As one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia, CoinJar has been growing steadily since its launch in 2013. And these days, the exchange is available in the UK and is also gearing up for a U.S. expansion.
But in a world where crypto titans like Coinbase, Binance, and other major players dominate trading, what does a smaller exchange like CoinJar have to offer? And, more importantly, does it deserve your hard-earn cash and crypto deposits to begin trading?
Our CoinJar review aims to answer these questions. Specifically, we’re covering how CoinJar works, what its best and worst features are, and what to expect in terms of fees.
Quick Summary:
Pros:
Cons:
About CoinJar
CoinJar is Australia’s leading cryptocurrency exchange that began in 2013, which also makes it one of the older cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. Since its inception, CoinJar has also expanded to the UK, surpassing 450,000 customers and $75 million in assets.
The exchange offers a beginner-friendly solution to buy and sell 50+ leading cryptocurrencies and altcoins. It also has its own reward program and cryptocurrency investment bundles to make it even easier to begin investing.
At the time of writing, CoinJar is also working on expanding to the United States and other markets.
CoinJar Features
CoinJar makes it easy to buy, sell, and swap 50+ tokens. It also has numerous features to help you earn free rewards and create a more diversified portfolio.
Buy & Sell Crypto
You can begin trading on CoinJar with just $10, and the platform supports 50+ cryptocurrencies, including:
This is a nice combination of major cryptocurrencies, meme-coins, and lesser-known altcoins. Once you fund your account, it’s easy to place buy/sell orders just like you would with any other exchange.
CoinJar also has an “Instant Buy” feature that lets you buy crypto instantly using your Visa or Mastercard debit card. There’s a 2% debit card transaction fee for this luxury, but it’s nice that instant trading is available.
CoinJar Bundles
One of CoinJar’s more unique features are CoinJar bundles. These are baskets of cryptocurrencies you can invest in to create a more diversified portfolio. There are numerous bundles you can choose from, including:
- CoinJar Universe: Contains the top 25 cryptos on CoinJar.
- DeFi Bundle: Has numerous DeFi tokens.
- Popular Trio: A basket of BTC, ETH, and XRP.
- ERC-20: Contains 20 leading ERC 20 tokens.
- Green Bundle: Contains several low-carbon coins.
The fact you can invest in spaces like DeFi or green crypto is a nice touch. Overall, CoinJar bundles help beginner investors branch out into a wider range of asset depending on their goals and values.
CoinJar Card & Rewards
If you want to earn free cryptocurrency, CoinJar has numerous incentives to take advantage of.
For starters, members can open a CoinJar card, which is a physical and digital card powered by Mastercard that lets you spend your crypto like cash. This is similar to the Coinbase card, and it’s designed to make crypto transactions more seamless in day-to-day life.
You select the cryptocurrency you want to spend with when you make purchases. You earn one reward point for every dollar you spend, and points are redeemable on the CoinJar rewards store.
Other CoinJar rewards features and ways to earn points include:
- Referring new members
- Buying and selling crypto on the exchange
- Making purchases on the CoinJar Store
Some available rewards on the CoinJar store.
As for what you can redeem points for, you have several options. For example, you can spend 50 points to reduce buy, sell, and sending fees. You can also redeem points for free gift cards, free cryptocurrency, and subscriptions to leading crypto tax software.
A $10 AUD deposit of Bitcoin currently costs 1,100 points, so it can take a while to earn rewards depending on your spending habits.
Mobile App
For mobile trading fans, CoinJar has you covered. Its free Android and iOS app makes it easy to buy, send, sell, and spend your crypto right from your phone.
If you plan on using the CoinJar card, the app is particularly useful since you can use the app as a digital card.
Institutional Support
Most of CoinJar’s features are for personal cryptocurrency trading. However, the exchange also has numerous features for institutional trading and B2B clients, including:
- CoinJar Exchange: More advanced traders can use the CoinJar exchange to unlock more order types, advanced charting tools, as well as lower fees and spreads.
- OTC Trading: This service is coming soon and will provide access to over-the-counter trading for trades of $50,000 or more.
- CoinJar Payout: This B2C solution lets your business offer crypto rewards to your customers if you’re creating a customer loyalty program or want to run giveaways.
