Pros and Cons of Digital Surge
Pros
- Simple user interface, perfect for beginners
- Low fees and transparent fee structure
- Over 300+ coins available
- Price alerts, trigger orders and recurring buys available
- 24/7 support available through chat and email
Cons
- AUD is the only option for fiat deposits
- Credit card deposits are not supported
- No advanced features such as margin trading
What is Digital Surge?
Digital Surge is a popular Australian crypto exchange that caters to the everyday Aussie. It was established in 2017 and has attracted the attention of a lot of new users, as it is so simple and safe to use. Even a complete beginner to crypto can work out how to easily purchase over 300+ coins with AUD.
For any issues you can contact customer support via Live Chat or email, with responsive and helpful staff on hand 24/7. If you are experienced with crypto, you will still enjoy using Digital Surge, as they have competitive fees and spreads compared to other Australian exchanges.
My Overall Thoughts on Digital Surge
I really like the simplicity of Digital Surge, and I can see why it's a popular choice in Australia. While I have extensive experience using crypto exchanges, Digital Surge is so easy to use that I am 100% confident that an absolute beginner would be able to navigate the platform with no issues. Here are 3 reasons why I like Digital Surge to anyone considering this crypto exchange:
1) Quick and easy to use: It only took two minutes to set up an account, and depositing with AUD is easy and free if you use PayID. Once you have made your deposit, you can start purchasing cryptocurrency, and there are over 300+ coins to choose from. It is simple to find your way around the exchange, and if you run into any troubles, you can contact customer support easily through Live Chat or email 24/7.
2) Competitive fees and spread: Digital Surge utilise an automated volume-based trading fee, which adjusts the fee based on trade volume, and ranges from 0.1%–0.5%. Their spreads are also tight, which was shown in my comparison test using my personal accounts on Digital Surge and 3 other popular crypto exchanges in Australia (Swyftx, CoinSpot and Crypto.com). Digital Surge performed well in this comparison.
3) Over 300+ coins available: For an exchange that is suitable for beginners, you may not expect there to be a wide selection of coins, but you will be pleasantly surprised. Digital Surge offers more than 300 different cryptocurrencies, and they are regularly updating their list, with new coins added frequently. Of course you will find the most popular cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH and ADA, but you can also find many small obscure coins that are not well-known.
One criticism I have heard about Digital Surge in the past is that they do not offer advanced features such as margin trading. This is a fair point, but Digital Surge is focused on being accessible to beginner and intermediate crypto traders. If you are a serious day trader, you are better off using an exchange like Bybit.
Open a Free Digital Surge Account →
Affiliate link. Crypto is volatile — you may lose money. Not financial advice.
Key Features & Advantages of Digital Surge
Digital Surge's ease of use makes it the perfect exchange for beginners to the cryptocurrency market. It also has many features that experienced traders and investors look for in the best cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia.
Buy Crypto with AUD
This is one of the biggest drawcards of using Digital Surge — the ability to buy crypto straight away with a simple bank deposit from your Australian bank. There is no need to worry about losing a percentage of your money on exchange rates from AUD to USD and vice versa.
You can purchase any of the coins on Digital Surge using AUD. Some exchanges require you to purchase altcoins using Bitcoin, but with Digital Surge, that's not necessary. You don't need to worry about the hassle of buying Bitcoin first, or think about fluctuations in Bitcoin price when you just want to purchase an altcoin.
Depositing your money into the exchange is simple and instant, using PayID or Bank Transfer.
Buy & Sell with Low Fees
Digital Surge aims to make crypto accessible to regular Australians and businesses, and the low fees are a reflection of this.
If you want to buy or sell instantly, the fee is only 0.5%. If you want to trade, the fees are a maximum of 0.5% and can be lowered to only 0.1% if you are trading in large volumes over a 30 day rolling period.
Digital Surge performed well in my real-world comparison of fees and spreads, coming out ahead of Swyftx, CoinSpot and Crypto.com.
Over 300+ Cryptocurrencies
Buying and selling crypto on Digital Surge is quick and easy. Simply click on the 'Buy & Sell' tab and you can choose which coins you would like to buy or sell. It has important information about the coins, such as price (AUD), change in price, and market capitalisation, without having too much clutter which may confuse users. You can also find a particular coin, using the search function in the top right corner.
Trading Crypto with Trigger Orders
If you prefer to get a better price on a coin, you can use the 'Trigger' feature, located by clicking the 'Trigger' tab when you are in the 'Buy' section of the cryptocurrency you want to buy. This allows you to select a price that you want to buy or sell at. For example, let's say the price of Bitcoin is $149,000 but you want to buy it at $145,000, you can select $145,000 as your 'Buy Price'. When the price of Bitcoin falls to $145,000, your order will be filled.
Pro Tip
You don't need to purchase a whole Bitcoin. If you only want to spend $200 on Bitcoin, that's ok! You can own a small piece of Bitcoin which will still increase in value as the price of Bitcoin increases.
Pay Bills Using Bitcoin
An extremely cool feature with Digital Surge is the ability to pay any Australian bill or credit card that has a BPAY biller code, using your Bitcoin. This saves you the trouble of converting your Bitcoin back to AUD (and saving fees) just to pay a bill.
Pro Tip
Check the price of Bitcoin before paying your bill — the higher the price of Bitcoin, the less Bitcoin you have to spend to pay your bill.
