Coinmama Review
Summary
It’s hard to understand why Coinmama is such a well-recommended place to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in the UK, Europe, and the United States.
All Coinmama purchases have a fee of about 5.9%, but an extra 5% is added on if you’re using a debit or credit card to buy Bitcoin (BTC) or another cryptocurrency on their site.
There are numerous alternatives in the UK, Europe, and the United States which allow you to buy and sell cryptocurrency with lower fees and an equivalent (or better) user experience.
Coinmama is a cryptocurrency broker that allows you to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in more than 188 countries around the world.
But is Coinmama REALLY a good place to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in the UK?
I’ve brought together everything I could find out about Coinmama. By the end of this Coinmama review, you’ll be able to decide for yourself if it’s the best place for you to buy Bitcoin (BTC).
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
- Verification is quick (less than 30mins).
- Supports multiple payment methods (incl. debit card, Apple Pay, Instant SEPA, Open Banking, & UK bank transfer).
- Available in 188 countries (including UK, EU, & most US states).
- Bitcoin (BTC) & 15 other cryptocurrencies are available.
- Simple, quick, and easy to use.
- High purchasing limits.
- 4.3-star Trustpilot rating (700+ reviews).
Disadvantages
- Charges up to about 5.9% in fees (which isn’t great).
- Extra 4.99% fee if buying with a debit or credit card in the UK/EU.
- Can only sell Bitcoin (BTC) to Coinmama (no others are supported).
- Suffered a data breach in early 2019.
Coinmama Alternatives in the UK
Here are three UK alternatives that are simple, easy-to-use, and don’t charge high fees:
CoinJar
Established in 2013, CoinJar lets you buy Bitcoin (BTC) and numerous other cryptocurrencies using its simple interface via their website or mobile app (iOS and Android).
If you deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer, you’ll be charged 1% to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and a growing number of other cryptocurrencies. Alternatively, you can buy any supported cryptocurrency with a debit card for a fixed fee of 2%.
Luno
Headquartered in the UK, Luno allows you to easily buy Bitcoin (BTC) and a small selection of other cryptocurrencies.
If you deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments), you’ll pay a fixed fee of 1.5% when you buy any supported cryptocurrency.
Other Options
Check out my roundup of the best places to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in the UK if you want to look through some more options.
What is Coinmama?
Coinmama was founded in 2013, which makes it a well-established place to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
It offers its services in more than 188 countries worldwide, which includes the UK, Europe, and most US states. Across all these places, it has more than 3.1 million users. When I asked, I was told that Europe was one of the largest markets that it served.
Some Coinmama reviews refer to it as a cryptocurrency exchange. However, it’s actually a cryptocurrency broker. This means that you’re buying directly from Coinmama’s cryptocurrency inventory. Places like this make their money by selling Bitcoin (BTC) at a higher price than they bought it for.
It currently has a 4.3-star Trustpilot score of (700+ reviews), with many of the high reviews highlighting their positive experiences with customer support.
Coinmama Supported Countries
Coinmama supports more than 188 countries worldwide, which is quite impressive.
This includes the UK, EU, and most of the U.S. states.
Because Coinmama has such board coverage, it’s easier to list what countries are NOT supported instead. Expand the sections below for more information.
What countries cannot use Coinmama?
The following countries are restricted and cannot use Coinmama whatsoever:
- Cuba
- Crimea
- Iran
- Lebanon
- Myanmar
- North Korea
- Palestinian Territories
- Russia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Somalia
What U.S. states are supported by Coinmama?
The following U.S. states can be signup and use Coinmama:
- 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
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
What U.S. states and territories cannot use Coinmama?
The following U.S. states and U.S. territories are restricted and cannot use Coinmama whatsoever:
- Hawaii
- New York
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Puerto Rico
- United States Minor Outlying Islands
- Virgin Islands
Coinmama Supported Cryptocurrencies
You can currently buy the following cryptocurrencies via Coinmama’s website:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Tether (USDT)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Compound (COMP)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- OMG Network (OMG)
You can only sell Bitcoin (BTC) to Coinmama. It will not buy any other cryptocurrencies back from you.
Coinmama Payment Methods
You can use the following payment methods on Coinmama:
- Bank transfer (Faster Payments)
- Open Banking (UK Only)
- Bank transfer (SWIFT)
- Bank transfer (SEPA & SEPA Instant)
- Debit card (Visa/MasterCard)
- Credit card (Visa/MasterCard)
- Apple & Google Pay
Debit or credit card purchases are processed immediately. Bank transfers made via Faster Payments should be processed quickly, but bank transfers can take between 1-3 business days (depending on which one you’re using).
