CoinJar Experience 2021: The Crypto Exchange Test
10 Stars
The crypto exchange CoinJar in a big test:
Our series on the best crypto exchanges on the net has a new addition from Australia: We examine the crypto exchange CoinJar and critically and systematically review the strengths and weaknesses of the platform.
Can CoinJar convince us in the test? How does the offer differ from that of other exchanges? What do the CoinJar fees cost? And how does CoinJar prevent fraud? Are the alternatives any better?
At first glance, the provider seems very reputable and wonderfully suited for crypto trading. But is this assumption confirmed after a more thorough investigation?
Our assessment will help you determine whether CoinJoin is the right offer for you or whether there is perhaps a better alternative on the crypto exchange market.
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
CoinJar advantages and disadvantages
CoinJar's multi-cryptocurrency wallet is the feature that sets the exchange apart from most of its competitors. In addition, CoinJar is a broker and exchange in one and can therefore save you from having to register with a multitude of platforms. However, CoinJar's brokerage services are limited for customers who do not hold an Australian passport.
On top of that, the payment methods accepted by CoinJar are not really suitable for European users. For example, credit cards are only accepted if their holders live in the UK, and even then only with high fees. Free of charge, on the other hand, are deposits with Bitcoin or one of the other cryptocurrencies that CoinJar supports.
To prevent fraud and cyberattacks, CoinJar offers, in addition to the mandatory two-factor authentication, a cold wallet storage on which 90 percent of the crypto assets deposited on the platform are secured offline. Furthermore, the broker is registered with the financial supervisory authority Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and complies with its requirements.
Both the website and the wallet of CoinJar are relatively sophisticated with their many functions and are not necessarily recommended for beginners.
CoinJar: All-in-one solution for Australian customers only
What is CoinJar?
CoinJar is a platform where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Your CoinJar account serves as a universal wallet for the currencies available on the marketplace, which you can hold and manage conveniently. In addition, since June 2018 CoinJar also wants to be a platform for trading cryptocurrencies, but in this role as a broker it does not offer financial instruments such as CfDs.
CoinJar originates from Australia and supports fiat payments with the Australian dollar (AUD), the euro, the US dollar and the yen. In order to fully use the offer and to be verified by CoinJar, you must be a registered citizen in Australia.
Similar to the app of our test winner eToro, the CoinJar wallet app is used for the direct management of cryptocurrencies using mobile devices such as a smartphone or tablet. It is already clear here: eToro will keep its nose in front, because customers can use the offer fully free of charge.
CoinJar maintains a rewards programme in which users can earn bonus points. They can then use these to save on CoinJar fees, make a purchase in the CoinJar Store or order a CoinJar Swipe Card with them.
CoinJar Review - the offer
Buy and trade Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptos with CoinJar: CoinJar only carries a very manageable range of cryptocurrencies. You can pay with the Australian dollar, euro, US dollar or yen. In the following, we list the offer and link to our guide texts on the respective coin.
CoinJar currency pairs:
Bitcoin | Litecoin |
|---|
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
Buy Coins with CoinJar
Customers cannot currently buy cryptocurrencies via CoinJar. However, it is possible to exchange cryptocurrencies that you already own for other cryptos with CoinJar. Here we show you how to create a CoinJar login and use the platform - from registration to investment.
Step 1: The registration
To trade Bitcoin, Ripple, Ether or Litecoin with CoinJar, you first need to register. This is no big deal: You can find the registration form directly on the homepage. Your full name, an email address and the choice of a password are required.
Once you have entered everything, you will receive an activation link by e-mail. Click on the link to use your profile. You can then use your newly created CoinJar login. Log in and CoinJar will ask you to choose a username and a profile picture.
Be careful - your username cannot be changed later.
Step 2: Verification
Until you verify yourself, you can only use CoinJar for a few services. Unfortunately, CoinJar does not accept verification requests.
This means you cannot use the platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Only trading is freely available to you with your CoinJar registration.
Step 3: Transfer Bitcoin
In the next step, you need to transfer some Bitcoin to be able to trade them against other cryptocurrencies. To do this, select your Everyday Bitcoin account and click on "View Address". You will need to send your bitcoin to the wallet address you enter here.
