CoinStash Review: Why We Didn’t Like It

Last Updated on December 24, 2023 by Kevin Groves

Established in 2020, Coinstash is a new cryptocurrency trading exchange that aims to be a leading digital assets platform in Australia. Coinstash focuses on the mainstream Australian audience including beginners who are looking to buy their first crypto. The quality of some of its features has already surpassed some of the more established platforms. But is it worth using Coinstash to invest in cryptocurrencies? This review provides you with details of our first-hand experiences using CoinStash so you can decide if it fits your crypto investment or trading needs.

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Quick Overview

Here is a quick summary of Coinstash.

Exchange name	Coinstash
Supported countries	Australia
Fiat currencies supported	AUD
Deposit methods	PayID, bank transfer
Supported cryptocurrencies	1,000+ including BTC, ETH, DOT, SOL, XLM, USDT
Earn crypto interest	Yes, up to 14% APY
Deposit fee	None
Trading fee	0.85%
Withdrawal fee	None
Mobile app	Yes (iOS and Android)

What is Coinstash?

Founded in 2020 by Directors Mena Theodorou and Ting Wang, Coinstash is a young cryptocurrency brokerage that aims to provide Australians with a simpler alternative to global exchanges. Theodorou wrote in Australian Fintech that Coinstash is a place where everyday Australians can easily buy their first cryptocurrencies. The Brisbane-based platform holds regulatory compliance and security at the forefront of its operations.

Coinstash supports popular deposit and withdrawal options, one of the largest crypto selections in Australia, Dollar-Cost-Averaging (DCA), and interest-earning wallets where you can passively generate crypto rewards.

Coinstash has quickly accumulated more than 20,000 crypto investors in the two years that it has been operating. The platform has been backed by several influential private investors such as Voyager Ventures and seeks to expand its service offerings to crypto users in New Zealand and Singapore.

Here’s The Pros & Cons

Coinstash’s Features Put To The Test

It’s suitable for beginners

For a crypto broker that targets beginners, it must be said that Coinstash has expertly designed its platform to do exactly this. Once you create an account and log in for the first time, you will notice that the user interface is clean, modern and uncomplicated.

Coinstash provides a functional dashboard where you can visually see the performance of your crypto portfolio against current market prices. Finding the crypto you want to buy, funding your account with cash or crypto, and viewing current market prices are all streamlined processes. You can also quickly create your own crypto bundles to automatically purchase in just a few clicks.

Access to 1,000+ digital assets

At the time of writing, (September 2022), Coinstash’s range of 1,000+ supported digital assets is one of the largest, if not the largest, in Australia. This list is bigger than other popular Australian crypto platforms CoinSpot (380+) and Swyftx (320+) that we have reviewed. The only crypto exchange with more digital currencies on offer is Binance Australia with 600+ assets.

If you’re looking to invest in major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Cardno (ADA), then you can buy these in a matter of minutes. Popular stablecoins including Tether (USDT) and Dai (DAI) are also supported. If you’re an altcoin investor then you will be more than satisfied with the selection available.

You can lend your crypto to earn interest

Like Swyftx, CoinSpot, and Digital Surge, the Coinstash wallet allows you to passively earn interest payments. Currently, 25 popular digital currencies are supported including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Polkadot, and Ripple.

Interest rates on Coinstash vary between 1.14% (Chainlink) and 20.01% (Kava). Interest is paid out into your wallet 24 hours after you deposit assets, meaning that it compounds over time. As seen in the table below, interest rates offered by Coinstash for major cryptos such as Ethereum and Cardano are generally lower compared to Swyftx and CoinSpot. However, one advantage is that Coinstash supports slightly more assets such as Bitcoin, Ripple, and Tether, which are not supported Swyftx and/or CoinSpot.

Asset	CoinStash	Swyftx	CoinSpot
Bitcoin	2.50%	4.08%	Not supported
Ethereum	2.50%	4.08%	5.12%
Cardano	3.26%	4.60%	5.10%
Solana	4.80%	4.00%	6.60%
Tether	6.01%	6.50%	Not supported
Ripple	1.21%	Not supported	Not supported
Polkadot	10.01%	8.22%	12.50%

Coinstash’s Earn feature may be appealing depending on the specific digital currency you want to earn interest on. Across the board, the interest rates that you can earn fall a bit short of the best interest-earning platforms in Australia.

Dollar-cost averaging to invest slowly

Coinstash allows you to automate the incremental purchase of cryptocurrencies through its DCA feature. The benefit of using DCA to acquire crypto is that it mitigates the effects of price fluctuations in a volatile market. Since the crypto can be purchased at regular frequencies, you don’t need to ‘time’ the market. For example, you could set up a DCA order to automatically buy a digital asset (or several) once a fortnight.

The DCA feature can be easily found on your dashboard under ‘Automatic Purchase’. The added benefit is that you can apply DCA to automatically buy one crypto or select several digital assets and their proportion (e.g. 50% Bitcoin, 50% Ethereum) and buy them in bundles. Once you select the desired digital currencies, Coinstash will give you the option of paying via PayID or bank transfer. A minimum spend of $40 applies per transaction.

