The verdict in 30 seconds
CoinJar earns its place for one specific use case: spending crypto in everyday life via the CoinJar Mastercard. If you want to load your card with AUD or BTC and tap it at Coles or a coffee shop, no other Australian exchange does this as well. For pure buy-and-hold, the 1% Instant Buy fee (and 2% card deposit fee) makes it more expensive than competitors. Pick CoinJar for the Card and its 13-year track record. Look elsewhere if you're optimising for fees.
What is CoinJar?
CoinJar is an Australian crypto exchange founded in Melbourne in 2013 by Asher Tan and Ryan Zhou — making it one of the country's oldest. The platform has approximately 600,000 customers across Australia, the UK, and elsewhere, and is backed by venture investors including Blackbird Ventures, Boost VC, and Digital Currency Group.
CoinJar's positioning is distinctive: it operates as both a beginner-friendly consumer crypto app and a more advanced trading venue (CoinJar Exchange) with separate fee structures, plus a debit card that lets you spend crypto in the real world.
CoinJar fees explained
CoinJar runs two products with completely different fee structures. Most casual users default to the consumer app, paying the higher fees. Understanding which to use will save you money.
1. Consumer app (Instant Buy/Sell)
The default flow for most users. Tap a coin, choose AUD amount, confirm.
- 1% fee on AUD-funded buys (PayID/bank transfer balance)
- 2% fee on card-funded buys (Visa/Mastercard/Apple Pay/Google Pay)
- If you set up recurring buys, the card fee drops to 1%
- Spreads are built into the quoted price (typically 0.5–1%)
On a $5,000 BTC buy via PayID: $50 trading fee plus ~$25–$50 in spread, all-in roughly 1.5%.
2. CoinJar Exchange (order book)
A separate, more advanced platform with tiered fees. This is where active traders should be.
| 30-day volume (AUD) | Maker | Taker |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $50,000 | 0.10% | 0.10% |
| $50,000 – $250,000 | 0.06% | 0.08% |
| $250,000 – $1M | 0.04% | 0.07% |
| $1M+ | 0.02% | 0.06% |
Crypto-to-crypto and stablecoin pairs have a flat 0.06% taker fee with zero maker fees. Stablecoin-to-stablecoin pairs are nearly free at 0.001%.
Card transaction fees
Using the CoinJar Card to spend:
- 1% conversion fee per transaction when spending crypto (charged at point of sale)
- No monthly fees, no annual fees, no inactivity fees
- Earn 100 CoinJar Points per $1 spent — points redeemable for crypto
- Free ATM withdrawals up to certain limits (then small fees apply)
Deposit & withdrawal fees
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AUD deposit (PayID/Osko) | Free, instant | Recommended |
| AUD deposit (bank transfer) | Free | 1–2 business days |
| AUD deposit (BPAY) | 1% | Slower |
| AUD withdrawal | Free | 1–2 business days |
| Crypto withdrawal | Network fee | Varies by coin |
The CoinJar Card — the real differentiator
The CoinJar Card is what makes the platform worth considering despite higher consumer fees. It's a Mastercard debit card that you can fund with:
- Your AUD balance on CoinJar
- Any cryptocurrency you hold on CoinJar (BTC, ETH, etc.)
When you tap the card to pay, CoinJar auto-converts your selected funding asset to AUD at the point of sale. Works anywhere Mastercard is accepted globally, supports Apple Pay and Google Pay, and rewards you with CoinJar Points (100 per $1) redeemable for crypto.
What makes this genuinely useful:
- No need to sell crypto in advance and wait for AUD to settle
- Lets you "live on crypto" without touching a bank account
- Useful for SMEs that take crypto payments and want to spend it
The 1% per-transaction fee is meaningful for large purchases but reasonable for everyday spending. The CoinSpot Mastercard launched in 2024 but CoinJar's product is more mature.
