Crypto has been within the information for all of the unsuitable causes recently due to the collapse of FTX and a handful of smaller exchanges. You’d be forgiven for questioning whether or not the entire sector resides on borrowed time.
That query is above my pay grade. What I do know is that not all crypto exchanges are created equal. For each apparently fraudulent entrance like FTX, there’s a seemingly professional different like Coinmama.
I wish to be clear right here: That you must do your personal analysis earlier than selecting a house on your crypto transactions, and positively earlier than buying any cash (when you’re not already a hodler). However the whole lot I’ve seen from Coinmama suggests it’s not an out-and-out rip-off like a few of its now-former rivals. And it’s rather more beginner-friendly than your normal crypto trade.
What Is Coinmama?
Coinmama is a spot to purchase and promote cryptocurrencies on-line.
You should purchase greater than a dozen crypto cash on Coinmama, from super-popular ones like Bitcoin and lesser-known ones like Litecoin. You’ll be able to solely promote Bitcoin right here, so it’s not the perfect place to dump your cash.
Coinmama prices commissions on each buy or sale it executes. Although these charges are greater than most rivals, Coinmama makes up for it with beginner-friendly options like academic sources, hands-on help, and helpful calculators. It’s additionally the counterparty in each transaction that happens on the platform, so that you’ll by no means take care of random folks right here.
What Units Coinmama Aside?
Coinmama stands out for 3 causes:
- Tremendous Newbie-Pleasant. Coinmama is extremely beginner-friendly as crypto buying and selling platforms go. It has a ton of academic sources for novices, makes it simple to purchase crypto with a credit score or debit card, and doesn’t overcomplicate issues with superior buying and selling or analysis instruments. Even when you’ve by no means held crypto earlier than, you gained’t really feel overwhelmed right here.
- No Third Events. Whenever you purchase or promote crypto on Coinmama, you all the time take care of Coinmama itself, fairly than nameless third-party consumers and sellers. It’s like shopping for a automotive from the dealership as a substitute of a random particular person on Craigslist.
- Robust Privateness and Knowledge Protections. Coinmama encrypts all buyer info and abides by GDPR knowledge safety rules, that are stricter than any U.S. knowledge rules besides these in impact for California-based customers. Its respect for buyer privateness even extends to the looking expertise — that is what you see if you click on “Cookie Settings” within the footer immediate.
Key Options of Coinmama
Like what you see to this point? Nice — time to dive into the main points.
These are the core options that make Coinmama what it’s.
Shopping for Cryptocurrency on Coinmama
Coinmama at the moment provides 18 totally different cryptocurrencies on the market, although the precise quantity is topic to vary. The minimal buy quantity is $50 USD for all cash.
Choices vary from well-known stalwarts like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and stablecoins like USDC and USDT to lesser-known (and riskier) oddballs like OMG Community (OMG) and EOS. The total lineup:
| BTC | ETH | XRP | DOGE |
| UNI | AAVE | ETC | LINK |
| BCH | WBTC | LTC | COMP |
| EOS | OMG | NMR | LRC |
| USDC | USDT |
How Can You Purchase Cash on Coinmama?
You should purchase your cash with a credit score or debit card (Visa or Mastercard solely) — a pleasant comfort — or through financial institution switch. In case your cost card or checking account info lives in a Google Pay or Apple Pay account, you should utilize these.
Who Are You Shopping for From?
Coinmama all the time sells cash out of its personal stock. In different phrases, if you purchase BTC or XRP or COMP right here, you’re shopping for straight from Coinmama, not a random particular person with Coinmama appearing because the middleman. Although the entire level of crypto is you don’t need to belief your counterparty and even know their identification, the anonymity is off-putting for some novices. It’s good to know who you’re shopping for your cash from.
You Want an Exterior Pockets
Importantly, Coinmama doesn’t retailer its prospects’ cash. In contrast to some rivals, it doesn’t supply scorching or chilly wallets. It is a modest inconvenience that’s actually a web profit as a result of it reduces the monetary penalties of a possible hack, however simply keep in mind that you have to create a crypto pockets outdoors Coinmama earlier than buying cash right here. If you happen to’re a crypto beginner, see Coinmama’s assist article about organising a pockets right here.
In any case, Coinmama processes buy transactions quick. It’s best to obtain your crypto inside minutes after Coinmama confirms your cost info and pockets handle.
