Recently I wrote a review on CoinSpot and gave it my seal of approval. I especially liked its high security, user-friendly interface, and exceptional 24/7 customer support, and in fact, listed it as one of the best crypto exchanges in Australia. While I still have the same opinion on CoinSpot overall, one potential issue has come to my attention.
After my review went up, many of my readers pointed out that CoinSpot’s trading fees are noticeably higher than many of its competitors. I decided to dig a bit deeper, and sure enough, the readers were right on the money (no pun intended).
In light of this, I’ll address this potential downside of CoinSpot and suggest alternative platforms with lower fees. I do believe this is a necessary discussion given how big of a difference even small changes in fees can make to a trader's profits.
Overview of CoinSpot
Before I discuss the fee structure further, we should establish some context as to what CoinSpot is.
To summarise, CoinSpot is a crypto exchange that’s exclusive to Australia. It was established back in 2013 and has since become a major name in the industry.
In fact, it is the largest and most popular crypto exchange in Australia at the time of writing. From what I have researched, it has more than 2.5 million users.
Key features
In my experience, these are the most prominent features and benefits of using CoinSpot:
Large list of supported cryptocurrencies
At the time of writing, CoinSpot supports trading for more than 430 different crypto assets. These include everything from the biggest coins like BTC & ETH to meme coins such as SHIB & FLOKI. This makes CoinSpot an ideal choice for both cautious and experimental traders.
Exceptional security
For me, this is one CoinSpot's strongest features. CoinSpot follows the best security practices and stores most of its assets in secure offline locations.
Even if CoinSpot gets hacked, the hackers wouldn’t be able to steal most of the cryptocurrencies on the platform. This makes your investment more secure as there is less risk of losing it.
CoinSpot is also the first Australian crypto exchange to receive the ISO 27001 certification, which means it is regularly audited and meets international information security standards.
Extremely intuitive UI
CoinSpot has one of the most user-friendly interfaces compared to most crypto exchanges I’ve tried during my years in this industry. This makes it super beginner-friendly and allows new users to navigate the exchange without any trouble.
The best part of this brilliant UI, however, is that it’s simple and less cluttered while keeping the functionality most traders look for.
Regulatory compliance
From what I have researched, CoinSpot’s operation in Australia is completely legal with ASIC and AUSTRAC registrations. This ensures that CoinSpot won’t get booted from the country, putting your investment in danger due to government regulations.
Are CoinSpot’s high fees worth it?
If you ask me, I’d say yes, it is worth it. This is because you have access to an Australian crypto exchange with the best security, 430 coins, a user-friendly interface, and lots of useful features.
However, not everyone has the same priorities as me. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at CoinSpot's fee structure.
CoinSpot Fee Structure
Here’s a summary of CoinSpot’s fee structure:
Trading
Deposits in AUD
Withdrawals in AUD
What this means
At first glance, these fees might not look all that high, but a closer inspection tells a completely different story. Take the fee for market orders, for example. It’s just 0.1% which is quite low. But, the caveat is that only 16 different crypto assets are available on the market. If you want to trade other tokens, you will have to opt for the instant buy, sell, or swap option with a 1% fee on each transaction.
Not only that, but the spread on CoinSpot is also quite high. To confirm this, I traded BTC and 9 other cryptocurrencies on 4 crypto exchanges. For all of these coins, CoinSpot consistently had either the highest or second highest cost (fee+spread).
Speaking of other top crypto exchanges in Australia, how do CoinSpot’s fees compare to theirs?
Comparison of CoinSpot's trading fees
Exchange | Trading fees |
|---|---|
CoinSpot | 1% |
ByBit | 0.1% |
Swyftx | 0.6% |
MEXC | 0% for makers, 0.1% for takers |
As you can see, the closest option to CoinSpot is Swyftx with a 0.6% fee, which is still much lower.
Why this matters
Considering fees is important when choosing a crypto exchange, but why?
In my experience, these fees are one of the biggest factors behind the profitability of your trading sessions. Think about it this way, if your crypto portfolio increases by 1%, but you have to pay 1% fee to trade it back to AUD, you’re not making any profit. Even worse, you’ll be losing money because of the spread. Not to mention that you have paid 1% in the first place to buy the crypto (using AUD).
