Coinmama Review | Is It The Worst Exchange In The World?
Jack Moreau
Feb 2024
7 min read
Fact checked
Introduction: With so many exchanges out there, it can be tough to know which ones make sense to use. One exchange that has been around for a while and is relatively well known is Coinmama. As such, we thought it was time to put together a comprehensive review of Coinmama to see how it compares to newer entrants on the market. Our unbiased assessment covers everything from it's products and services, the user experience and more so that you can easily decide if this exchange makes sense to use for you.
Coinmama is a cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2013 by Asaph Schulman. The company is registered in Ireland and has over 60 employees.
Coinmama is available in 188 countries, but there are some prohibited jurisdictions including Israel, Japan, Nigeria, and residents of Hawaii and New York. The company is registered as an MSB with FinCEN which means that it takes regulations seriously.
Coinmama website
The company claims to have over 3 million users and is also available for both iOS and Android devices, which only have a few thousand downloads.
One of the many downsides of Coinmama is that it only has 20 cryptocurrencies available for trading. However, the company does offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
Coinmama App
Additionally, Coinmama has a relatively low rating on the app store with only 10K downloads and a 3.1-star rating based on 5,000 reviews. Frankly, using Coinmama even for a few minutes to produce this exchange review proved to be a frustrating experience. The website itself is not only buggy but has whole sections that don't work properly.
Coinmama KYC Requirements
Coinmama is an exchange that requires KYC verification for all users. Unfortunately, the signup process is quite frustrating as you are required to upload all your personal information and KYC documents before even having the chance of seeing the interface.
Coinmama signup process
Once you've completed the signup process, the verification process itself should takes between 30 minutes to an hour according to Coinmama. Unfortunately, since the experience of using the Coinmama website and signup was so annoying, we did not bother verifying the verification process time ourselves.
Coinmama Products & Services
Coinmama only offers the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies either by depositing fiat or by buying with card. Unfortunately, the user experience is poor, with a long signup process that requires all documents upfront, and the website is not functioning properly. The platform only supports 20 cryptocurrencies and the company has not come out with a proof of reserves, like many other exchanges.
In summary, if you are looking for a dependable and easy-to-use crypto exchange, Coinmama is not that. With a limited selection of cryptocurrencies and a clunky user interface, it hard to find a worse exchange on the market.
To buy cryptocurrencies on Coinmama, you have to either deposit fiat currencies such as USD, EUR or GBP or buy using your credit/debit card. Either way, Coinmama charges a HEFTY 5% commission on each trade. Considering the high fees and limited amount of cryptocurrencies, I struggle to find a reason why anyone in the United States, United Kingdom or Europe would use Coinmama.
Coinmama offers fiat deposit support for three of the of biggest fiat currencies in USD, GBP and EUR. Fiat deposits can be made via SWIFT for USD, SEPA for EUR and Faster Payments for GBP. SEPA deposit with EUR are free of charge and so are GBP deposits with Faster Payments for those looking to avoid fees.
Coinmama Fiat Deposit Methods
When it comes to bank transfer times, SEPA and FSP deposits normally arrive within one business day while SWIFT (Global) can take up to 3-5 business days.
SWIFT deposits for USD come with a $20 dollar fee and for those who wish to deposit money with their credit/debit card, they can do so with a high 5% fee. Overall, Coinmama offers a decent selection of fiat deposit options and it's good to see a few ways that are free of charge.
How to withdraw from Coinmama?
If you're hoping to withdraw some cold, hard cash from your Coinmama account, you should know that this option is only available for EUR using SEPA. This is a bit strange as you would expect their withdrawal methods to be similar to their deposit methods.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
