Coinify Review: Great On-Ramp for Fiat Buyers

Coinify has several tools for businesses that want to work with crypto, but fewer for individuals. Individuals will find Coinify a useful way to convert fiat currency (like U.S. dollars) into crypto. However, unlike many cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinify does not support crypto trading. Read our full Coinify review to find out more.

This cryptocurrency exchange is a good fit for: People who want to buy crypto using fiat money.

Top perks

Easy to use

The Coinify interface is extremely accessible and easy to use for a first-time crypto investor. This is partly because it doesn't offer a lot of extra features. But for a user who already has a wallet and wants to simply log on, input their details, and buy crypto, Coinify does the job.

Partners with Ledger

Most crypto exchanges let you withdraw assets to an external crypto wallet. However, Coinify is designed to work only with external wallets -- so much so that it partners with popular hardware wallet provider Ledger. You can buy crypto directly through Ledger with Coinify.

KYC-compliant

All Coinify customers have to submit basic know-your-customer (KYC) information such as address and photo ID. Some may see this as a negative, as it undermines the anonymous nature of crypto. But if you're a crypto investor worried about money laundering in the industry, it makes sense to use KYC-compliant sites.

Supports businesses who want to accept crypto

Coinify's core business is helping businesses work with cryptocurrencies. It has a good range of business products, including enabling crypto payments and deposits, facilitating invoicing and withdrawals, and offering in-app trading.

What could be improved

High fees

Coinify's fees are higher than many other platforms', especially if you pay by card. It has a high minimum handling fee, relatively high minimum spend, and you don't get a great exchange rate. That said, since Coinify deposits your assets directly into an external wallet, you don't have to pay withdrawal fees. Check out our list of top cryptocurrency apps and exchanges for lower-fee options.

No custodial wallet

Custodial wallets are a thorny topic in crypto circles. There's a popular saying among old-school crypto investors: "Not your keys, not your coins." Cryptocurrencies use public keys and private keys -- a bit like your bank account number and PIN. The idea is that if you don't move your assets into your own wallet, you don't fully own your coins.

However, billions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency can no longer be accessed because people have lost the passwords or seed phrases for their crypto wallets. In some cases, people lose the hardware wallets altogether. As a result, many newer investors prefer to leave their assets on the exchange where they bought them.

No trading or other features

Coinify does not offer cryptocurrency trading at all. You can't trade from one coin into another. There are also no price charts or other data about coins. And there are no opportunities to earn passive income on your crypto. However, if you want to access these services, you can connect your external wallet to any number of decentralized finance platforms that offer them.

Limited selection of coins

Coinify has a solid list of available cryptocurrencies, including many of the top 20 coins. But its selection doesn't compare with a number of other top exchanges. This isn't a problem if you only want to buy Bitcoin (BTC), but if you plan to expand into less-established tokens, you might look elsewhere.

Not available in all U.S. states

Coinify is not available throughout the U.S. If you live in Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Caroline, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, or Vermont, you can't use Coinify's services.

The big advantage of Coinify is that it accepts over 30 different fiat currencies. This includes U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds as well as less common currencies like Hungarian forints, Kenyan shillings, and Vietnamese dong. However, the big disadvantage is that it only offers limited products for individuals. Coinify lists a number of services for merchants that want to accept crypto payments. But if you're an individual trader, its myCoinify product only really helps you buy crypto that gets deposited into your crypto wallet. You can also sell Bitcoin and deposit the proceeds into your bank account.

You can't trade one crypto for another. myCoinify doesn't offer crypto trading at all. There's also no information about individual cryptocurrencies, such as price charts or basic research. And there are no options to earn passive income from your coins.

myCoinify does not have a custodial wallet service. To use Coinify, you need an external wallet such as Metamask or Ledger. Metamask is a popular online wallet (also known as a "hot" wallet), while Ledger is a hardware wallet you keep offline. Exchanges with custodial wallets keep your crypto assets on their platforms. This suits some traders, especially newer ones, as it means they don't have to take care of their crypto keys and can get help if they lose their password. But if you hold your assets on an exchange that gets hacked or freezes your account, there's very little you can do. That's why many crypto enthusiasts prefer non-custodial wallets, giving them complete control over their crypto assets.

Coinify charges several fees when you buy or sell crypto, but there are no trading or crypto withdrawal fees. (Coinify doesn't offer crypto trading. And since your tokens are deposited straight into your crypto wallet, the withdrawal fee is built in.)

That said, it can be difficult to compare fees, because there's not a lot of consistency across platforms. Some exchanges charge low trading fees, but hit you with big withdrawal charges. Others might charge a lot to deposit money, but keep costs down after that. A lot depends on what type of transactions you want to do, how often you want to trade, and how you plan to pay. So it's worth experimenting with different sites to see how much crypto you'd get for your buck.

Coinify charges buy and sell fees, but no withdrawal fees. You pay a handling fee, shown in the table below, plus an additional network fee and a partner fee. Coinify does not keep those network fees -- it's the "gas fee" you pay to make an entry on the blockchain. There's also a 0.5% conversion fee if you're not using U.S. dollars.

Coinify handling fees

Coinify network and partner fees

The network fee varies depending on the cryptocurrency you are buying, and is calculated at time of purchase. For example, since Ethereum (ETH) gas fees are quite high, the network fee is higher for Ethereum or other ERC-20 tokens.

To buy $100 worth of Bitcoin by debit card would cost a $5 handling fee, plus $1.21 in additional fees. To buy $100 of Ethereum by debit card, you'd pay the same $5 handling fee, plus $5.30 in network fees. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But it's worth noting that if you bought Ethereum on another exchange, you could pay even more to then withdraw it to an external wallet.

One other thing to be aware of is that Coinify's exchange rates are worse than the market rate. We received $2 or $3 dollars less in total ETH or BTC in the transactions above than we'd have gotten on other sites.

Coinify offers over 20 different cryptocurrencies, including two stablecoins -- USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT). You'll find most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies. However, many other top exchanges offer a wider range of coins. Check out our list of which coins are listed on which exchanges.

Here's the full list of cryptos on offer as of December 2021:

As Coinify does not hold your assets, security is less of a concern. It deposits your coins directly into your external wallet, so the onus is on you to keep your wallet safe. When you set up an external crypto wallet, you get a seed phrase -- store this in a safe place, as if you lose it, you may lose access to your funds.

Customers need to pay with 3D Secure cards, which gives an extra layer of security when making card payments. Coinify also offers rewards to anyone who identifies flaws in its security system.

However, only merchant accounts feature two-factor authentication (a common user-level security feature), and individual ones do not. There's also not a lot of information on its site about how it protects your data. Since Coinify asks for your photo ID when you register, it would be nice to know where it stores that data, and what measures it takes to keep it safe.

• You want to fund your external crypto wallet using fiat currency.
• You want to exchange Bitcoin for a fiat currency that's paid into your bank account.
• Your business wants to offer crypto services to customers.

RELATED: Check out The Ascent's comparison of Coinify vs. Coinbase.