Promoting Bitcoin on Coinmama
You’ll be able to solely promote Bitcoin on Coinmama. Or, extra precisely, to Coinmama.
If you wish to promote any of the opposite 17 cryptocurrencies out there for buy right here, you’ll want to take action on one other trade or brokerage.
The minimal BTC sale quantity is $200. That’s a tiny fraction of a full Bitcoin (a number of hundredths at late-2022 costs).
Locking Your Worth
Coinmama locks in your Bitcoin value for half-hour after you provoke the sale transaction in your finish. You have got that lengthy for the cash to submit to the blockchain. It ought to be a lot when you switch your cash as quickly as you hit “promote” — however don’t overlook to finish this step as a result of Coinmama can’t do it for you.
Getting Paid in Fiat Forex
Coinmama wants your SWIFT code or IBAN quantity to pay you. These are lengthy (in IBAN’s case, actually lengthy) alphanumeric codes which might be primarily your checking account’s handle on this planet of worldwide finance.
If you happen to’re unsure of your SWIFT code or find out how to discover it, WikiHow has detailed directions. The SWIFT code construction picture under additionally comes from WikiHow.
Transaction Limits
Coinmama permits mixed buy and sale transactions totaling as much as $15,000 per day if you use the financial institution switch choices.
Limits for credit score and debit card transactions could also be decrease and may very well be affected by your financial institution or card issuer’s day by day transaction limits. Some banks restrict debit card transactions to some thousand {dollars} per day, even when you’ve got additional cash in your account.
Coinmama Charges (Commissions)
There’s no free lunch at Coinmama. All transactions incur platform commissions starting from 0.99% to three.9% for purchases. Sale transactions value a flat 0.9%.
You’ll know your fee earlier than you finalize your transaction, however Coinmama doesn’t present a lot of a information earlier than that. It simply says that costs differ primarily based on order dimension, loyalty stage, and market circumstances.
There’s no transparency at throughout how order dimension and market circumstances have an effect on pricing. As regards to loyalty stage, Coinmama provides respectable reductions to customers in its two greater spending tiers (of three complete):
| Loyalty Degree | Low cost to Full Fee | Required Spend Over 90 Days |
| Crypto Curious | None | None |
| Crypto Fanatic | 12.5% | $5,000 USD |
| Crypto Believer | 25% | $18,000 USD or $50,000 lifetime |
Different Potential Charges
Coinmama doesn’t cost every other charges, however crypto transactions made on Coinmama could incur third-party financial institution or card issuer charges. The most typical of those are:
- Money advance charges (sometimes no more than 5% of the transaction quantity)
- Overseas trade charges for purchases denominated in currencies aside from U.S. {dollars} or euros (variable)
- Worldwide transaction charges (sometimes no more than 3% of the transaction quantity)
Safety & Knowledge Safety
Coinmama relies in Eire, which is a part of the European Union. Accordingly, it should adjust to all GDPR knowledge safety rules, that are a lot stricter than knowledge safety rules in drive in many of the remainder of the world. Even when you’re not primarily based within the E.U., Coinmama affords you an identical rights as customers who’re.
Coinmama takes different commonsense steps to guard customers’ safety as properly. It encrypts all private info and by no means shops cost info on its servers. And since it doesn’t retailer prospects’ cash in its personal wallets, you don’t have to fret about hackers making off together with your cryptocurrency right here. (Although that’s a threat when you retailer cash bought on Coinmama in a scorching pockets some other place.)
Instructional Sources, Instruments & Assist
Coinmama is considered some of the beginner-friendly crypto exchanges as a result of it makes shopping for and promoting crypto very easy for novices.
It doesn’t cease there although. Coinmama has a ton of helpful academic sources and instruments, my private favourite being its useful crypto calculators that value out cash and fiat forex in actual time.
Coinmama additionally has a pleasant library of in-depth articles on newbie and intermediate crypto subjects. If you happen to’re a complete novice, I’d suggest spending a while with stated library earlier than making your first buy.
Lastly, Coinmama has an AI chat characteristic that’s out there 24/7 and human help brokers out there throughout prolonged enterprise hours. Consumer evaluate counsel that these brokers are pleasant, useful, and actually know their stuff, which is all you may ask for.
Benefits of Coinmama
Coinmama has plenty of upside. It’s beginner-friendly, simple to make use of, and apparently safe, amongst different advantages.
- Quick Supply. Whenever you purchase cash on Coinmama, you may count on to obtain them inside minutes. This isn’t totally sudden or distinctive, however it’s definitely reassuring.
