Share this article
BTCC Takes Aim at Bitfinex With US Dollar Bitcoin Trading
BTCC announced today that it will be adding US dollar (USD) to its existing bitcoin exchange service.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:58 p.m. Published Nov 1, 2016, 11:02 a.m.
In this article
"It's both a liabilty and an opportunity."
At least that's how BTCC CEO Bobby Lee describes his Shanghai-based bitcoin exchange startup's affiliation with its domestic market. Formerly known as BTC China, BTCC markets itself as the "world's longest-running bitcoin exchange", but it's now taking steps to expand its customer base internationally.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
BTCC announced today that it is launching a new service BTCC USD Exchange, one that boasts a new user-interface and that is operated by a separate legal entity. Run out of Hong Kong, the US dollar trading arm will complement BTCC's Chinese yuan trading, and Lee said support for more currencies is likely to follow. It officially launches tomorrow.
Lee told CoinDesk:
"The USD exchange is our first concrete step to show the world we're going to be an international company."
Notably, the offering will not yet be available to US customers, as BTCC has yet to receive approval from FinCEN or the NYDFS. (Lee said the startup had applied for both, though it's far from alone in waiting to launch services in New York).
But Lee also sees a strategic opening in the market given the breach of Bitfinex, the Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange that this August lost nearly 120,000 BTC (then worth more than $60m) in a high-profile hack.
"We're trying to go up against Bitfinex," Lee said. "I think their volume is thin."
In conversation, Lee was open about thinking that BTCC could "outdo" the exchange, which has long held an appeal with traders given its margin trading system.
In this light, Lee said that BTCC is exploring whether to add margin trading, and that it is taking steps to court already active bitcoin exchange users.
BTCC said it will use a link-based referral program, FIX APIs and maker-taker model to incentivize customers. Further, it will offer faster deposits due to an integration with its existing mining pool.
BTCC image via Facebook
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin Rebounds to $93K From Post-Fed Lows, but Altcoins Remain Under Pressure
Downward pressure on bitcoin is losing steam, with the market stabilizing but not yet out of the woods, said one analyst.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rebounded from a sharp early selloff on Thursday to trade above $93,000 shortly after the close of U.S. stocks.
- The late-day gain in bitcoin came alongside a rebound in the Nasdaq from big morning losses; the tech index closed with just a 0.25% loss.
- Downward pressure on bitcoin is losing steam, said one analyst, but the market is not yet out of the woods.
Top Stories
