Deciding which cryptocurrency exchange to use can be difficult as there are hundreds of different options to choose from. However, one of the most popular and favored exchanges is Coinmama. Millions of people are using it already.
So, I thought I’d do a little review on it.
In this Coinmama review, I am going to give you all the information you need before getting started. I will also provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to set up an account, along with some helpful screenshots.
So that by the end of this Coinmama review, you will be ready to go and buy some coins on your own!
What are you waiting for? Let’s dive in!
Pros
- High levels of security
- Helpful customer support
- User-friendly platform
- Available in 188 countries, and most US states
- Accepts credit/debit cards
Cons
- No way to call the support via phone
- Limited amount of cryptocurrencies
Table of Contents
What is Coinmama?
Coinmama is a cryptocurrency broker/exchange that is located in Israel. Originally created in 2013, the website explains that they offer a fast, safe and fun way to buy a digital currency from anywhere in the world.
In fact, it serves all countries apart from those sanctioned, such as North Korea. However, at present, only 43 US states can use their services, which can be found below:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. |
Note: There is a slight difference between an “exchange broker” like Coinmama and an “exchange marketplace” like Binance. A broker exchange holds the cryptocurrency and sells cryptocurrency directly to you for fiat money, while an exchange marketplace matches two independent buyers and sellers!
Interesting fact. Coinmama is used by more than 2,300,000 people across 188 countries since it was launched. |
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Coinmama Review: Advantages
Let me introduce you to Coinmama's advantages first.
✓ Everyday Payment Methods
One of the most frustrating parts of buying cryptocurrency is that so many exchanges don’t allow you to use fiat money. Instead, they normally ask you to deposit using another cryptocurrency (such as Ethereum) that you obviously can’t do if you don’t have any! So, this is a positive aspect of this Coinmama review.
Using Coinmama, you can use your debit or credit card (in other words - fiat money) to buy cryptocurrency directly from the website. This is just like ordering your weekly groceries online, but instead of buying food, you are purchasing digital assets!
Personally, I’d rather buy digital assets than food anyway.
Almost every major bank issues debit and credit cards backed by Visa or MasterCard, so you shouldn’t have any problems buying from Coinmama, providing you have a bank account!
✓ Instantly Receive Your Coins to Your Personal Wallet
When you enter your card details and make a purchase with Coinmama, your coins are sent to your private wallet as soon as the payment goes through! This is a much safer option for you as third-party wallets are known for being hacked.
✓ User-Friendly Platform
Most cryptocurrency exchanges can be really scary when you are just starting out. There are always lots of graphs, charts and statistics — making things seem complicated. Not only this, but you also have lots of different options such as market orders and kill-or-fill orders. Another point to the Coinmama review pros list.
Fortunately, Coinmama make the buying process really simple. All you have to do is open and verify your account, enter your card details and choose how many coins you want to buy. No previous knowledge of trading is required to purchase cryptocurrency from Coinmama.
✓ Really Helpful Support Team
If you have a problem with your account and need some help from the Coinmama team then you have a few support options to choose from. The best way to contact them is through live chat though, however, this is only available during business hours, which I have listed below. A huge plus for this positive Coinmama review.
Sunday-Thursday
9:00-18:00 GMT+3
If you need to contact them outside of these hours, you can either send an email, raise a support ticket or even contact them on Facebook! However, after taking a deeper look through their website, I noticed that most of the common problems are answered on their FAQ page.
✓ High Levels of Security
It’s a real shame that most cryptocurrency exchanges are not regulated by any governmental department, however, Coinmama is in fact registered with FINCEN in the U.S. This shows that the exchange is very reliable and that any fraudulent activities on their site will be investigated accordingly.
Note: FINCEN stands for Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, who are responsible for investigating financial crimes such as fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. However, it's fair to mention that Coinmama experienced a breach in security back in 2019.
So, now that I’ve listed some of the advantages, let’s take a look at some of the disadvantages in this Coinmama review.
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Coinmama Review: Disadvantages
There are, however, some disadvantages to keep in mind, too.
✗ Credit Card Fees
As I mentioned earlier in the advantages section of this Coinmama review, one of the greatest features is that you can easily use your debit or credit card to purchase cryptocurrency. However, you should be warned — the fees are quite expensive!
To use your card, you will have to pay an extra 5% fee on top of the rate that Coinmama charge. However, it is worth remembering that no matter which cryptocurrency exchange you use, if you want to pay with your debit or credit card then there will always be extra costs.
✗ Coinmama Fees
On top of the fees you will be charged when using your card, you will also be charged an average fee of 5.5% for every transaction you make! The exact fee will depend on the number of coins you want to buy, and this seems to change without notice.
This can become really expensive if you’re purchasing cryptocurrencies in large amounts or on a regular basis. However, you also have to remember that no matter where you buy cryptocurrency, if you are using real-world money (which you will have to if it is your first time) then there will always be fees involved.
That said, it's worth noting that Coinmama does not have any withdrawal fees!