Coins supported
CoinJar supports approximately 67 cryptocurrencies — a curated selection focused on well-established assets. You'll find:
- All top-20 coins by market cap (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, BNB, ADA, AVAX, DOGE, LINK, DOT)
- Stablecoins (USDT, USDC, AUDC)
- Popular memecoins (DOGE, SHIB)
- Some Layer-2 tokens
You won't find a long tail of speculative altcoins or freshly launched tokens. For most users, this is fine. For altcoin hunters, look at CoinSpot or Coinstash.
Security & trust
- AUSTRAC registered as a Digital Currency Exchange
- FCA registered in the UK — provides multi-jurisdictional oversight
- Regulated in Ireland via the Central Bank of Ireland
- 13+ years operating with no major security incidents
- Cold storage for the majority of customer funds
- 2FA mandatory for all withdrawals
- Member of Blockchain Australia and FinTech Australia
- Won the 2025 Finder Award for Best Crypto Trading Platform (highly commended)
One thing CoinJar doesn't publicly disclose, unlike CoinSpot or Swyftx: ISO 27001 certification status and audited proof-of-reserves. This isn't necessarily a red flag — the platform is fully regulated and has a clean operating history — but it's worth noting as a transparency gap.
User experience
CoinJar's app is clean and beginner-friendly, with a separate web-based Exchange platform for advanced trading. App store ratings:
- iOS: 4.5/5
- Google Play: 4.3/5
The biggest UX limitation is customer support: support is via email or ticket only — no live chat. For an exchange with hundreds of thousands of users, this is the most common complaint. Expect 24–72 hour first responses.
Tax reporting (ATO)
CoinJar reports user transaction data to the ATO under the Designated Service Provider regime. Tax reporting features:
- Downloadable EOFY transaction history (CSV)
- Integration with Koinly and CryptoTaxCalculator
- Annual statement available within the app
The tax tooling is adequate but less polished than Independent Reserve's KPMG-integrated estimator.
Pros & cons
Pros
- The CoinJar Card — mature, useful crypto Mastercard
- 13+ years operating with clean track record
- Free, instant PayID and Osko deposits
- Multi-jurisdictional regulation (AU, UK, Ireland)
- CoinJar Exchange offers 0.02–0.10% fees for active traders
- Earn CoinJar Points (100 per $1) when spending via Card
- Clean app design with separate Exchange interface
- Backed by reputable VC investors
Cons
- 1% consumer Instant Buy fee is higher than competitors
- 2% card-funded deposit fee is steep
- Only 67 coins — limited altcoin selection
- No live chat support — email/ticket only
- No ISO 27001 certification publicly disclosed
- No proof-of-reserves audit publicly disclosed
- No demo mode
- No staking, derivatives, or margin
How CoinJar compares
| Feature | CoinJar | CoinSpot | Swyftx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer fee | 1% (2% card) | 1% (Instant) | 0.6% + spread |
| Active trader fee | 0.02–0.10% (Exchange) | 0.1% (Markets) | 0.1% (top tier) |
| Coins | 67 | 490+ | 440+ |
| Crypto debit card | Yes — mature | Yes — newer | No |
| Live chat | No | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| ISO 27001 | Not disclosed | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Crypto spending via card | All-round | Mobile-first beginners |
Who should use CoinJar?
CoinJar is a great choice if you:
- Want a crypto Mastercard with a proven track record
- Want to spend crypto in everyday transactions
- Trade on CoinJar Exchange (the advanced platform) for the 0.02–0.10% fees
- Value a long-established Australian brand
- Buy and hold blue-chip coins (BTC, ETH) rather than altcoins
CoinJar might not suit you if you:
- Want the lowest consumer Instant Buy fee — Swyftx (0.6%) beats CoinJar (1%)
- Want a wide selection of altcoins — 67 coins is limiting
- Need 24/7 live chat support
- Value publicly disclosed ISO 27001 certification and proof-of-reserves
- Are funding purchases primarily via card — the 2% fee is painful