CoinJar Review Australia

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Updated: Sep 8, 2021

CoinJar is one of Australia's longest running crypto exchanges founded in 2013. They are based in Melbourne and the platform is available in the UK as well. 

Early on, they received funding from multiple venture capital firms and have now grown into 400,000+ users, $1+ billion traded and $100+ million of assets under custody. Their website and mobile app makes it easy for beginners and experienced investors to trade crypto.

Is CoinJar Legit?

CoinJar is a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange that is legal and compliant under Australia's strict financial sector. They've been open since 2013 and are a registered Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) with AUSTRAC.

Opening An Account

Opening a CoinJar account is similar to opening a bank account and requires personal info like government ID. CoinJar requires to verify your identity by law as does any centralized crypto exchange in Australia.

Once you have your ID and personal info ready, opening an account is straightforward and takes 5-10 minutes. Most users will be instantly verified and ready to make deposits and withdrawals.

Security

Past Incidents

CoinJar is co-founded by Zhou Tong. It's important to note that his previous company, Bitcoinica, was "hacked" for 43,554 Bitcoin and there are many allegations that he is a suspected thief. There is an entire reddit thread with more information. However, CoinJar itself has not had any hacks or incidents since being founded in 2013.

Company Security Features

• 90% of assets are held in offline cold storage that's geo-distributed
• Registered AUSTRAC company
• They claim to have full reserves at all times
• Periodic security audits
• 24/7 they automatically look for suspicious logins
• Strict organizational security for employees
• Employees must pass a criminal background check
• Bug bounty program - get paid to find security bugs and vulnerabilities
• See the rest here

User Security Features

• 2FA for login and/or transactions (SMS or app)
• Biometric login (eg. Face ID, Touch ID)
• Set up 4-6 digit passcode for payments and to change settings
• Add trusted devices

Other Notes

• Long track record in Australia and crypto industry (founded in 2013)
• Backed by large venture capital firms which adds a little more legitimacy

Can You Trust CoinJar?

Founded in 2013, CoinJar is one of Australia's longest running crypto exchanges and has a good track record. They've never lost users funds, they hold 90% of assets in offline storage and they offer many security features such as 2FA and more.

Although CoinJar is considered trustworthy, centralized exchanges always have a small risk of hacks, confiscation and more. The safest way to store your crypto (especially large amounts) is on a hardware wallet where you own the private keys.

Features

CoinJar has a simple user-interface that is easy for beginners to navigate. Let's break down everything you can do on the CoinJar platform:

List of Features:

• Web, iOS and Android app
• Instant Buy and Sell
• Pro Trade
• Bundles
• Recurring Buys
• Swap
• CoinJar Swipe Card
• Free Bitcoin when you Shop
• And more!

1. Web, iOS and Android App

You can conveniently access CoinJar on all of your devices. They have a very user-friendly platform that offers features both for beginners and advanced traders.

2. Instant Buy and Sell

CoinJar offers Instant Buy and Sell for quick and beginner friendly trading. You can pay with your cash account for a 1% fee or via credit/debit card for a 2% fee.

3. CoinJar Exchange (Pro Trading Interface)

Advanced traders can access limit orders, market orders, detailed price charts, an order book and more on CoinJar's pro trading terminal. Best of all, it only has 0.1% fees versus 1%-2% on the default platform.

The downsides are it's only available in your browser and not in the mobile app yet.

4. Bundles

Bundles let you purchase a basket of pre-selected cryptocurrencies in one purchase. Currently, CoinJar has 10 bundles to choose from ranging from Defi Bundles, ERC-20 Bundles and more.

5. Recurring Buys

CoinJar lets you set up automatic direct debits from your bank account and automatic purchases of cryptocurrencies. This lets you dollar cost average into the market based on the settings you choose. 

You can customize how often purchases are made (weekly, monthly, etc) and the limit is currently at $10-$2000 per payment.

6. Swap

The "Convert" button lets you easily convert one cryptocurrency to another without having to trade to Australian dollars first. This saves you a bit of of time and clicks.

7. CoinJar Swipe Card

The CoinJar Card is a prepaid Mastercard that lets you spend your crypto when online and in-store shopping. You can choose which cryptocurrency you'd like to spend from your account and for every $1 AUD spent, you receive 100 CoinJar points.

There are no monthly fees but there is a 1% transaction fee every time you use the card (which is earned back in points).

Other Features

• Pay friends via CoinJar username or wallet address
• Save wallet addresses and create contacts
• Custom price alerts
• Download transaction reports for taxes
• Institutional accounts
• OTC trading desk
• Refer a friend program

Customer Support

CoinJar says their support "is available close to 24/7." You can submit a request from inside the app or browser or email them directly. They also have a knowledge base covering many FAQs and articles. Lastly, you can see a website status page for incidents and outages in real-time.

CoinJar Compared

Here is recent data comparing CoinJar versus other popular Australian platforms: