- From August 1, Bitstamp will charge a monthly fee.
- This is to be paid by inactive customers and amounts to 10€.
- The decision causes a controversy, because “file sharing” is generally considered cost-effective.
The bear market seems to be making bigger sacrifices than previously thought. Bitstamp was founded in 2011 and is one of the oldest Bitcoin exchanges in the world. In addition to a generally fair fee structure for trades, the provider is also considered a reliable “fiat ramp”. Therefore, you can easily deposit and withdraw euros or US dollars.
Bitstamp informed its customers by e-mail that the fees will change in the future. This caused some outrage, because the stock exchange will require an “inactivity fee” from August 1, i.e. a fee that must be paid if you do not use your customer account regularly.
You would like to collect a whopping € 10 per month for this, while the storage of cryptocurrency is generally considered to be comparatively inexpensive for exchanges and brokers. However, Bitstamp argues that the inactive accounts are a cost factor. For many customers, the step is not well received at all, the lack of understanding is too great, it was always the cost advantage that spoke in favor of Bitcoin exchanges compared to classic stock trading.
How to avoid the fee?
However, regardless of how one positions oneself in the question of whether Bitstamp should charge such a fee at all, existing and new customers have three options open to avoid it:
- Those who have been active in the last 12 months do not pay. Activity means staking deposits and withdrawals, trades or participation, regardless of his specific account balance.
- If you have not been active in the last 12 months, but have parked more than € 200 on Bitstamp, then you are also off the hook.
- Last but not least, you can avoid the fee by becoming active, making deposits or withdrawals, staking or trading.
Why take this step?
Although the hurdle is not particularly high, but you get the impression that the provider could be looking for a way to gradually debit accounts with balances that have not been touched for years.
Smaller balances in cryptocurrencies are also commonly referred to as “dust”, i.e. dust. Whether this is actually part of the business practice, on the other hand, is pure speculation. Other providers, such as HitBTC, also introduced a similar fee and faced the same criticism.
