers when their offices open.

    I also have sent a screenshot of the transaction record from my wallet. I am waiting for a response from BitPrime and will post here.

    • PD

      Ok, have just seen the company details in the article above – an NSW registered company, TPP Wholesale Pty. That clears that up.

      • PD

        Update: Reply as follows:

        ‘We have you here as a verified customer. Apologies for the misinformation by Logan, we have moved to a new system and some of the older customers didn’t sync through properly so he might of been referring to this but we do have all of your information here and you can sell your BTC to us no problem.’

        ‘We are a partnership so that is why you can’t find us on the company register. We have been unable to get a business bank account thus far due to cryptocurrencies relationship with the banks, however as soon as we do so we will be moving to a company system.’

        ‘We have currently turned off our phone line due to it being far to busy to answer calls with the current volumes that we are doing and I am not authorised to pass on the owners contact details

        Company address: 4 Ash Street, City Central, Christchurch
        *****************************************************************************************
        The response seems legit so am ok with BitPrime at this point. The only problem I now have is that the website sell page has me as unverified so cannot sell. I sent an email and a message, no reply as yet, assume the Christmas rush is keeping them busy.

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