So, you need to consider trading fees when choosing a crypto exchange if you want to maximise profits from your trades.
Alternatives to CoinSpot
While I stand by my stance of CoinSpot being one of the best crypto exchanges for Australian investors, I do understand that it’s not for everyone. Fortunately, the Australian crypto market is home to a number of other exchanges with lower fees that are worth your consideration.
CoinSpot alternatives to consider
I have personally tested almost all available exchanges in the Australian market. After careful consideration of fee structure and everything else that makes an exchange worth your hard-earned money, I condensed my list to three of the best options. These are:
#1. Bybit - Best Overall
Out of all the options I tried when compiling this list, Bybit is one that tops the list. It is my #1 recommendation of best crypto exchange in Australia, and you can read my detailed review to learn why.
For starters, the trading fee on Bybit is just 0.1%. For those unaware, this is extremely low and one of the best on the crypto market in Australia and around the world. In my experience, these low fees allow traders to make steady profits from minute market movements that just wouldn’t be possible if the fee was higher.
Even if I ignore the fee, Bybit will still take the number #1 spot on this list because of its exceptional trading UI. In short, its trading interface is chock-full of useful information, menus, and customisable options. The graph alone supports around 100 different technical indicators and several drawing tools.
Bybit offers a large range of 280 coins, and plenty of advanced features such as copy trading, derivatives trading, and margin trading. This makes Bybit a fantastic choice for experienced traders.
#2. Swyftx - Best for Beginners
With a trading fee of 0.6%, Swyftx is not as cheap as Bybit, but it is still a lot more cost-effective than CoinSpot. It is also the most similar exchange to CoinSpot; Swyftx is Australian, is simple to use, has live chat, and allows AUD deposits and withdrawals with ease. You can also read my article on CoinSpot vs Swyftx here.
In addition to having over 320 unique cryptocurrencies for trading, Swyftx also offers a robust demo account. You can use it to check out the platform or experiment with strategies before applying them in live trading.
Speaking of trading, the trading interface of Swyftx is one of the most beginner-friendly I’ve seen, on par with CoinSpot. The best part about this is that it still retains the advanced features and indicators that intermediate and experienced traders need.
#3. MEXC - Lowest Fees
MEXC is one of the most well-rounded and complete crypto exchanges I’ve used. In other words, I did not find any notable issues with this platform, even after using it for an extended period of time. Everything from deposits to trading and withdrawals were completely effortless.
In terms of trading fees, MEXC is even better than my #1 choice, Bybit. The trading fee for spot trading is completely free! This sounds too good to be true, yet it is. If you like to trade futures, the fees for makers is 0% and for takers is only 0.01%.
MEXC also offers trading with more than 1,520 crypto assets — making it ideal for traders who like to diversify their portfolios and experiment with their investments.
Should you switch from CoinSpot?
In my experience, switching from CoinSpot has its ups and downs.
On the one hand, you can trade with lower fees which will, in turn, maximise your profits. On the contrary, you will have to adjust to a new trading UI and site navigation which might take some time.
Tips for Managing Fees on CoinSpot
Let’s take a step back. When I say CoinSpot has high fees, I mean trading fees, in comparison to other exchanges in the Australian market. In no way does this mean that CoinSpot fees are high enough to be a turn-off.
If you want to stick with CoinSpot but pay lower fees, I recommend checking out market order and Over the Counter (OTC) trading. Both of these options have a low fee of just 0.1% which is equal to Bybit. This is especially helpful if you only want to trade popular coins like BTC and ETH which are available on the market.
I’d also like to reiterate that the relatively higher fees of CoinSpot are not a bad deal if you consider the major benefits like excellent asset security, 24/7 customer support, and over a decade of industry experience.
Conclusion
To summarise, CoinSpot has a trading fee of 1%. This can have a noticeable impact on the profits of high-volume investors, and cancel out earnings from smaller trades. If this fee structure doesn’t align with your trading strategy, you can always switch over to other top-tier exchanges like Bybit, MEXC, and Swyftx.
But, if you can afford to pay the higher-than-average fees of CoinSpot, you will gain access to one of the best crypto exchanges in Australia. Either way, make sure to fully research the fee structure of any exchange you’re considering before using it to trade crypto.
