Summary

Gatecoin is a regulated exchange based in Hong Kong utilizing an international banking network to facilitate relatively quick and cheap depositing for international clients. Gatecoin was running well for awhile, until a $2M hack of client funds.  These were returned, but volumes really haven’t recovered.  If you are a Hong Kong local you might want to check them out – otherwise, best to compare alternative exchanges.

 

Security

All fiat accounts segregated and held with major financial institutions. Ditto cryptocurrency accounts, which are maintained in segregated wallets most of which are kept in multisig cold storage. Regular audits ensure cryptocurrencies balances add up, and the results are published.

Two factor verification is offered via google authenticator or by direct SMS.

 

Gravitas

GateCoin is registered in Hong Kong as a Money Service Operator, which is quite demonstrative of their seriousness in the market. CEO Aurelien Menant is an extremely visible and respected member of the Hong Kong bitcoin community, where he co-founded the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong. Gatecoin is apparently working with local banks to facilitate quicker and cheaper remittance payments using bitcoin as a solution. Gatecoin has set up a multi-country banking network meant to quicken and cheapen international wires – also used to speed up and cheapen their clients wire transfers – and segregates customer cash and bitcoin deposits which is the subject of monthly third-party audits. They are also the driving force behind the lovely bitcoin startup bitcharities, which allows for charitable giving via bitcoin to a number of worthy causes, without payment processing deductions.

All this is to say, GateCoin is a serious and respected exchange that customers may utilize with confidence.

 

Opening an Account

Plug in your email and password from the homepage, write down your generated userID, and get started on the mandatory 5-step verification process.

1. Step 1: Name and nationality
2. Step 2: Contact details – phone, address, country of residence
3. Step 3: Verify email. You should have received by now a welcome email that includes a verification link. Click that, plug in referral code “bitreview” for XXX, and hit save.
4. Step 4: Proof of ID and address: You’ll need to pull out your camera and take a snapshot of your driver’s license or passport, as well as a bill, paycheck, bank statement or some other official form which depicts your address, and is dated within the last three months.

These steps are required for verification, which allows for unlimited crypto deposit and withdrawal, as well as $10,000 in accumulative deposits and withdrawals. For unlimited fiat deposit and withdrawal, certified copies of your ID and residence proofs – meaning notarized by a lawyer – must be sent via snail mail to the Gate Coin offices in Hong Kong.

To many, this will be prohibitive, limiting any substantial trading to cross-crypto pairs. However, for those willing to jump through these KYC hoops, they’ll be rewarded with use of an excellent exchange. For institutional accounts, the additional information may be found here.

Once verification is sorted, you’ll be offered the below payment options with associated fees. Please note – GateCoin has an international network of accounts to facilitate local-esque depositing in multiple locations. This allows for very cheap wiring relatively speaking. Please ensure the intermediary Bank info is included in orders.

Payment Type	Location	Currency	Amount	Deposit	Withdrawal
SEPA	EU	euro	Any	Free	€4
Wire	International	euro/usd	<60,000	0.1 (max €30)	0.125 (max €30)
Wire	International	euro/usd	>60,000	0.1 (max €30)	0.05 (max €100)
Local Wire	Hong Kong	HKD	Any	0-100 HKD	0-100 HKD

 Software

After login you’ll find yourself on the dashboard, which shows balances in your digital and fiat currency balances and a summary of all recent transfers. Navigate to “Trade” located on the left sidebar to get started, assuming you’ve made your deposit or crypto transfer.

The trade slip offers limit or market orders with stop loss or take profits, triggered or trailing. Users may toggle through the available markets – bitcoin, ethereum, Augur REP, and DIGIXDao trading against USD, EUR or HKD. And that is most likely why you are here, as Gatecoin leads the market in REP and Digix volume, and is second only to Poloniex in Ethereum turnover – without the massive dogginess that Poloniex brings. And actually Gatecoin holds its own in the bitcoin market as well, offering the second most btc/eur liquidity behind Kraken, with USD liquidity top 10 overall. And of course, their HKD book is the only game in town, with over $1m in volume daily.

There are some nice bits and bobs under the market data tab, including charting tools from tradingview, a “cross rate matrix” showing the latest prices against one another of all the currencies supported by the platform, a periodically updated section with news and commentary from gatecoin, and some bitcoin network stats.

Fees

Volume*	Maker %	Taker %
50	0.25	0.35
100	0.20	0.30
200	0.15	0.25
500	0.12	0.20
1300	0.10	0.16
2600	0.08	0.14
5200	0.06	0.13
13000	0.05	0.12
20000	0.04	0.11
20001+	0.02	0.10

*Rate based on rolling 31 days

Might Look Elsewhere if:

You don’t live in Hong Kong.

No need to transfer money to a Hong Kong bank in order to trade in Hong Kong dollars if you don’t live in Hong Kong.  Please check out our list of the best bitcoin exchanges for alternatives.  Bitfinex is a good place to start.

 

Bottom Line

Gatecoin is a decent bitcoin exchange for Hong Kong residents, though volumes have lagged.