If you’re from the UK, the cheapest and quickest option is going to be a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments) or setting up a Open Banking connection.
What fiat currencies are supported on Coinmama?
The following fiat currencies are supported on Coinmama:
- Great British Pound (GBP)
- Euros (EUR)
- United States Dollar (USD)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Despite this, you can buy all supported cryptocurrencies on Coinmama with any normal currency. But if the currency you’re using to make a payment isn’t on the list above, then you’ll pay additional fees when Coinmama converts it into USD.
Coinmama Fees
Coinmama’s fees are quite high compared to popular UK alternatives.
Its fees are included in the cryptocurrency prices which are shown on their website. These fees total approximately 5.9% and are included in all your purchases, regardless of what payment method you use.
For clarity, this includes:
- A transaction fee of 3.9%.
- An exchange rate spread of about 2%.
Exchange rate spread just means that they add 2% on top of the real exchange rate (i.e, what BTC is currently being sold for on popular exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken).
If you decide to buy Bitcoin (BTC) with a debit card, you’ll pay a processing fee of 5% on top of this. This also applies if you want to use a credit card to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies on Coinmama.
When I used my debit card to buy Bitcoin (BTC) on Coinmama, my payment was unexpectedly processed in USD. This meant that I paid an additional fee to my bank for a non-sterling transaction, which was 3% plus £1.25 (but this varies from bank-to-bank). When I totalled all the fees up, I found that I’d paid about 14% in fees.
Ignoring my unusual situation, 11.9% in fees is still far too much to pay.
It’s much cheaper to send EUR via a SEPA bank transfer, or GBP via a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments Service). If you use either of these payment methods, you won’t pay any processing fees.
However, this still means you’re paying 5.9% in fees – which is not competitive in the UK.Coinmama Loyalty Programme
Coinmama has a loyalty programme that rewards you with lower fees if you purchase more cryptocurrency through their site.
Here are the three levels available:
- Crypto Curious: The default level, which rewards you with no discounts.
- Crypto Enthusiast: You’ll unlock a lower rate of about 5.41% when you buy a cumulative total of $5000 worth of cryptocurrency over a rolling 30-day period.
- Crypto Believer: You’ll pay 4.93% when you buy a cumulative total of $18,000 worth of cryptocurrency over a rolling 90-day period (or a lifetime total of $50,000). You must also have been registered with Coinmama for 30 days.
Coinmama Limits
It took Coinmama less than 1 hour to get my identity verified so I could start buying cryptocurrency on their website. This can vary from person to person, but I’ve been told that it’s usually sorted in under 30 minutes.
Buying limits are dictated by the level of your account. If you submit more information to Coinmama, you’ll unlock higher limits.
Here are the level 1 limits that you’ll initially be given. For most of you, I imagine this will be enough – which means you don’t need to worry about increasing your limits.
If you do need higher limits, then these are the level 3 limits you can get once you’ve submitted all your documents. If you need even higher limits, you’ll need to contact the Coinmama support team and complete further verification.
Find out more about Coinmama’s limits here.
Customer Support
Coinmama prides itself on its customer service.
I was told:
I can gaurantee you will not find better support in the market. [This] is super important when someone is handling your money.
Their average response time to support requests is about 2 hours for email and just 1 minute for live chat support.
Customers also seem satisfied with Coinmama’s service.
When I checked through Coinmama’s reviews on Trustpilot, one consistent theme was that people highly rated its customer support.
Coinmama has previously told me that only 9% reported that they weren’t satisfied with its customer service.
The Bottom Line: High Fees
If you’ve been researching where to buy Bitcoin (BTC), you’ve probably come across Coinmama a few times.
Since 2013, they’ve served more than millions of customers across the world and made the process of buying cryptocurrency quick, easy, and simple – which is perfect for beginners.
But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, which is quickly and conveniently glanced over in most other Coinmama reviews.
Coinmama’s fees are awful. If you’re a resident in the UK, EU, or the US, there are plenty of alternatives that offer a comparable experience with lower fees.
Still want to check out Coinmama?
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Any Questions?
Thanks for reading my Coinmama review.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section below!