Bitflyer vs Flipster: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Bitflyer and Flipster This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on August 16, 2025

Bitflyer

Flipster

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Available Countries

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

India

China

Canada

United Kingdom

Yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

China

Yes

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

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Bitflyer is ideal if:

Great for cautious starters – Offers a clean, beginner-friendly interface with strong regulation and security, especially suited if you value peace of mind and a guided experience.
Smart for professionals too – Its Lightning platform and API support advanced trading styles while remaining within a trusted, compliant ecosystem.
Best for mainstream assets – Focuses on the core major cryptocurrencies rather than obscure altcoins—ideal if you're after simplicity, not a sprawling asset list.

Flipster is ideal if:

For active perp futures traders: Built for speed and precision, Flipster boasts ultra-fast execution, deep liquidity, and zero-fee perpetual contracts—ideal if you thrive in fast-moving markets.
If you value capital efficiency on the go: You can trade and earn simultaneously—your USDT balance works as margin and earns rewards—adding flexibility and impact to every trade.
Looking for a seamless, intuitive experience: With features like Instant Flip (one-click position reversal) and a clean, responsive interface across web and mobile, Flipster caters to both beginners and seasoned traders.

Bitflyer isn’t ideal if:

Not for altcoin hunters — Offers only a small selection of mainstream cryptocurrencies, limiting your options if you're looking to explore lesser-known tokens.
Limited advanced trading tools — Lacks robust derivatives, futures, lending, and staking features that active or margin traders often need.
Less competitive for cost-focused users — May involve higher spreads or fewer deposit options compared to more versatile, low-cost exchanges.

Flipster isn’t ideal if:

You're looking for fiat convenience: Flipster doesn’t support fiat deposits or on-ramps—crypto-only funding may be inconvenient for new users or those transitioning from traditional banking.
Spot trading simplicity is your priority: Spot trading options are very limited—just half-a-dozen cryptocurrencies—making it less suitable for casual or passive traders.
You prefer anonymity or instant access: KYC (identity verification) is mandatory before accessing any trading features, which may be a barrier for privacy-conscious or speed-seeking users.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

On bitFlyer’s Lightning Spot, maker and taker fees decrease progressively as your 30-day trading volume grows—from about 0.10 % at lower volumes down to roughly 0.03 % for very high turnover, with potential bespoke discounts for particularly active users or sizeable trades.

Flipster applies a flat taker fee for both spot and perpetual futures, starting at around 0.05%, with tiered VIP discounts reducing rates further for high-volume or high-balance users—making its maker/taker model very cost-competitive across both markets.

Futures/Derivatives

bitFlyer offers Bitcoin futures and crypto CFDs with margin, where trading fees fall in the same low double-digit-basis-point range, plus a funding cost applied at fixed intervals based on price divergence from spot—creating a small rollover cost for open positions.

Perpetual futures follow the same fee structure as spot (starting ~0.05% with VIP reductions), and funding occurs roughly every eight hours—fees are simply exchanged between longs and shorts without additional platform markup, rewarding those who time entries well.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

Spread information isn’t explicitly disclosed on bitFlyer, but based on its exchange design, liquid pairs typically carry modest spreads that are embedded in prices, especially via the Easy Exchange interface where the buy/sell price includes conversion margin rather than a separate fee.

Flipster offers zero spreads on major perpetual pairs like BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT, delivering highly efficient execution with minimal slippage for active traders.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

methods, fees, timing

The platform doesn’t support any fiat deposit or withdrawal methods, operating exclusively in crypto—so no fiat-related delays or costs, though that means a crypto-to-fiat conversion must happen elsewhere and externally.

On-chain Withdrawals

fixed vs dynamic fees

Crypto withdrawals incur fixed network-based fees—varying by network and token (for example, BTC or TRX)—reflecting actual blockchain costs rather than platform surcharges, with some networks even offering zero internal fees.

Hidden Costs

There are no apparent idle-account or express-KYC charges; however, minor implicit costs can stem from currency conversion spreads if you’re using a non-native fiat, and any third-party wire or bank fees—which vary regionally—can affect your overall cost.

Flipster is transparent with minimal hidden expenses—there’s no inactivity fee, no express-KYC cost, and no internal currency conversion charges; users only face standard blockchain network costs or any external exchange fees if they bridge between platforms.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

Buying €500 worth of BTC would entail a small embedded spread (via Easy Exchange) or low Lightning fee, plus the flat withdrawal charge (e.g., ~0.0004 BTC) if you choose to withdraw—resulting in a modest overall impact relative to the value but with no hidden or percentage-based surprises.

Let’s assume converting €500 via an external fiat gateway into USDT before buying BTC on Flipster

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

bitFlyer supports around 7–8 core cryptocurrencies with roughly 10–12 trading pairs, mainly focused on major assets like BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, ETC, LSK, MONA, and a few fiat pairings—its offering remains intentionally compact.