Price Alerts
This is a very useful feature of the Digital Surge exchange. If you want to know instantly once a certain crypto hits a particular price, you can set up alerts to SMS and/or email you. This can be used to buy crypto at a good price, sell at a high price, or just be ahead of the game as you may see trends happening before others, who do not have alerts set up.
Simple Overview of Your Crypto
It is easy to manage your crypto in Digital Surge, with the Dashboard and Wallets tabs. The Dashboard shows your portfolio, and you can see how it is trending over the last 24hrs, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, or the entire time period. It also shows the Top Gainers which can help you decide what crypto to invest more in.
The Wallets tab shows your total balance, as well as all your cryptocurrencies and the corresponding balances of each. You can also click to buy or sell straight from the Wallets as well as send and receive crypto.
Mobile and Desktop App
With the Digital Surge mobile and desktop app, it is easier to stay in control and up to date with your investments, no matter where you are. The app is available to download directly from Google Play store or Apple Store, and is a popular Australian crypto app.
Excellent Customer Support
The personalised customer support provided at Digital Surge is exceptional, which can be accessed via Live Chat or email. The support team is Australian based, so you do not need to worry about language barriers. The support staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and they even provide educational resources to help beginners get into the world of crypto.
Multi-Layered Security
Digital Surge has regularly updated multi-layered security for your protection. You can rest assured that your crypto is safe, with the vast majority of assets held in secure offline storage. All your deposits via PayID are secure and instantly received in your account 24/7. Your withdrawals have an added layer of protection, with two-factor authentication required.
What I Don't Like About Digital Surge
There are some downsides with Digital Surge. While this may not be an issue for many Australian crypto investors, you need to decide for yourself whether this affects your experience.
No Advanced Features
Digital Surge was built to be a user-friendly exchange making it simple for everyday Aussies to buy and sell crypto, so it isn't designed for advanced crypto trading. There is no margin trading or trading bots available. If you are looking for advanced features you can read my articles on the best margin trading platforms and the top crypto trading bots.
Digital Surge Fees
Digital Surge is very upfront with its fees, offering a transparent and fair fee structure. They do NOT have any hidden fees, like some other exchanges do. Some exchanges may boast about low fees or even zero fees, but they increase their spreads meaning they give you a lower rate on any coin. Digital Surge performed well in my real-world comparison of fees and spreads, coming out ahead of Swyftx, CoinSpot and Crypto.com.
| Fee Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Instant Buy & Sell | 0.5% |
| Trading Fee (max) | 0.5% |
| Trading Fee (min, >$1M volume) | 0.1% |
| AUD Deposit (PayID / Bank Transfer) | Free |
| Crypto Deposit | Free |
| AUD Withdrawal | Free |
| Crypto Withdrawal | Standard network fee |
The trading fee automatically adjusts based on your rolling 30-day trade volume. The more you trade, the lower the fee — dropping from 0.5% down to as low as 0.1% for high-volume traders.
Comparison Table of Crypto Exchanges in Australia
| Exchange | Fiat | Coins | Deposits | Trading Fees | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Surge | AUD | 300+ | PayID, Bank Transfer, Crypto | 0.1% – 0.5% | Visit Site |
| Bybit | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR + | 280+ | Visa/MC, Apple Pay, PayID, Crypto | 0.1% spot / 0.02–0.055% derivatives | Visit Site |
| CoinSpot | AUD | 530+ | PayID, Direct Deposit, Cash, Card, Crypto | 0.1% market / 1% instant | Visit Site |
| Swyftx | AUD, NZD | 320+ | PayID, OSKO, Bank, CC, Crypto | 0.6% | Visit Site |
| Coinstash | AUD | 260+ | Bank Transfer, PayID, Crypto | 0.85% | Visit Site |
Security: Can I Trust Digital Surge?
Security is one of the big concerns within the cryptocurrency industry, and users want to know that they can trust the exchange that is holding their assets. Digital Surge is a safe platform that has a variety of security features to protect your money.
They regularly update their multi-layered security, and store the vast majority of assets in secure offline storage which protects against hacking. Deposits are instant and secure, and withdrawals require 2-factor authentication to increase security. There has never been any reports of hacks or theft of funds from Digital Surge.
Digital Surge is a legitimate Australian-based exchange that is registered with ASIC & AUSTRAC.
You may have heard about Digital Surge's voluntary administration in December 2022. A few months later in Feb 2023, they reopened their doors to customers. See my interview with Dan Rutter, the CEO and co-founder of Digital Surge, to explain why we can continue to trust and use this exchange.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Digital Surge safe to use?
What are Digital Surge's fees?
How many cryptocurrencies does Digital Surge offer?
Can I deposit with a credit card on Digital Surge?
The Verdict
Digital Surge is definitely an exchange you should be considering if you are based in Australia, and especially if you are new to the cryptocurrency market. You may also be interested in seeing a comparison of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia.
Its minimalistic interface, yet wealth of advanced options make it a great all-rounder exchange for anyone that wants to trade or invest in cryptocurrencies. The 24/7 customer support is a real benefit for beginners as the staff are extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and can get you on your feet.
With Digital Surge's instant deposits, low trading fees, the ability to buy any of 300+ coins using AUD, and free AUD withdrawals, it's hard to look past it if you're based in Australia.
Open a Free Digital Surge Account →
Affiliate link. Crypto is volatile — you may lose money. Not financial advice.