If you want to top up your CoinJar wallet with Ethereum, Ripple or Litecoin instead, return to the main menu and select "Add New Account". Select the respective currency here and continue as just described.
Once your cryptos have been transferred, you can start exchanging them for other cryptos.
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
CoinJar Fees & Charges
The fees you pay on CoinJar depend of course on what you use the platform for - and which payment method you use. For example, if you want to exchange Bitcoin for another cryptocurrency and send your BTC to your CoinJar wallet, there are no fees - apart from the miner fee, of course, for which CoinJar is not responsible.
If you transfer fiat money to the exchange with your credit card instead, it quickly becomes quite expensive: CoinJar charges 2.9 percent per transaction. In any case, this option is only open to those who live in the UK.
All other EU citizens have to be satisfied with the option of trading cryptocurrencies against each other on CoinJar. Although the marketplace supports credit card payments as well as BPAY and Blueshyft, these service providers are not available to European customers anyway, so you are unfortunately very limited here.
CoinJar fees: Good average for broking
Let's assume, however, that you live in Australia, for example, and could use CoinJar without restrictions: Then the classic taker and maker fees would apply for trading cryptos. Strictly speaking, only the former, because CoinJar does not charge maker fees.
The taker fee you pay, on the other hand, depends on your trading volume. The fee is between 0.1 and 0.5 percent. This is not cheaper than on other broking platforms, but a pretty good average.
Fee type | costs |
|---|---|
Taker fairy | 0.1-0.5 percent |
Maker Fee | No |
Deposit cryptocurrencies | No |
Deposit BPAY | No |
Blueshyft cash deposit | 1.5 percent |
European credit card (UK only) | 2.9 percent |
The transaction fees become confusing when you transfer your cash or cryptos from CoinJar to another location. CoinJar distinguishes between six different cases; the costs are made up of the transaction fee and an additional fee that can range between 0 and 1 percentage point.
CoinJar requires verification both for buying cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies and for trading cryptos against each other (for example, Bitcoin against Ether). These services are not available to European customers (exception: UK).
CoinJar payment methods
In order to use crypto exchanges like CoinJar for trading and purchasing Bitcoin and co., it is usually necessary to transfer money or a means of payment to the registered profile. This is also true for CoinJar.
CoinJar only supports a small selection of payment methods, and only one is actually eligible for EU citizens: cryptocurrencies. So you can transfer Bitcoin to CoinJar free of charge (apart from the miner fee) to exchange it for Litecoin, Ether or Ripple.
Credit card payments are only available to customers from the UK in Europe. All other payment methods unfortunately only appeal to Australian customers.
Payment method | yes/no |
|---|---|
Credit cards | yes |
Paypal | no |
Instant bank transfer | no |
Skrill | no |
Neteller | no |
Paysafecard | no |
Bank Transfer | no |
Other | yes |
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
CoinJar licence and security
The online broker and marketplace CoinJar can claim to be registered with the Australian financial regulator AUSTRAC and to meet its guidelines for financial service providers. Not every crypto exchange can score points with a regulated offering.
But is CoinJar fraud-proof? At least the marketplace does a lot for the security of its customers.
For example, 90 per cent of all crypto assets managed via the platform are stored on offline wallets to make them inaccessible to cyberattacks.
With two-factor authentication, you can also significantly increase the security of your account against unauthorised access.
How do you protect yourself against CoinJar fraud?
If you buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin on CoinJar, for example, you will quickly realise how convenient a bank account is: With cryptocurrencies, you are suddenly responsible for the safe management and storage of your virtual assets.
It is imperative that you keep private keys and other sensitive information safe and never disclose them to others. If you lose your private key, you will never see your Bitcoin again.
It's all the more tempting that many marketplaces
Including CoinJar - allow you to conveniently store your crypto assets on a wallet linked to your profile and relieve you of some of this burden. But as convenient as this is, relying solely on exchanges is also dangerous.
Because in the event of an unexpected insolvency or a cyberattack that overcomes the security standards of your wallet of choice, you could lose your assets. Despite the hassle involved, it is therefore better to keep cryptocurrencies purchased on the CoinJar exchange on an external wallet.
