CoinJar Review: This Is Why We Didn’t Like It

Last Updated on February 1, 2024 by Kevin Groves

Whether you are an amateur looking to enter the crypto market, or an expert exploring the option of adding CoinJar as a place to trade crypto, this is the article for you. We have extensively researched the CoinJar platform by highlighting its features and comparing it against the best cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia. Is it a good fit for you? Read on to find out more.

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Quick overview

The table below provides a quick snapshot of the most important stats of CoinJar.

Exchange name	CoinJar
Supported countries	Australia, United Kingdom
Fiat currencies supported	AUD, GBP
Supported cryptocurrencies	53
Deposit methods	BPAY, PayID, NPP, bank transfer (OSKO), crypto
Deposit fee	None
Trading fees	1% using cash, 2% using credit card
Withdrawal fee	None
Mobile app	Yes (Android, iOS)

What Is Coinjar (and What Do They Do)?

Founders Asher Tan and Ryan Zhou established CoinJar in 2013, making it one of Australia’s longest-serving crypto exchanges. Coinjar is a well-established trading platform that provides over 600,000 individual and institutional investors with a simple gateway to buy digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Coinjar continues to release innovative crypto features such as its CoinJar Card which is easily one of the better crypto debit cards available to Australians. The company also forges new partnerships with third parties to provide niche services to suit crypto enthusiasts.

Pros & Cons

Our Opinion About Their Features

Straightforward to use

CoinJar was always designed for the everyday Australian in mind. It has a simplistic design that you can navigate effortlessly. All processes, including signing up, verifying the account, depositing cash, trading, and withdrawing the money, are straightforward.

CoinJar Card to spend your coins

The features and fees offered by the CoinJar Card make it one of Australia’s best debit cards for crypto. It allows you to spend your crypto at any online or in-store retailer that accepts Mastercard, has no monthly fees, and is free to setup.

The CoinJar Card works by automatically converting your stored crypto into Australian Dollars (AUD) every time you make a purchase. And since the card can be entirely managed using the CoinJar mobile app, you can replenish funds on the go. The app also lets you view your spending history, current balance, and card details, as well as change the PIN.

You are also able to withdraw cash from an ATM or merchant with debit card facilities. As an added benefit, you will gain 1 CoinJar rewards point for every $1 you spend, however, the rewards are a little lacklustre.

CoinJar wallet if you don’t have a hardware wallet

CoinJar has its own native cryptocurrency wallet available for use by its traders anywhere in the world. You can store five currencies in the digital store, including BitCoin, ZCash, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin, which is fairly limited compared other multi-token wallets.

This wallet is secured using password access and multi-factor authentication, features that enable you to send and receive funds, review transactions made and check your balances.

The CoinJar mobile app can be downloaded on Android and iPhone devices to run concurrently with the wallet. There are some limitations on what you can do on the phone application compared to when working on the desktop website, but it’s more flexible in terms of where you can trade.

You can buy crypto in bundles

If you want to quickly diversify your crypto portfolio then buying them in bundles makes sense. Not only that, but you take on fewer trading fees rather than buying assets individually. CoinJar offers 10 crypto bundles that you can buy with AUD with some bundles offering high market capitalisation coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple (XRP).

CoinJar’s crypto bundle feature is mediocre compared to other platforms where you can either create your own bundle or customise the existing offerings.

The mobile app is useful

CoinJar provides you with the feature-rich mobile trading app that allows you to spend AUD to buy cryptocurrencies. The CoinJar app provides access to all functionality and features (except CoinJar Exchange) on any device with a modern web browser such as Android or iOS smartphones. The CoinJar mobile app works in tandem with the CoinJar Card, which can be wholly managed on the go.

SMSF accounts can be used to buy crypto

Super fund investors who want to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies can do so with Coinjar. From the limited information on the website, it is unknown if CoinJar has partnered with a crypto Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) specialist to deliver these services.

What Coins Do They Support?

CoinJar supports over 50 cryptocurrencies including the popular Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and ZCash. Less popular alternatives like 0x, Stella Lumens, and Basic Attention Token (BAT) are also available to buy and sell. The current offering of only 50+ assets is a limited selection compared to most other Australian trading platforms where 300+ is commonly available. Whilst CoinJar is totally fine as a place to invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum, it isn’t the place to buy altcoins.

What’s The Security Like?

CoinJar is a safe and secure crypto trading platform that has implemented bank-like security measures to safeguard customer funds and assets. Some examples include the storage of 90% of all digital currencies at geographically isolated and offline locations. The remaining 10% of information stored online is under strict security measures such as data encryption, periodic security audits, and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols.

At account level, you can help prevent unauthorised persons from accessing your wallet by activating 2-Factor Authentication (2FA). Based on our research, Coinjar has not been hacked or experienced security breaches that have resulted in the theft or loss of funds of digital assets.

So, Do We Think CoinJar Is Legit?

Yes, CoinJar is a legitimate digital currency exchange that operates under CoinJar Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 648 570 807). The company is registered with AUSTRAC and adheres to strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulations. Since its establishment in 2013, CoinJar has formed strategic partnerships with corporate bodies and service providers including Brentford Football Club, EML Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Chainlink, Blueshyft, and Shopa Save.

