CoinJar Review: Should You Use It?

While we aim to provide you with the most accurate information in this review, we suggest that you visit their website to keep updated with any changes that may occur afterward. 

P.S Read our article 10 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges In Australia to see if CoinJar made the list.

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CoinJar Registration & Login

The process to register a CoinJar account is simple and can be completed within a few minutes. To start, follow these steps:

1. Visit the CoinJar website 
2. Click on the 'Sign Up' link at the top right-hand corner
3. Type in your first and last name
4. Enter in your email and set a strong password
5. Read and tick the terms of service and policy agreement
6. Click on 'Sign Up'
7. Verify the email sent to your email address

When you login for the first time, you will be required to set a CoinJar username, upload a profile picture, select your country of residence and enter in your mobile number for verification.

Before depositing funds, you should setup and activate 2FA and SMS authentication (highly recommended) for extra security. This can be found under 'Settings' and going to the 'Enhanced Verification' section which you can read more about here.

How To Verify Your CoinJar Account

To buy and sell Bitcoin with CoinJar, you will need to verify your account. The process is automated thorough Digital ID (Australia Post) which takes only a few minutes to complete. To verify your account, follow these steps:

1. Log-in to your CoinJar account
2. Click on 'Get verified now' on the dashboard
3. Choose if you are a Individual, Company or SMSF Investor (we will use 'Individual' for this example)
4. Click on 'Verify With Digital ID' (must be Australian Resident)
5. Upload a personnel identification document (e.g. Passport, Drivers Licence)
6. Fill in your details as shown on the ID document
7. Review the information
8. Click on 'Confirm' and Submit

Funding Your CoinJar Account

Once you have verified your account, you are now ready to deposit funds into your CoinJar wallet. Users deposit fiat currency to CoinJar using the following deposit methods:

1. PayID / NPP (instant deposit method)
2. BPAY (usually takes between 1-3 business days)
3. Cash deposit (typically instant)

PayID / NPP

CoinJar users can send payments using PayID from your supported Australian bank account. PayID deposits are support by Osko® and NPP which are available to use 24/7. Deposit are usually credited into the CoinJar account in only a few minutes.

BPAY

CoinJar users can send payments using BPAY which is a widely used and accessible payment method. Deposit are usually credited into the CoinJar account within 1 business day.

Cash Deposits

CoinJar users can purchase cryptocurrency with cash deposits at 1,200+ retail outlets around Australia using Blueshyft. To find your closest supported retail outlet is, you can follow this link to view the interactive map.

Just note that cash deposits must be at least $50 and maximum of $5,000 per 24 hours.  

We point our there is no visual chart representation of the cryptocurrency markets to view price action, market depth profile and recent trades. If you rely on technical analysis, then you might want to use other crypto charting sites in conjunction with CoinJar.  

Related: 4 Best Crypto Charting Sites For Altcoin Traders

We found the dashboard a little confusing at first which will not suit beginners. Compared to other crypto exchanges, we think the CoinJar user-interface could be simplified to suit crypto newbies that may be purchasing crypto for the first time.

CoinJar Coins

CoinJar allows its users to convert Australian dollars in exchange for 8 crypto coins such as:

• Bitcoin
• Ripple
• Ethereum
• Litecoin
• ZCash
• 0x
• USD Coin
• Stella Lumens
• Maker
• Compound
• LINK
• Omise Go
• Basic Attention Token

The offering of crypto assets on CoinJar is quite limited compared to other exchanges such as Swyftx which has over 140 digital currencies. This is one area that could be improved to cater for savvy altcoin investors.

CoinJar Fees

Spot Fees

CoinJar charges a flat 1% fee across all trading assets to buy and sell crypto instantly. Compared to other fiat-to-crypto exchanges in Australia, the trading fee is quite high. There is the option to use CoinJar Exchange which uses a different fee structure (as described below). There are more advanced features including charts and orders that will suit crypto traders and experienced investors. 

Trading Fees

CoinJar Exchange uses a maker and taker model for determining trading fees. The trading fee for takers is 0.30% and maker is 0.20%. The trading fee is deducted from the account balance, and will not affect the initial margin of the order. Users that trade in excess of $10M will pay fees as low as 0.1%.