✗ Only 10 Coins to Choose From
Coinmama allows you to buy only 10 coins, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). When you compare this to other exchanges, such as Kucoin, that have more than 100 coins available, this is quite poor.
However, as I explained earlier in my Coinmama review, Coinmama is a broker exchange which means that you are actually buying directly from them with fiat money.
So, even though you can only purchase the two most popular cryptocurrencies, both BTC and ETH will allow you to trade with all the smaller, less popular cryptos.
Coinmama Review: Verification
The verification process is quite simple as you only need to confirm your personal details and then upload some form of ID. You will also need to take a selfie of you holding the ID, which is to make sure you are who you say you are.
As for Coinmama verification time, accounts are normally verified within a couple of hours, so you will just need to wait until you receive an email. However, once this is done, you can buy up to $15,000 in coins without needing to provide any more information.
In the next section of this Coinmama review, I will show you how to verify your account.
Coinmama Review: Step-by-step Guide to Buying Coins
Now that you have a full understanding of all the advantages and disadvantages of using Coinmama, I am now going to show you exactly how to buy your first coins!
1. First, you will need to visit the official Coinmama website which can be accessed here.
2. The easiest way to open an account is to choose and enter the amount of cryptocurrency that you want to purchase, and press Buy. Coinmama supports Visa, MasterCard, ApplePay, SEPA, and some more payment options.
3. Now you will need to enter your full name, choose a strong password and enter your country of residence.
4. Don’t forget to confirm your email address by clicking the link Coinmama send to your email! If you fail to do so now, you will be prompted to confirm the email later on.
5. Once you have logged into your account, navigate to the Buy page, and select what you'd like to purchase - in this case, I'll assume that it's Bitcoin.
You can also enter a custom amount of BTC that you'd like to purchase, too - the price will be presented in the currency of your choice.
8. You will see that you first need to verify your account. Click on "verification".
9. In the following windows, you will then be asked to re-confirm your full name and then enter your date of birth, phone number, and full address. Make sure this matches the address on your payment card or it will be declined!
10. Next up, you'll need to enter your identification details. This will be either your passport or driver’s license. Double-check that you have entered the correct information or it may delay the process! Then click on Next.
11. You will then be asked to upload your documents. You will need to upload the front and back of your ID and then the following:
- A selfie of you holding your ID.
- An image of you holding a piece of paper saying “Coinmama” with today’s date.
12. Once you click on submit, it normally only takes around 10 minutes for Coinmama to verify your ID. Make sure your images are clear, otherwise they might ask you to take them again.
13. Once this has been completed, you will receive an email once your account has been verified. Congratulations, you can now buy up to $15,000 in cryptocurrency!
14. Now all you need to do is repeat the previous steps to complete your purchase. At the final stage, you will be asked to enter your debit or credit card details, as well as your Bitcoin or Ethereum wallet address.
As soon as the payment is confirmed the coins will be instantly sent to your wallet!
Who Should Use Coinmama?
Assuming you have read this guide fully up until this point, you should now know that Coinmama is a really basic cryptocurrency broker/exchange. That makes it perfect for first-time buyers!
If you currently don’t own any cryptocurrency then the easiest way to buy it is to use a debit or credit card, which is made simple at Coinmama.
Even if you want to buy a less popular coin, the chances are that you will still need to trade it with another cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which makes Coinmama a good place to start.
So, what you would need to do is transfer your Bitcoin or Ethereum, or another available cryptocurrency over to another exchange that lists the coin you want, and then trade them for that coin. Simple!
If you cannot find a cryptocurrency that you're looking for, you should check out Kucoin that has more options to choose from.
- Very low trading fees
- Exceptional functionality
- Mobile trading app
- Very competitive trading fees
- An intuitive mobile app
- Up to 100x leverage available
- A very well-known crypto exchange platform
- More than 500 different cryptos available
- Two-factor authentication
- Over 500 different cryptocurrencies available
- Strong security
- Small withdrawal fees
- Secure and reliable
- Low fees
- A good amount of fiat currencies accepted
- Reputable exchange
- Multiple fiat currencies are accepted
- Relatively low trading fees
Conclusions
I hope you enjoyed reading this Coinmama review! If you have read it from start to finish, you should now have a really good understanding of how it works as well as all of the advantages it comes with. If you would like to check out Kucoin, more recommended broker exchange, then check out this full review.
While no exchange is perfect, Coinmama is definitely on the positive side. Although some might be cheaper when it comes to transaction fees, they might not offer the option to use your debit or credit card. So, for those of you looking to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, or another cryptocurrency for the first time, Coinmama is a great place to start.
So, did you follow my step-by-step guide and buy some coins? If so, which one did you go for?
Either way, I wish you all the very best of luck with your investments. Just remember to stay safe out there and always do extensive research before placing your money into any cryptocurrency!
The content published on this website is not aimed to give any kind of financial, investment, trading, or any other form of advice. BitDegree.org does not endorse or suggest you to buy, sell or hold any kind of cryptocurrency. Before making financial investment decisions, do consult your financial advisor.