Coinmama has high prices, offers very little in terms of cryptocurrency diversity, and isn’t even on iOS at this time. Their customer service has been very spotty in the past and few users report having a solid interaction with Coinmama representatives.
It is not recommended to use this service unless it is strictly to test the waters and learn cryptocurrency trading in a limited space.
Key Takeaways
Coinmama has extremely high fees that hit you at every turn, and don’t offer any alleviation from those fees regardless of how much you decide to trade on their platform.
They are available globally, although not on iOS devices, and are excluded from two US states. Accused of predatory pricing practices in the past, Coinmama is a very straight-to-the-point exchange.
Their website claims that they have values, although one of those says “Result-Oriented”, however, this poorly translates to them looking after their own profits instead of the user base.
Yes, a business should be profitable, but it should also be somewhat competitive, and Coinmama is far from it.
Pros & Cons
Coinmama may not have the same legacy as FTX or Coinbase, but they do have a few different aspects that they offer. This crypto exchange has gotten a bad rep after a rocky start, so we wanted to investigate it to see if things have gotten better.
Without leaving you in suspense, it’s important to know that Coinmama has higher fees than other exchanges, which is one of the reasons that many new crypto buyers avoid them entirely. But is it justified?
We funded our account, began buying crypto, and tested out every feature that Coinmama has to offer. This is what we found.
About Coinmama
Coinmama states, on their website, that they don’t care for hidden fees. While that’s true, the exorbitant feeds and customer complaints detailing poor customer service and communication (despite Coinmama listing communication as one of their principles) is laughable.
Their service has high prices across every financial service that they offer, and while their claim to fame is that they allow anyone in the world to trade, other platforms like Changelly do the same thing, but without charging the same fees.
Product Offerings
Currently, Coinmama only sells a handful of cryptocurrency coins. However, they do offer direct-to-wallet transactions, so you’re not worried about your coins sitting on their platform and getting swept away by a cyber security attack.
The entire service is very cut-and-dry. You can buy and sell crypto, they take their fee, and that’s the end of it. They don’t offer crypto credit cards or custodial services, limiting what they’re able to offer to the user.
Coinmama Fees
Fees are excessive on this platform. Compared to other platforms that have a 0.1% to 0.05% transaction fee, Coinmama has a ridiculously high 2% markup on all of their services, plus additional fees like these.
Paying with your bank account can lead to a 2% up to 3.90% transaction fee, whether that’s with a USD wallet or not. This also includes debit and credit cards.
If you do an ACH transfer, that’s still subject to a 2% up to 3.90% transaction fee, as well as wire transfers, purchases, Bitcoin sales, and paying with Google Pay or Apple Pay. It’s flat across the board.
The only major thing that they don’t disclose is how they calculate which fees go above 2% and what situations apply. Coinmama isn’t designed to help the user, it’s designed to be profitable and that’s about the end of that.
Who is Coinmama Best for?
Coinmama is best for beginners who want to get a feel for how trading cryptocurrency works and feels. You wouldn’t want to trade a ton of cryptocurrency here, but if you’ve never used an exchange before, Coinmama’s easy-to-understand UI design will be a great crash course.
Coinmama is not best for anyone with major experience in the cryptocurrency space. You also cannot access Coinmama on iOS currently, since it’s only available on Android devices and their PC desktop website.
Lastly, if your only goal is to buy or sell your crypto and put it in your wallet, the lack of peer-to-peer trading and custodial nature of their platform is great.
You won’t have to worry about all the frills; you buy, sell, hopefully profit, and then move on to your next exchange with better fee structuring.
Coinmama FAQ's
Coinmama doesn't appear to be the biggest marketplace out there, but the one benefit is that it is safe. This is only because it doesn’t hold onto your coins, meaning it’s not custodial.
The coins are only in the wallet that’s attached to your Coinmama account, not on the actual platform itself. This means the only way you could be hacked is in mid-transaction, which is unlikely and difficult.
Hackers go after coins that are already situated and in place.
There are high fees on Coinmama, so while they don’t require any fees to be paid for transferring coins to or from your Coinmama account (direct to wallet), it’s not ideal to buy large quantities of coins or for high denominations on Coinmama.
This is a good beginner platform for small transactions, and to one day transfer your coins to another exchange (or just keep in your wallet), but their high fees make them a hard pass for spending a lot of money on cryptocurrency.
It’s actually ideal for beginners. Coinmama doesn’t have the highest reviews out there, and that’s because of the limited number of coins they offer, as well as high fees.
Thankfully, the fees don’t extend to crypto deposits or withdrawals, but most beginners are coming here to buy their first coins and get into crypto.
Coinmama is a good way to show you how the market works without getting lost in a sea of thousands of different coin options, but this is something you will quickly graduate from if you’re serious about continuing a career as a cryptocurrency investor.
Coinmama makes money the same way that other exchanges make money: through commissions earned by you using their service. They take out fees from every transaction you make, which they are transparent about during the sign-up process.
Even if the fee is nominal, it adds up to a lot when you consider all the users on their exchange and the vast market capitalization of cryptocurrency.
According to their privacy policy, Coinmama does not sell your personal information to anyone. They respect your data and provide safety and coverage to your personal information.
However, you should know that their privacy policy states that they will share your information with third-party providers that they trust.
From our investigation, this means services that they employ to operate their own service and marketplace, and since they have no prior offenses and state that they do not sell your information, they should be safe to use.
Compare to Other Exchanges
- Coinmama
- Rating:
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Review Summary:
Coinmama is one of the fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges due to it being easy, fast, and secure. It also allows you to purchase crypto with credit cards.