Have you tried CoinSwitch.co? The first time I used it was when I was a Cryptonoob – New to crypto, back in September 2017. At the time I had bitcoin and I needed Ether so I used CoinSwitch to convert them and transfer my ETH to MEW. Times have changed, now I review exchanges. So it made sense to review this one Indian exchange that is serving traders globally.
Contents
What is CoinSwitch?
Coinswitch is a crypto to crypto exchange that converts your coins without you having to transfer to another exchange, selling the old coin, buying the new coin, and transferring back to your exchange. CoinSwitch is an exchange aggregator offering the services of exchanges like Changelly or Shapeshift to convert your coin.
How often do you see Changelly or Shapeshift to check out which has better rates? You can check the rates for both of them and other exchanges too on CoinSwitch and choose whichever you prefer for the exchange.
Who’s Running CoinSwitch?
CoinSwitch launched in June of 2017 by ex-Amazon NSIT alumni Ashish Singhal and Govind Soni who are the CEO and CTO respectively. Joining the team as co-founder and COO next was Sagar Tiwari who headed the team of Farmville 2. Although unconfirmed, rumour mill suggests CoinSwitch has been backed by one of the top capital investment firms in India.
Are the Rates Better?
We tried it out to match the rates with other exchanges. The Indian version offers 98 coins to exchange but with fewer exchanges for options. The international version offers over 275 coins with many international exchanges too. Since we are in India, we tested out the Indian version of-course.
Test – Exchange Rate Matching
Converting 0.1 BTC to ZRX
CoinSwitch Recommendation – Shapeshift Precise – 1405 ZRX
|
Exchange |
CoinSwitch Rate |
Exchange Rate |
|
Shapeshift precise |
1405 |
1405 |
|
Changelly |
1382 |
1382 |
|
Binance |
N/A |
1419 |
| Bittrex | N/A in India |
1408 |
Conclusion:
CoinSwitch rates are equivalent to the respective exchanges if they are supported, like Shapeshift and Changelly. Coinswitch exchange rates are higher than the exchanges like Binance or Bittrex, but we haven’t considered the withdrawal fees of these exchanges. Overall it looks like Coinswitch wins if you are converting a lower volume.
The exchange rate keep fluctuating so the final value may change, unless you have chosen Shapeshift precise. Your exchange rate is locked for 10 minutes if you use that feature.
Test – How long does it take to Exchange?
We cannot pin point the exact time it takes because it does not depend on CoinSwitch. It depends on the exchange chosen. For example Shapeshift only requires 1 confirmation of Bitcoin but Changelly requires 2.
Hence this remains inconclusive and totally depends on the exchange you choose.
Test – Arbitraging Comparison with KoinKnight
You remember KoinKnight? We reviewed this arbitraging website earlier this week. It is useful for 3 way arbitrage including exchanges like Binance and Kucoin. Coinhero on the other hand is good for arbitraging between exchanges in India. So for trading and arbitraging between multiple coins, we will use KoinKnight as a reference.
For this test I checked the latest Arbitrage opportunities on Koinknight and matched it with the direct conversion on CoinSwitch.
For Example, it says if you buy 400 ZRX on Koinex, transfer to Binance, convert to BTC, then buy 0.562 DASH, transfer to WazirX and sell, you can make 698 INR profit.
What if you buy 400 ZRX on Koinex and try to convert it using CoinSwitch. Is it better, worse or same? The results were mixed so we recommend checking it when you want to arbitrage, might as well get a better deal.
Conclusion:
It isn’t a bad idea to open CoinSwitch and check if you are getting a similar amount as you suggested on Koinknight. In many cases these transfers can be faster. However, be careful, the exchange rates are continually fluctuating.
Fees
The fees differ based on the exchanges you select. But the exchange rate you see is inclusive of fees.
Coin Crunch Opinion:
Personally I have done countless number of transactions using Shapeshift back in 2017. CoinSwitch was popular but I just preferred directly going on to Shapeshift and locking the rates. Now, you can do the same with CoinSwitch.
An account is mandatory for exchanging on CoinSwitch albeit not required on Shapeshift. This might actually be good as you can go back and check your order history whenever you want. You can end up getting a better exchange rate on international exchanges too, so it is always advisable to check the rates. The Indian version is little less attractive than the international version, but it does the job well nonetheless.
However, if you want a quick transfer and do not care about a slight fluctuations, you can use CoinSwitch for a quick transfer.
Have you tried CoinSwitch.co? Let us know what you think in the comments below or Join our telegram group to discuss more.
Disclaimer: Some links could contain personal referrals of the author.
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