Bitcoin and CoinSpot are two of the longest-standing crypto exchanges. They were both founded in Australia in 2013. One has made substantial strides as a crypto exchange in its nine-year operating duration, whereas the other has notably lagged.
The difference in the number of users on the two platforms highlights the point above. Bitcoin has slightly above 300,000 Australian users, while CoinSpot boasts more than 2 million users.
This post compares the two crypto exchanges and highlights why CoinSpot is the superior exchange platform for most cryptocurrency investors.
What Is CoinSpot?
Headquartered in Melbourne, this Australian-based crypto exchange was founded by Russell Wilson in 2013. Russell is a distinguished personality who has gained experience developing online security software.
CoinSpot offers a reliable and safe site for trading (exchanging, selling, and buying) cryptocurrencies. The firm is now an official Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA) member. ADCA is a non-governmental agency well known for its remarkable commitment to offering legal protection to registered users.
This exchange enables registered users, including companies, fund investors, and individuals, to instantly sell or buy crypto (mainly BTC). It also enables users to trade in the open market by speculating cryptocurrency prices and obtaining potential profits.
This platform is certified under the Casey Block Services Pty Ltd ABN 19 619 574 186. CoinSpot is regulated under Australia’s exceptionally governed financial sector to secure its operations with the exchange’s investors.
Advantages and Disadvantages of CoinSpot
Advantages
- More than 360 cryptocurrencies
- Staking on 22 coins
- 24/7 live chat support
- Long-standing and experienced Australian exchange
- NFT marketplace
- Beginner-friendly interface
- Customisable security properties
- Assets stored safely offline
Disadvantages
- Lacks advanced markets to trade
- 1% fees when selling or buying crypto
What Is BTC Markets?
Founded in 2013 by Fintech Specialist Caroline Bowler, BTC Markets is an Australian crypto exchange based in Richmond, Victoria. BTC Markets is only available in Australia. It’s a Digital Currency Exchange member registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
This platform supports three cryptocurrency pairs, XRP/BTC, LTC/BTC, and ETH/BTC. It also offers 22 cryptos you can purchase directly with AUD.
This is one of Australia’s largest exchanges by volume and boasts more than 330,000 users every month. It is excellent for experienced investors in need of advanced trading tools. The exchange also has technical research analysis and charting, TradingView, and advanced market orders such as stop limit, time-in-force, and take profit.
BTC Markets also provides industry-grade security via biometric check-ups and 2FA, immediate deposit, and a nascent cryptocurrency staking platform. You should note that only the crypto Algorand (ALGO) is currently supported.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- Biometric and 2FA verification
- BTC Markets mobile app
- TradingView charting
- Cryptocurrency staking platform
- It supports three crypto pairs and 23 cryptocurrencies
- SSL encryption
- Advanced trading tools
- 98% of cryptocurrency assets are stored in cold storage
- Accepts AUD payments through BPay, Osko and PayID
Disadvantages
- It supports only three crypto pairs
- Users can’t withdraw fiat or crypto from the app
- Customer care may take up to 10 days to respond
- The staking platform only supports ALGO
Advantages and Disadvantages of BTC Markets
No BTC Markets advantage outshines CoinSpot. CoinSpot already covers every advantage of BTC Markets. The one difference is the public API provided by BTC Markets which developers can utilise to automate trading.
The disadvantages of BTC Markets are that they have limited crypto listed and don’t accept modern deposit systems like POLi and PayID. The charges are similar to CoinSpot, which are already higher than normal.
BTC Markets is an old-fashioned crypto exchange with dull security measures and protocols. Therefore, we don’t recommend it.
CoinSpot vs. BTC Markets Cryptocurrencies
One of CoinSpot’s best features is that it provides more than 350 digital assets, including every popular NFT, Layer 1 Smart Contract platform tokens, and Metaverse. Moreover, they’re fast to update their tokens list and add new coins weekly.
Contrarily, BTC Markets supports only 23 different cryptos, most of which are legacy tokens that are virtually dead from a development standpoint. They include OmiseGo, XRP, and Ethereum Classic.
CoinSpot vs. BTC Markets Fees
The charges to trade on CoinSPot differ according to the type of trading you choose. CoinSpot’s Instant Trading platform imposes a 1% charge for selling or buying, while the Market Order trading type takes a 0.1% charge. 0.1% trading charge, the lowest in Australia, contrasts with BTC Markets’ 0.85% trading charge.
BTC Markets offer trading fee discounts that favour large investors and whales since it’s weighted relative to volume. This implies you’d have to trade more than $500,000 in 30 days to receive CoinSpot’s discounts.
Methods of Deposit
CoinSpot provides five deposit methods: Direct Deposit, Cash Deposit, BPAY, PayID, and POLi.
Deposits with PayID and POLi are almost instantly confirmed, and a user’s account is funded with zero deposit charge. The daily deposit limit for an unverified account is $2,000, and the limit for a verified account is $20,000.
BPAY takes up to two business days to clear deposits. They charge a 0.9% fee and impose a deposit limit of $10,000 daily.
CoinSpot’s partnership with BlueShyft, allows you to use one of the thousands of participating newsagents to deposit funds.
With direct deposits, you use OSKO to deposit into your CoinSpot account. There’s no fee, and you get an almost instant confirmation.
On the other hand, BTC Markets provides two deposit methods: i.e. BPAY and OSKO. OSKO’s daily deposit limit is $10,000, and BPAY’s is $2,000.
BPAY takes one to two business days to fund a user’s account with the deposited amount, while OSKO takes a couple of minutes.
CoinSpot vs. BTC Markets Security
CoinSpot is Australia’s most secure crypto exchange since it hasn’t experienced any data breaches or hacks. Moreover, CoinSpot is the only crypto exchange with an ISO 27001 certificate that ascertains they’re the best in terms of security.
In contrast, BTC Markets experienced a serious data breach in 2020 that was widely reported among well-known cryptocurrency news outlets. Since then, many users have migrated from this crypto exchange to other Australian platforms such as Independent Reserve and CoinSpot.
Customer Service
CoinSpot provides several means to contact their customer support team. Users can call them if they wish to speak to live agents. You can also submit a ticket and receive a response to your query, or check out their FAQ section.
BTC Markets doesn’t provide a phone line. They also have a FAQ documentation segment and a ticket system.
Summary of Comparison
This is a no-brainer comparison. The superior platform for general user experience, security, crypto selection, and fees is CoinSpot. BTC Markets is the only advantage BTC Markets has over CoinSpot. This is only used for big institutional investors. CoinSpot offers a quality value for a beginner crypto investor.
