Changelly Crypto Exchange Review

Hong-Kong based Changelly has proven its position in the market since 2013 thanks to a mixture of quality, efficiency, and innovation. When Changelly started, it was a Bitcoin mining pool, and it wasn’t until 2014 that it evolved into a non-custodial exchange. After two years of slow growth, the platform then received some huge boosts and underwent a redevelopment phase in 2016. In the years since, they’ve welcomed more than 2 million global users. 

CEO Eric Benz is a highly experienced fintech professional who has been involved in numerous projects as a founder, director, investor, and catalyst for change. This quote from Benz highlights their ambitions: “Changelly was created to provide the most efficient way to purchase and exchange crypto no matter what wallet or platform is used. We have established ourselves with both exchanges and partners as an important component and business in the ever-growing crypto and blockchain ecosystem. Changelly will continue to innovate and provide products which will make the buying and selling of crypto easier than anywhere else”. 

The Positives

• Changelly facilitates crypto-to-crypto deals without requiring users to open accounts, register their identity, or use a custodial wallet, resulting in higher levels of privacy
• Fiat-to-crypto movements are enabled (with some identity information), allowing people to purchase crypto directly, which is common among exchanges, however, the interesting feature they offer is that it works in reverse too. European and Israeli users can sell their crypto and receive the balance to their SEPA bank accounts
• Exchanging altcoins does not require KYC or user registration
• Changelly offers more than 150 cryptocurrencies for trading and purchasing, with thousands of unusual market pairs open due to the P2P nature of the platform
• DeFi traders love the fact that Changelly is non-custodial and thus never holds your funds at any point, instead working as an intermediary service
• The mobile app allows users to swap or purchase crypto from their Apple and Android devices
• Contacting Changelly for support is very friendly and well rated, and even though there’s no phone contact, they offer live chat agents, email support, and help through their mobile app
• Changelly’s trade fees of 0.25% make them one of the cheapest OTC options, cheaper than Coinbase, Shapeshift, SwitchHere, and ChangeNOW. Binance is cheaper.
• Since Changelly is a non-custodial exchange, they don’t have to worry about hacker-bandits trying to force their way into a wallet and get away with the loot
• Changelly Crash Course is one of their best community features, with expert guides and videos helping novice traders to become well-informed crypto-enthusiasts

The Negatives

• Users from the USA and the following countries are not permitted to use Changelly – Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Crimea, Sudan, Syrica, Bangladesh, Bolivia, other countries on the US sanctions list
• Suspicious transactions on Changelly may be blocked or paused and require a KYC check to permit
• High fees make this platform more expensive than most competitors, with fiat-to-crypto deals incurring charges around 10%, roughly double what Coinbase charges

Which cryptocurrencies are available?

More than 150 different cryptocurrencies are on the platform, but since users can trade altcoins directly with one another, technically that would result in over 20,000 different market pairings. Whilst we don’t have the data on how many market pairings have actually been used, they only need to have been used 1 time to count.

Some information about fees

All trades are charged at 0.25%, a rate that is only bettered in the mainstream exchange marketplace by Binance (0.1%). Transactions also incur a mining fee and blockchain network fee and add to the total costs, however, these fees are not always enacted so be sure to check the terms and conditions or any promotional events.

Users on other platforms have to pay large fees in order to turn one altcoin into another, losing a slice of their holdings every time a transaction is made. They might also have to work with multiple exchanges and make multiple trades in order to make the desired conversion, but not with Changelly, here, you can do it directly. 

Fiat-to-crypto deals cost 4%, plus a 3.5% MoonPay fee (for purchases over $145) or $4.99 if under $145.

As we mentioned previously, Europeans and Israelis can sell their crypto directly for EUR into their SEPA bank accounts. For BTC, the fee is 6.5% with the caveat that you sell at least €250 in one transaction and no more than €5000 in a day. 

The final say

This platform is a great tool for the industry, and especially for users who want to trade altcoins in a P2P manner with low levels of fuss. In fact, whilst writing this article, I remembered I wanted to sell my ALGO and buy some DOT, so instead of going the long way around it, I decided to use Changelly. It took just 6 minutes from the initial decision to receiving the DOT. Perfect!

Users are impressed with the speed and security of the service, as well as how well they support their customers in case of any issues.