Compared to other crypto providers in Australia, CoinJar Exchange trading fees are quite competitive as shown below. There are also trading fee discounts for higher volume amounts.

CoinJar Security

Site Security

According to the website, CoinJar employ multiple strategies to protect their customer’s assets and information, including data encryption, Transport Layer Security, periodic security audits and best practice organisation security.

The website also uses advanced machine learning techniques to recognize suspicious logins, account takeovers and financial fraud.

Wallet Security

CoinJar wallet uses a cold storage solution to store at least 90% of their customers digital assets according to the website. The hardware wallets are stored offline in geographically-redundant, secure locations.

Interestingly, the exchange states that they maintain full reserves at all times, with sufficient assets to cover customer balances and currencies.

Two Factor Authentication

CoinJar features two types of Two Factor Authentication to help prevent your account from being accessed by anyone but yourself:

• Authentication mobile app
• SMS authentication

Authenticator App  

Authenticator apps are installed on your mobile device such as Google Authenticator or Authy. They work by generating a new authentication code every 30 seconds. Once you have linked the app to your CoinJar account, use the code to complete the login process to your account. 

The apps have the benefit of being used anywhere you have an internet connection, so it's great for travelling or if SMS is unreliable for any reason. It's also fully encrypted, and never visible to a third party at any point.

In contrast, SMS messages are not encrypted by phone providers, and can be susceptible to security threats such as port forwarding or interception.

SMS authentication

SMS authentication works by receiving a SMS on your mobile device when CoinJar requires authentication. All you need to do is enter in the code sent to your phone. This enhanced security method is not as secure as using an app as described above. 

SMS messages are not encrypted by phone providers and can be vulnerable to security threats such as port forwarding or interception.

Other CoinJar Products

The team behind CoinJar have added innovative products to separate the exchange from its competitors in the Australian digital currency market such as:

• CoinJar Swipe
• CoinJar Exchange
• CoinJar Touch 

These products are aimed to diversify their service offering and include new ways to put cryptocurrency in the hands of hundreds of thousands of people.

CoinJar Swipe

CoinJar Swipe is a crypto debit card that allows you to spend digital currency at any retailer that EFTPOS in Australia. You can also withdrawal cash at any ATM or merchant with cash-out facilities. There are no activation fees, no transaction fees and no monthly fees with CoinJar Swipe. 

CoinJar Exchange 

CoinJar has introduced a crypto trading exchange that is called CoinJar Exchange. It's a different product to the CoinJar fiat-to-crypto exchange that has been established for many years. You can use your registered CoinJar email and password to login to the trading exchange.

CoinJar Exchange is suited for traders that understand how to read live crypto charts. The interface is sleek, minimal and clean which is easy on the eye. It is quite basic so don't expect any advanced indicators, drawings tools and order types. 

The charting interface appears to be aimed for beginners. It lacks trading features that are expected for crypto trading exchange in today's environment. CoinJar Exchange has a different fee structure to the fiat exchange for buying and selling crypto. 

Conclusion

To conclude our CoinJar review, from our own personal use we can say that it is a legit and safe crypto exchange provider to buy and sell Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Australia. 

With that said, there are some improvements that we would like to see: 

• Simplify the user-interface to be less complicated and easier to buy/sell crypto
• Combine the various CoinJar products in the one user-interface
• Increase the number of altcoins that can be traded
• Add advanced trading tools to CoinJar Exchange with TradingView charts

Aside from the above, CoinJar is still one of the most popular crypto exchanges in Australia with several deposit options. Not to mention, the competitive trading fees and mobile app feature are excellent.

Exchange fees are a very important consideration for any prospective cryptocurrency investor. The following exchanges - in addition to the above exchange - provide very competitive trading, deposit and withdrawal fees (with no hidden charges) with a wide variety of deposit methods that will suit all types of investors in Australia. 

1. Swyftx
2. Mine Digital
3. BTC Markets
4. Zebpay
5. Digital Surge
6. Bitcoin Australia
7. ZipMEX
8. Cointree
9. Easy Crypto
10. Binance Lite