- CoinJar Clear: Like CoinJar Payout, this solution lets your business, app, or website offer cryptocurrency trading to your members by utilizing CoinJar’s liquidity and tech.
The fact that OTC trading is coming to the platform is excellent news for traders with larger account balances. And CoinJar’s exchange has very competitive fees, with fees starting at a 0.10% maker/taker fee and decreasing with higher 30-day trading volume.
CoinJar Pricing & Fees
CoinJar fees vary depending on the service you’re using and your trading volume. Some of the main fees to be aware of include:
- Deposit Fees: $AUD, $EUR, and $GBP deposits are free. However, you pay $25 SWIFT deposit fees and $10 wire transfer fees for $USD deposits. Blueshyft $AUD cash deposits also have a 1.5% deposit fee.
- Instant Buy Fees: 2% for debit card transactions.
- Receiving Cryptocurrencies: No fees.
- Conversions: You pay a flat 1% fee when converting between crypto accounts or between crypto and cash accounts.
- Bank Disputes: There’s a $38.50 AUD bank dispute fee if you dispute a transaction or open an error correction request with your bank.
- CoinJar Card Fees: Pay 2.99% on foreign transactions and 1% for ATM withdrawals.
- Exchange Fees: Starts at 0.10% maker/taker fee and decreases if you surpass $100,000 trading volume over 30 days.
The basic CoinJar exchange charges variable spread fees depending on the market. You see a breakdown of fees when placing a trade. But like other exchanges such as Kraken or Gemini, using the more advanced trading platform gets you lower maker/taker fees depending on trading volume:
30-Day Trading Volume | Taker Fee | Maker Fee |
|---|---|---|
$0 - $100,000 | 0.10% | 0.10% |
$100,000 - $1M | 0.10% | 0.08% |
$1M - $10M | 0.08% | 0.04% |
$10M+ | 0.06% | 0.02% |
CoinJar Alternatives
If you live in Australia or the UK and want a beginner-friendly exchange with a wide selection of digital assets and competitive fees, CoinJar could be worth it.
However, some CoinJar alternatives are better choices if you want more investing features, staking options, or asset variety:
- Binance: The leading cryptocurrency exchange that’s also a popular staking platform you can use to generate yield with your crypto.
- KuCoin: This exchange is also global and has more altcoin variety and its own bundle-like investment product, KuCoin Wealth.
- Coinbase: Another beginner-friendly exchange that’s available in the United States and far more markets than CoinJar.
Account Opening Process
You create a CoinJar account if you’re 18 or older by signing up online with your email address. Once you verify your email, you select a username for your account.
To unlock trading and the main CoinJar exchange, you have to verify your identity. This requires details like your:
- Full name
- Address
- Photo ID
- A selfie
This type of identification verification is standard for centralized exchanges. If you prefer DeFi options, exchanges like Bisq and Uniswap are better choices.
Safety & Security
CoinJar has numerous protocols in place to help increase platform security. For staters, assets are held by BitGo and Fireblocks, which are two of the leading custody providers many other exchanges rely on. And CoinJar is also registered with the Australian government and follows necessary rules, regulations, and anti-money laundering laws.
Much of CoinJar’s digital assets are also held offline in cold storage to reduce the threat of hacks stealing customer funds. According to its security page, CoinJar also states it maintains “sufficient assets to cover more than 100% of our customer balances.”
This is a reassuring promise, especially considering how platforms like BlockFi, Celsius, and FTX have collapsed in the last two years.
Customer Service
CoinJar’s customer support team is online Monday through Friday from 9am to 2am AEST. You can also get weekend support from 9am to 5:30pm.
The company website also has a fairly robust FAQ section you can use to find answers to common questions and problems customers have.
The Bottom Line
As a smaller market on the global scale, Australia isn’t always at the forefront of cryptocurrency exchanges. Thankfully, CoinJar provides Australian investors with a comprehensive exchange and competitive fees. Its expansion into the UK and soon-to-be United States is also promising.
Granted, CoinJar isn’t nearly as robust as some of the larger exchanges in the space, like Binance or Coinbase. And if you want to earn staking rewards or invest in a wider range of digital assets, it’s not the best exchange.
But for a simple, cost-effective exchange that caters to Australia and the UK, CoinJar is worth using.
Tom Blake is a personal finance writer with a passion for making money online, cryptocurrency and NFTs, investing, and the gig economy.