CoinJar Review: Navigating the Crypto Exchange Landscape

In our quest to analyze the best and worst crypto exchanges, our team of experts signed up for CoinJar.

This is a Web, Android and iOS centralized crypto exchange for UK and Australia users. After navigating the features and drawbacks over a few weeks’ time, our verdict is Yes.

CoinJar begins with an ultra-simple user interface. A “pro trading” exchange, however, expands the basic trading functions.

A crypto debit card is also available, making it one of the few exchanges in Australia to offer this feature.

Let’s investigate if the CoinJar wallet, exchange and card helps its members to properly navigate the multi-faceted world of cryptocurrency.

CoinJar Overview 

	Rating
Security And Safety	7
Necessary Requirements	7
Pricing And Fees	5
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods	8
Customer Support	3

Who CoinJar Is Best For?

Full KYC verification at CoinJar is limited to UK and Australian users.

The standard features provided by CoinJar are entry level and perfect for beginners who want to test the waters of basic crypto trading and portfolio building without the complex systems found on many of the more advanced exchanges.

In particular, we were impressed with the novel feature of “Bundles.” This feature enables users to package their holdings into one of several predetermined percentages of various tokens, either proportionally or cap adjusted.

Each of these bundles carries from one to dozens of tokens that aim to help investors diversify with the greatest of ease.

• Bitcoin Bundle
• Popular Duo
• Popular Trio
• CoinJar Universe
• Stable Bundle
• Ripple and Stellar
• Ethereum Bundle
• ERC-20 Bundle
• DeFi Bundle
• Green Bundle

Overall, we found the token recommendations and the assigned weights to be properly designed. Furthermore, there are more options available in this department than their competitor, CoinSpot.

Another great feature of bundles is that users can set up recurring buys at various intervals to employ dollar cost averaging (DCA) into their crypto investment plan.

Who CoinJar Is Not For?

CoinJar has a long list of prohibited jurisdictions which can be seen here. These limitations exclude the vast majority of global crypto traders.

For those who are able to utilize the full range of features in Australia and the UK, intermediate and advanced traders and crypto enthusiasts are likely to find that the number of tokens available, as well as the trading tools, are far too limited to gain their interest.

CoinJar Features Explained

Security and Safety

CoinJar is registered with AUSTRAC, which is Australia’s regulatory body for finance, as well as its enforcement division for financial crimes. CoinJar is also registered in the UK with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Customer accounts at CoinJar are secured by identity verification, including biometrics, and 2FA authentication as an added choice, plus individual device approval and confirmation options.

Viewing the CER ranking, CoinJar earned a dismal DDD score.

Most importantly, they are not up to current standards in the three key areas that should concern all traders: penetration tests, bug bounties, and proof of funds.*

View CER methodology and additional information

While these basic parameters might appear to be lacking, additional security and insurance features are available for UK users.

All assets are secured by Fireblocks and BitGo, two of the leading crypto security and custody solutions. 

These companies offer fraud protection through machine learning, multi-level data encryption, cold storage, segregated funds, and multi-signature wallets.

Additional insurance options are also available for high-end and institutional investors up to $250 million.

Overall, the company boasts that 90% of customer assets are stored offline.

*Contrary to what is noted by CER above, CoinJar UK does claim to offer a bug bounty, as highlighted here, which should give users extra peace of mind.

Do keep in mind that the CoinJar platform is custodial with CoinJar ultimately issuing permission to move and withdraw funds.

Opening An Account With CoinJar

Signing up at CoinJar is straightforward with a simple email confirmation, but all trading features require full KYC and users need to be over the age of 18.

Starting limits are reasonably high, but there are daily and monthly limits, although increases can be requested. 

A debit card can be ordered, which is powered by Mastercard and offers rewards points. There are also daily amount limits as well as the number of transactions.

Pricing & Fees

Maker Vs Taker Fees / Trading Fees

The standard in-app exchange is made simple through a flat, though expensive, 1% fee.

On the “pro trading” exchange, spot fees are as follows:

30-Day Trading Volume (fiat trading pairs AUD, USD, EUR & GBP)	Maker Fee	Taker Fee
$10 – $100,000	0.10%	0.10%
$100,000 – $1M	0.08%	0.10%
$1M – $10M	0.04%	0.08%
$10M+	0.02%	0.06%

Crypto to crypto, and crypto to stablecoin, all carry 0.06% taker fee and 0.0% maker fee.