Flipster offers over 300 total trading pairs across its spot and perpetual markets, with the top 20 by volume dominated by major names like BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, SOL/USDT, TRX/USDT, and TON/USDT.

Product Range

The platform offers spot trading, margin trading (up to around 2×–4× leverage depending on region), Bitcoin futures (derivatives), Ethereum staking (upcoming), and OTC for large volume trades—but lacks more exotic features like options, ETFs, lending, copy-trading, automated bots, or full DCA tools.

The exchange supports spot trading (limited to the six major coins noted), a wide range of perpetual futures with up to 100× leverage, plus yield products via its Earn Campaign and Launchpool—but it does not currently offer options, ETFs, copytrading, staking, lending, grid bots, or fully automated DCA.

Liquidity

bitFlyer handles daily trading volumes in the low-hundreds of millions USD (with top pairs like BTC/JPY and ETH/JPY dominating), while its order book depth on main pairs remains modest compared with major global exchanges—sufficient for moderate trades but not for ultra-large orders.

Flipster delivers deep liquidity and tight execution for BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT pairs, with 24-hour volumes often exceeding $100 million on top pairs and robust order-book depth, ensuring minimal slippage even for large trades.

Tools

Advanced users benefit from a Lightning platform offering standard order types (limit, stop), custom alerts, charting, API and WebSocket access, and a native professional interface—but there’s no built-in TradingView integration or OCO orders.

Users benefit from a full suite of advanced tools—including limit, market, trigger (stop/stop-limit/OCO), and recurring buy orders (enabling basic DCA), plus charting with built-in analytics, Instant Flip for position reversal, and a smooth API/websocket infrastructure—though TradingView isn’t natively integrated.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

Derivatives and margin capabilities vary by region, with limited pairs available in the U.S. (e.g., BTC/USD, ETH/USD, BCH/BTC) and broader altcoin access in Europe and Japan, reflecting regulatory constraints across jurisdictions.

Certain features, especially derivatives, are restricted in specific countries—Flipster is completely unavailable to U.S. residents and likewise limits access in various jurisdictions under regulatory constraints.

Innovation

Recent enhancements include ETH staking (pending launch) and ongoing CFD asset expansions. However, bitFlyer does not currently offer launchpads, flexible vs locked Earn products, or structured innovative financial instruments.

Flipster stands out with its Launchpool feature for early access and rewards, and its Earn campaigns which offer flexible, non-locked APR rewards on USDT balances—all delivered without interrupting trading capabilities.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

bitFlyer, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Tokyo, Japan; it has extended operations internationally through regulated subsidiaries such as bitFlyer Europe to serve multiple regions globally.

Flipster is legally structured under Flipster Corp, with its operational headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, and was founded in 2021—positioning itself within a well-regulated European tech environment.

Licenses/Registration

It holds Virtual Asset Exchange licensing under Japan’s FSA, and its European arm is a fully regulated payment institution in Luxembourg, holds the first VASP registration there, and undergoes annual audits by a Big Four firm.

Flipster is registered and recognized as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) and holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification, aligning with international data security standards; additionally, it holds an AA rating from CER.live, signaling strong institutional-grade security practices.

Custody

Customer assets are stored offline in proprietary cold wallets (often over 80–100%), with multilayer physical security; while specific Proof of Reserves disclosure isn’t public, financial statements undergo external audit and assets are held separately from company funds.

The platform uses institutional-level custody powered by Fireblocks with MPC and cold storage, ensuring robust asset protection; it publishes daily, independently verifiable Proof of Reserves via Merkle tree snapshots, confirming a full 1

Insurance & Protection Funds

There’s coverage for unauthorized withdrawal via encrypted authentication and secure wallet infrastructure, but no widely advertised comprehensive insurance fund for hacks or exchange-level failures.

Flipster maintains an insurance fund and adheres to enterprise best practices like penetration testing and continuous security audits, creating multiple defense layers to safeguard user assets.

Incident History

Apart from regulatory enforcement fines (e.g., levied by New York DFS), bitFlyer does not have public records of hacks or fund losses, reflecting a clean operational history with no major security breaches or customer fund suspensions.

Flipster has demonstrated proactive incident response—blocking deposits associated with known hacks and reinforcing defenses using Chainalysis—without any reported major hacks or regulatory penalties to date.

Risk Controls

The platform enforces strong password policies, two-factor authentication, account lockouts, encryption, and segregates client and company funds; features such as whitelists, sub-accounts, anti-phishing, and granular API permissions enhance security.

Security features include mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA), dynamic whitelists, anti-phishing mechanisms, and granular API permissions, all supported by a zero-trust internal model and real-time threat detection infrastructure.

Transparency

While bitFlyer doesn’t publish monthly reserve reports or wallet addresses, it provides audited compliance, segregated custodian practices, encryption standards transparency, and maintains clear regulatory and operational SLAs via its regional legal frameworks.