SMSF support is available

Coinstash supports investors who want to use their existing Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) or create a new fund in order to invest in cryptocurrencies. To get started, you will need to submit the Trust deed, ABN, and information about the Trustees, and an onboarding specialist will have a one-on-one phone call to initiate the process. Learn about crypto SMSF in our full guide for Australians here.

What Are The Fees?

Deposit & withdrawal fees

There are no fees to deposit AUD into your Coinstash account using PayID or bank transfer. The lack of deposit fees is fairly standard for most crypto exchanges in Australia.

Similarly, there are no fees to withdraw cash to an Australian bank account. However, a standard network fee will apply when you transfer any cryptocurrency to an external wallet. The fee will vary depending on the digital asset that was withdrawn as well as the amount of congestion on the blockchain network.

Trading fees

Coinstash charges a flat 0.85% fee on all cryptocurrency transactions. This includes exchanging AUD for crypto and swapping one crypto for another. In comparison to other beginner-friendly crypto platforms we have reviewed such as Swyftx (0.6%), Digital Surge (0.5%), and Independent Reserve (0.5%), the 0.85% fee is relatively expensive. But it is not the most expensive way to invest in crypto with the highest trading fees in Australia reaching 1% to 2% such as on Luno. If you’re an experienced trader who knows how to place market orders then you can get much better value for money by using crypto exchanges such as Binance Australia and CoinSpot where the fees are 0.1%.

Coinstash is transparent in the fees it charges by presenting the fee amount every time you obtain a quotation.

Do We Think Coinstash Is Safe To Use?

The Coinstash website does not outline the security controls it implements to safeguard your funds and digital assets from hacks and theft. This is a concern and Coinstash should detail its security framework. However, we know that Coinstash is regulated by AUSTRAC, the Australian government body responsible for the detection, prevention, and mitigation of financial crimes. This means that Coinstash is required to satisfy KYC protocols for all its customers.

How To Get Started with Coinstash?

In our experience, creating a new Coinstash account was quick and hassle-free. Once your account is registered, you’ll need to complete the mandatory Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process before you can deposit AUD and start buying digital currencies. To do this, you will need to provide an image of your Australian passport or driver’s license, as well as a selfie photo. If you have the documents ready, the entire process can be completed in literally 3 minutes.

Currently, the deposit methods that Coinstash provides are limited to PayID, cash transfers from an Australian bank, and cryptocurrencies from a personal cryptocurrency wallet. Payment methods commonly offered by other Australian digital assets platforms such as POLi, BPAY, and credit/debit cards are not supported and are a disadvantage. On the plus side of things, there are no minimum deposit limit, no fees, and transfers of AUD should be processed near-instantly after the initial deposit is made.

Our Coinstash Trading Experience After 1 Month

Coinstash acts as a broker, meaning that it finds and aggregates the best crypto price from highly liquid exchanges and presents you with a quotation. There are two ways you can spend your money to buy cryptocurrencies on Coinstash, both of which are accessible through the Buy/Sell/Swap feature.

1. Buy crypto in bundles. Choose from one of the 10 pre-determined bundles provided by Coinstash, or make up your own crypto combination using the DCA feature.
2. Use the buying panel adjacent the charts. Limit orders are not available to use.

One of the benefits of using Coinstash is the availability of a basic and advanced trading interface. Toggling between the two involves clicking a single button. The basic version displays the market price of the digital currency so beginners can see how the price has changed over time.

The advanced version is more suited to experienced traders who know how to analyse the price action of crypto. Real-time prices are plotted using the powerful TradingView charting package and you have a multitude of drawing tools and indicators at your disposal. However, the advanced version is not akin to serious trading platforms such as Binance Australia or Bybit, as there are no order books or advanced limit orders to place.

Selling cryptocurrency back to AUD will require you to link your wallet address, input the amount of crypto you wish to sell, and finalise your banking details so Coinstash knows where to send the AUD.

Customer Support Is Responsive

The Help Centre has over 40 articles covering the most common questions, however, the content feels a bit underdeveloped. For example, there are several articles describing how to use PayID with several banks and financial institutions. Nevertheless, all the basics are covered and should provide new customers with some assistance.

Beyond the Help Centre, you can reach out to the customer service team through the live chat feature or email. When we tested the live chat bot, we were initially directed to articles in the Help Centre, however, a member of the customer service introduced themselves minutes later. This level of responsiveness is rare in the Australian crypto industry and shows Coinstash’s commitment to providing a quality service.

Our Final Verdict

Coinstash is a new crypto brokerage platform that targets beginners and Australians new to digital assets. The user interface is modern, it offers arguably the biggest list of supported crypto, and there are enough features to keep the mainstream public interested.

However, it seems that some of Coinstash’s features have received more attention and development than others. For example, the platform falls short in the value for money department where its 0.85% fee is more expensive than other popular crypto platforms. Although the Earn feature is better designed than some of its competition, slightly better interest rates can be found elsewhere. Of course, this depends on the cryptocurrency. Whilst the customer service team is responsive, the Help Centre is undeveloped and is in need of updated articles. Moreover, details about Coinstash security controls are nowhere to be seen.

Despite its shortcomings, which are not totally unexpected for a young and emerging platform, Coinstash provides all crypto newcomers with exactly what they need to buy Bitcoin or other altcoins. It is important to note, that we have noticed that Coinstash continues to evolve its products and services in recent times.

Frequently Asked Questions