- Extraordinarily Newbie-Pleasant. Coinmama is without doubt one of the most beginner-friendly crypto platforms I’ve ever encountered. If you happen to’re overwhelmed by crypto at a baseline, this can be a good place to start out.
- Wonderful Buyer Assist. Coinmama’s buyer help crew truly cares about its customers. At the least, that’s the way it appears from the skin. Many crypto exchanges have a “you’re by yourself” mentality.
- No Third Events Concerned. Coinmama is the counterparty for all buy and sale transactions on the platform. You don’t have to fret about encountering scammers right here, and even in any other case trustworthy folks you don’t know. You all the time know who you’re coping with.
- Apparently Safe. Safety is all the time a problem within the crypto world, however Coinmama provides extra reassurance than most on that entrance. It doesn’t retailer cost card or checking account info and abides by strict GDPR knowledge safety guidelines, the gold normal for digital privateness worldwide.
- Coinmama Doesn’t Maintain Your Cash. I might spin this as a drawback as a result of it’s much less handy than exchanges that supply scorching pockets storage. However for my part, the professionals outweigh the cons, largely as a result of it means a hack focusing on Coinmama most likely gained’t have an effect on your crypto holdings.
Disadvantages of Coinmama
Coinmama has a number of disadvantages that bear point out. Chief amongst them are its restricted coin choice (particularly on the promote facet) and its comparatively excessive charges.
- Restricted Choice of Crypto Cash. You should purchase and promote solely about 20 cash on Coinmama, lower than many competing platforms. (Some supply 100 or extra.) That is positive if you will discover the cash you need right here, however not nice when you’re a real crypto fanatic and wish to broaden your publicity.
- Can Solely Promote Bitcoin. Coinmama is a greater place to purchase than promote cryptocurrency. In actual fact, you may solely promote Bitcoin right here. Certain, it’s the world’s hottest coin, however it could be good to have extra choices.
- Larger Charges Than Many Rivals. Coinmama is just not the most cost effective place to purchase and promote crypto. Its commissions vary as excessive as 3.9%, relying in your loyalty stage (greater loyalty ranges imply decrease charges total). Within the screenshots under, you see how a lot Coinmama takes off the highest of each buy and sale transactions.
Is Coinmama Legit?
Sure, Coinmama seems to be professional and aboveboard. It encrypts all private info supplied by its prospects and totally complies with GDPR knowledge safety rules, that are stricter than comparable rules in many of the United States.
This doesn’t imply crypto you purchase on Coinmama gained’t lose worth, nor that the platform can be round perpetually. The previous yr has proven us that even the strongest-seeming crypto exchanges can fail.
However Coinmama doesn’t seem like a rip-off. Its greatest downsides are comparatively excessive charges and restricted choices for promoting crypto. You should purchase greater than a dozen cryptocurrencies on Coinmama, however promote solely Bitcoin, so that you’ll want to seek out one other place to dump the others.
How Coinmama Stacks Up
Unsure if Coinmama is the only option on your crypto shopping for and promoting wants? See the way it compares to Coinbase Professional, a extra superior crypto buying and selling platform constructed for critical crypto-heads. As you may see, there’s not a lot overlap between the 2.
| Coinmama | Coinbase Professional | |
| Crypto Depend | ~15 | 160+ |
| Charges | 0.99% to three.9%, relying on loyalty stage | As much as 0.6%, relying on quantity |
| Ease of Use | Straightforward | Troublesome |
| Buyer Assist | In depth | Minimal |
| Safety | Robust | Robust |
Last Phrase
I’m extra crypto-agnostic than crypto-skeptic, however the previous yr has shaken my religion a bit. A few of my previously gung-ho buddies have sworn off Bitcoin and different cash totally, whereas others undertake a wait-and-see posture.
In opposition to this backdrop, it’s a reduction to see apparently aboveboard crypto brokerages like Coinmama making their manner. Whereas I’m not an insider and may solely go on publicly out there info, the whole lot I’ve seen suggests Coinmama is on the up and up.
Is that sufficient for fellow crypto skeptics? Put it this fashion: If you happen to’re fascinated with moving into crypto after the whole lot that’s occurred recently, you’re most likely keen to go the additional mile and do your personal analysis. So do it — confirm the data I’ve supplied right here, attain out to Coinmama’s help crew with questions, and make your personal determination as as to if to open an account.