In the article linked here, we have summarised and examined in more detail how you can effectively protect yourself from fraud, what the scammers' scams are and which cases have caused a furore in recent years.
CoinJar Customer Service, Contact & Support
Imagine there's a problem with your trading, you can no longer access your Bitcoin. What do you do? Of course, the first thing you do is look for help from your service provider. How well they are prepared for such cases and what support they are able to provide for their customers in an emergency plays an important role in our evaluations.
After all, you want to be in good hands, reach the support quickly and get competent help if there are really problems. So how good is CoinJar support?
In a nutshell. Only the industry standards are met. We find a detailed FAQ that provides answers to the most common questions. In addition, we can contact support via the contact form and hope that they will answer us quickly and competently. There is no live chat option or even telephone number.
Unless you are a verified customer and use CoinJar's broking services, in which case a customer telephone is available. For us, this unfortunately means: no, there is no customer telephone we could contact. This is because CoinJar's broker services are unfortunately not available to us Europeans.
The CoinJar FAQ is not available. As things stand, knowledge of English is a prerequisite here. The homepage does not tell us whether there are plans for further language support or an expansion of customer support.
Contact way | yes/no |
|---|---|
phone | no |
no | |
Live chat | no |
contact form | yes |
FAQs | yes |
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
The CoinJar App
CoinJar is the English term for a piggy bank: A container in which we multiply surplus small change until it is enough to fulfil a wish.
The CoinJar app works in a similar way: it is a wallet on which we can store cryptocurrencies, and which we can manage and use conveniently from our mobile phone or tablet. This app, it is probably the highlight of the Australian exchange's offer.
However, in order to be able to use the app fully, it is necessary to be verified by CoinJar. A simple registration is not enough here. Because this is unfortunately not offered to European customers, the app is less relevant for you.
A very good alternative to the CoinJar app is the eToro Wallet app. You can also use it to manage your cryptos conveniently on your smartphone. In addition, you can even buy Bitcoin directly in the eToro app. Unlike CoinJar, eToro offers CfDs and other financial instruments.
CoinJar has a great app that we Europeans unfortunately cannot use. That's why it has no further impact on the marketplace's rating at this point.
Conclusion - the CoinJar review
For our CoinJar review, we registered on the exchange and took an in-depth look at what the platform currently has to offer for trading, trading and buying cryptocurrencies directly. We looked at the support, looked at the fee model and clarified what CoinJar is doing to protect its users against fraud and cyberattacks. Time for a conclusion:
The exchange CoinJar can score points above all with its wallet app. With it, the cryptocurrencies acquired on CoinJar can be conveniently managed, invested and sent again. In addition, CoinJar is a real all-rounder, here we can not only buy and trade Bitcoin, but also trade.
However, there is a huge but hanging over all of this: customers from Europe (except the UK) can only exchange cryptos with CoinJar.
And the exchange is actually of little use for this function alone, because only four cryptocurrencies are offered. That is why a CoinJar registration is hardly worthwhile for customers and most other countries. Other exchanges like Binance are much more suitable. CoinJar also doesn't look so good in terms of support: The standards are served, but nothing beyond that.
Our CoinJar rating: Good, but...
At least CoinJar can still convince in terms of security. Not only is the platform registered with the Australian supervisory authority, it also stores 90 percent of all crypto assets on offline wallets to protect itself against cyberattacks. This is very commendable. Under the given circumstances and with regard to the severe restriction for European customers, CoinJar nevertheless only receives 2 out of 5 possible points in our evaluation.
Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro
Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades
FAQ
The provider is a crypto exchange where cryptocurrencies can be bought and sold.
In our test, CoinJar was hardly convincing. European customers in particular have to live with restrictions.
The amount of one's own investment should depend on one's own liquidity, as well as on the chosen cryptocurrency and one's own risk appetite. In general, you should never invest money that you actually need elsewhere, as profits can never be guaranteed.
The platform is convincing here. Payouts are processed very quickly and are in your account within a few minutes to 2 working days, depending on the selected payout method.
You should always know what you are investing in. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, so you should first get to know the selected coin in detail. If you have the necessary know-how, as well as the occasional bit of luck, then nothing stands in the way of early profits.
