US residents now have another zero-fee option to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) using the US dollar.
On January 30, 2020, Tokyo-headquartered digital asset exchange bitFlyer introduced its commission-free service for the BTC/USD trading pair to its US-based clients.
bitFlyer’s zero-fee feature is currently only being offered for the BTC/USD trading pair and has been added to the platform’s pro trading tool, bitFlyer Lightning, the company mentioned in a recent blog post. The new offer is automatically applied to all of the firm’s new and existing bitFlyer US clients, while the end date of the offer has not yet been confirmed. bitFlyer’s management said that they will be announcing any changes made to the offer two weeks in advance.
Although bitFlyer is based in Japan and operates a subsidiary in Europe, the firm’s new campaign is an exclusive offering for its US customers. The company launched its US division in November 2017.
bitFlyer currently offers services in 47 US states and territories. The company holds a major cryptocurrency license, called the BitLicense, which allows crypto firms to legally offer crypto-related services to New York residents.
bitFlyer’s official website notes that the firm normally takes only 0.00000001 BTC or one satoshi per “unit of transaction” of Bitcoin, which is less than $0.01 (at the time of writing). The firm’s regular withdrawal fee for BTC amounts to 0.0004 BTC (appr. $3.7). For Ether (ETH) accounts, bitFlyer charges 0.005 ETH (appr. $0.9 at press time) for withdrawals. The company also charges a $10 fee to send US dollar payments out of a bitFlyer account.
As part of its new offer, bitFlyer’s US division is also launching its first-ever trading competition in the United States. The firm’s management noted that the new competition will be called “Trade Grand Prix.” The contest will reportedly be open to all US-based users and will be rewarding the top 10 traders a total of $1,600, which will be based on their weekly trading activity. The competition will begin on February 10, 2020.