Flipster emphasizes transparency through publicly accessible daily reserve reports, frequent audits, and visible wallet proof-of-reserve data—though it doesn’t currently provide formal monthly transparency reports or a public SLA.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

Bank transfers (like SEPA, ACH, Fedwire) are available (sometimes free), with PayPal accepted in Europe; credit/debit card options depend on region, and deposit limits lift with full Trade Pro verification, while processing ranges from instant (cards) to 1–3 business days (bank transfers).

Flipster does not support fiat deposits—no bank transfers, cards, or e-wallets are available. All funding must occur via cryptocurrency, so there are no fiat minimums, maximums, or processing times to consider.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

Accounts start at a basic (Standby) level with entry-only access, upgrade to Trade Class to deposit and trade within limits, and finally Trade Pro unlocks unrestricted activity—requiring progressively more ID documentation during verification.

Flipster enforces a multi-level KYC verification process—from basic personal info to ID, proof of address, and source of funds—with each level unlocking full access to trading, deposits, and withdrawals; no tiered trading is allowed without KYC completion.

Withdrawals

Crypto withdrawals have fixed minimums (e.g., 0.001 BTC plus fee), fiat withdrawals via bank take about 1–3 business days, and supported networks include the standard ones like BTC and ETH—no TRC20/BEP20 options mentioned.

Withdrawals are capped at a maximum of $1,000,000 per day or per transaction, and support multiple networks like ERC-20, TRC-20, BEP-20, etc.; processing times depend on network congestion, and increasing your limit triggers a mandatory 24-hour security hold.

Customer Support

Support is accessible via email and contact form (weekdays during business hours), with response typically within that timeframe; a FAQ/help center exists, but there’s no live 24/7 chat available.

Flipster offers responsive 24/7 support via live chat and email, along with a comprehensive Help Center and FAQs—users experience generally quick replies alongside self-service resources to resolve common questions.

Languages & Localization

The platform offers native-level English (and other EU languages like French); pricing and fees are shown in local fiat (€/USD/JPY), with region-specific regulatory compliance embedded per locale.

The platform is primarily in English, displays values in USD/crypto, and lacks localized fiat pricing or regulatory messaging tailored to specific countries—reflecting its crypto-native global orientation.

App Quality & Stability

The mobile app supports core functions, is generally stable, though users report some limitations in advanced trading features, occasional minor bugs, and mixed ratings—recent updates aim to improve usability and reliability.

Flipster’s mobile apps for Android and iOS are stable, mirror the desktop experience seamlessly, and are frequently updated—user reviews highlight their smooth performance and intuitive interface with minimal crashes.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

bitFlyer strikes a balance between accessibility and power—casual users will find the Lite interface intuitive with a gentle learning curve, while experienced traders can switch to a Pro mode that offers deeper functionality without overwhelming novice users.

Flipster delivers a sleek and intuitive interface that’s easy for beginners to pick up, yet powerful enough for pros—though it doesn’t offer separate “Lite” or “Pro” modes, its uniform design balances simplicity and advanced functionality in one accessible layout.

Performance

Order execution is generally responsive during normal conditions, but like many exchanges, there can be brief latency or slight slowdown during high-volatility spikes; KYC queues may also lengthen during strong bull runs, potentially delaying onboarding.

Engineered for speed, Flipster provides ultra-fast, sub-millisecond order execution with zero spreads on major perp pairs—even during volatile spikes—and although high-demand periods may slow KYC, trading performance remains reliably smooth for approved users.

Education

The bitFlyer Academy provides beginner-friendly articles and guides to help users understand crypto fundamentals, though there’s no live demo or simulator, and educational content in languages other than English is limited.

While Flipster doesn’t offer a demo or simulator, it makes up for it with a helpful blog, glossary, and educational guides in its Help section—though content is primarily in English, with no dedicated Spanish-language academy or tutorials yet available.

Community

bitFlyer maintains an official help center and blog for updates, but lacks public community forums like Discord or Telegram; it does offer a referral program to incentivize bringing new users—but no broad peer-to-peer community space is currently provided.

Flipster fosters a strong community through its official Telegram channel and social features—users can set up profiles, share trades, mirror others, and participate in referral and affiliate programs that reward engagement and exposure.

Integrations

The platform supports API and WebSocket access for automated trading, yet does not offer native TradingView charts, external bot marketplaces, or integrated tax/accounting tools—so users typically rely on external systems for advanced analytics or bookkeeping.

The platform doesn’t include native TradingView or tax tool integrations, but it supports external bot access via robust API/websocket infrastructure, enabling power users to connect and automate strategies with external tools.

Who Each One Is Best For

bitFlyer is ideal for traders who want a secure, regulated platform with a choice between streamlined and professional UIs, while those who prefer community-driven tools, extensive integrations, or a learning sandbox may find more options on other platforms.

Flipster suits active perpetual traders and volatility chasers who prize execution speed and deep liquidity, while passive earners and social traders benefit from Launchpool and referral tools—less ideal for those seeking fiat, derivatives beyond perpetuals, or localized learning content.