CoinJar employs a dynamic system to recalculate volumes and fees every fifteen minutes to automatically deduct amounts based on the above levels reached, as well as network congestion levels.

CoinJar itself cautions that this can lead to higher than standard fees in some cases. A full explanation is available here.

Card Fees (Australia)

In-store and online purchases incur a 1% fee, but are returned as rewards points.

Foreign exchange rates are determined by Mastercard and also incur a 2.99% fee from CoinJar.

All ATM withdrawals incur a 1% fee, but are also subject to additional banking fees.

Note: transaction disputes carry a flat $27.50 fee.

Card fees are nearly identical for the UK with the only difference being a £12.50 per transaction dispute fee.

Deposit Methods

Accounts can be funded through both fiat and crypto. In Australia, this would be through linked bank account transfers and PayID, Blueshyft, or BPAY Biller.

In the UK via bank transfer and SEPA. Crypto can be deposited in any of the supported tokens.

In the UK, bank transfers are done via Faster Payments; and users can also purchase crypto through credit and debit cards.

Withdrawal Methods

Fiat withdrawals can be made via bank transfer through PayID, BPAY Biller or standard bank transfer in Australia. UK users can withdraw fiat to bank accounts. All cryptos can be withdrawn to supported token addresses.

Switching Between Currencies and Blockchains

Moving between supported cryptocurrencies is quick in-app, as CoinJar has these natively available. Dozens of ERC-20 tokens are available for trading as well. 

However, the “pro trading” exchange suffers from a limited selection, low liquidity and a dynamic fee structure that can result in long wait times and potentially higher than standard network fees.

History Of Downtime

CoinJar has no significant history of downtime due to hacks or general outages. It has a clear and transparent status area available here, which shows a 100% uptime across all functionality over the last 90 days.

Users also will find an incident report area that explains the nature of the issue as well as context and report resolution date and explanation.

Customer Support

Live support is not available, all requests are handled through support ticket submission. Reportedly, higher VIP levels have access to phone support.

The platform has garnered a very respectable 4.1 stars on Trustpilot.

Impressively, customer support participates in the comment section on Trustpilot, in app stores, and on customer review sites to add context and direct responses.

However, by the company’s own admission, they are currently experiencing “extensive delays” due to a wave of new signups which has created congestion with customer response.

This is indeed reflected by some of the more recent Trustpilot negative comments.

Alternatives

CoinJar vs. Alternatives

	COINJAR	COINSPOT	MARGEX
Founded	2013	2013	2020
Users	600k	2.5 million	N/A
Cryptos	60+	400+	30+
Spot Fees	0.00% – 1%	0.1%	0.019% – 0.07%
KYC	yes	yes	no
Mobile App	yes	yes	yes
Card	yes	no	no
Countries	All but AU, UK	All but AU	US and embargoed countries
Security Rating (CER)	DDD	N/A, Blockchain Australia cert.	N/A, MP Shield
Best For	UK, AU, UK beginners	Australian beginners, intermediate	Australia, UK advanced users, leverage trading
Overall Rating	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Signup	CoinJar	CoinSpot	Margex

Conclusion

CoinJar is a solid entry point for UK and Australian users who are most comfortable with full KYC. 

A clean and easy interface puts all basic trading functions into a simple way for new users to become accustomed to a basic crypto landscape.

Fees are high in this area, however, at a flat 1%, whereas most similar flat-fee structures are in the 0.25%-0.50% range. 

The spot “pro trading” area is more competitive, but does not offer the selection or the tools needed for effective day trading or other advanced options that might be sought by more experienced investors.

This makes CoinJar a much better option for starting on the path toward long-term investing and staying in-app despite the high fees.

All in all, CoinJar is quite impressive for a smaller regional offering. For those in Australia and the UK who would like to get their feet wet in a very straightforward way, you will find a lot to like.

For long-term investors, the Bundles option is a wonderful way to establish a consistent portfolio with a nice array of aggregated tokens that also provide DCA for those on a longer time horizon.

Frequently Asked Questions