Coinjar Fees & Charges Explained

Deposits and withdrawals

CoinJar allows you to fund your account free-of-charge using any of the supported deposit methods. Withdrawing cash from your wallet and into a linked Australian bank account can also be done for free.

Fees to trade crypto

CoinJar charges a fee of 1% every time you use fiat to buy crypto, sell crypto back to AUD, or conduct coin-to-coin transactions. This is a little more expensive than most trading platforms and exchanges in Australia where trading fees typically range from 0.5% to 0.6% for using Instant Buy/Sell features. Simply put, there are cheaper alternatives such as Swyftx, Independent Reserve and Digital Surge that provide better value for money. Having said that, CoinJar’s fee of 2% to buy digital currencies with a credit card are actually quite competitive with most other platforms charging fee around 3% to 4%.

In terms of trading fees, the real value for money can be found on Coinjar Exchange. Here, trading fees follow a tiered maker and taker structure that starts at 0.0% (maker) and 0.1% (taker). These fees are actually comparable to the likes of Binance Australia (0.1%).

Depending on your 30-day trading volume, you can potentially get discounts on your maker and taker fees. For example, if you trade between $10,000 and $100,000 then the resulting fees are 0.0% and 0.09% for maker and taker orders, respectively.

How To Get Started On Coinjar

Account verification

After you create an account with CoinJar, the mandatory ID verification process will start. After confirming your email address, you have to select a username and country of residence to complete the sign-up process. A current phone number is also needed to enable the 2FA verification security feature. You have the option of adding a profile photo. To verify your ID, you will need to produce a copy of your passport of driver’s licence.

How to deposit funds into CoinJar

You can deposit Australian Dollars into your CoinJar account using PayID, BPAY, cash deposits at participating news agencies, and cryptocurrency transfers. CoinJar is one of the few exchanges in Australia where you can buy crypto with cash. The maximum daily limits for BPAY and PayID are $100,000 which is vastly more than other platforms and will suit high-net investors.

Buying Crypto On Coinjar (Here’s The Process)

The Coinjar interface provides for a simple and clean user experience where all key processes such as funding your account and buying crypto are easy to find and follow. All you need to do is find the desired digital asset, enter the amount to spend, and complete the transaction. Overall, the Coinjar interface is outdated compared to more modern platforms but it doesn’t sacrifice functionality. One of the downsides to Coinjar is that you’re unable to use recurring purchases (otherwise as Dollar Cost Averaging) for crypto purchases.

The CoinJar Exchange is a relatively new feature designed for people who understand live crypto charts. The real-time charts on CoinJar are not powered by the popular TradingView system, and instead offers in-house charting with candlesticks. Order books are provided so that you can assess the trading volume for any given trading pair as well as the spreads, but there are no drawing tools or advanced indicators. As such, the CoinJar Exchange interface has been designed for the everyday Aussie.

Rather than exchanging money to Bitcoin and other crypto using the Instant Buy/Sell feature, you can choose to place a market or limit order. The duration of which these orders are set can be controlled by several order types including Time-in-Force, Immediate or Cancelled, Good til Cancel, Maker or Cancel, and Auction.

One of the advantages of using Coinjar Exchange as oppose to other simplified trading platforms, is that you can swap one crypto coin or token for another. For example, Swyftx provides a similar trading interface but doesn’t allow coin-to-coin trades.

Related: Swyftx vs CoinJar: Which is better?

What Coinjar Could Improve On

CoinJar is an expensive platform for short-term traders, as they charge a flat trading fee of 1% for crypto buyers and sellers. This is quite expensive when compared to Swyftx and Digital Surge which charge fees of 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

The platform’s customer care service also needs to be improved because they don’t have a live support feature, and the ticketing system takes too much time. Moreover, CoinJar does not offer its users the ability to earn interest on crypto deposits unlike other exchanges in Australia.

Customer Support Is Limited

The customer support team at CoinJar works from Mondays to Fridays, from 8 am to 6 pm, Melbourne time. They use a ticket system with a response time of about 2 hours and are unavailable on weekends. This can be problematic for traders from outside Australia or those performing trades past these hours. A comprehensive how-to guide and answers to FAQs are provided on the platform’s website.

Our Final Coinjar Verdict

Coinjar is a highly reputable crypto exchange that provides an easy-to-use gateway to digital currencies. The AUSTRAC-registered company provides an easy onboarding process, an unblemished security record, and access to over 50 popular coins and tokens.

If you’re looking to actively trade crypto but don’t want to be overwhelmed by the global exchanges, the CoinJar Exchange provides a nice compromise with its real-time charting (and lack of advanced features). Best of all, the exchange trading fees are more than economical.

However, the flagship product is the Coinjar Card and the accompanying mobile to manage it. With its no monthly fees, competitive foreign transaction fee, and rewards system, it’s one of the best crypto cards you can get your hands on.

If you liked this review on CoinJar, then you might also be interested in our comparison of CoinJar vs CoinSpot, which is another popular exchange in Australia.