Our guide outlines Easy Crypto's features, fees, pros, cons, and comparisons with other alternatives. We also look at the platform's safety and must-know features unique to Easy Crypto.
Updated 10 July 2024
Easy Crypto Summary
- Easy Crypto is a well-established New Zealandbased crypto platform, which offers users the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
- The platform offers a wide range of 109 coins, ranging from household names such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other alternative coins (altcoins).
- Easy Crypto is one of the most beginner-friendly platforms for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Its ease of use, from the sign-up process to the purchasing process makes it one of the best platforms for beginners.
- Easy Crypto is also one of the safest platforms to buy cryptocurrencies as Easy Crypto does not store your funds or private keys on their platform.
- The fees charged are all-inclusive in the buy and sell prices, so what you see is what you get. The fee range is 0.70% to 0.90%.
- Payment methods supported on Easy Crypto are Account2Account, credit card, debit card, POLi Pay, and Bank transfers.
- There are no account fees with Easy Crypto, and the minimum purchase order is NZ$50.
To explain Easy Crypto in detail, our guide covers:
- Setting up an Easy Crypto Wallet and Buying and Selling
- Fees and Safety
- Easy Crypto's Platform Features
- Pros and Cons
- Alternatives to Easy Crypto - Binance vs LocalBitcoins
- Frequently Asked Questions
Warning:
- By publishing this guide, wearenot recommending or suggesting in any way or form that Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencyis a suitable investment.
- We published and update this guide to help people understand the Easy Crypto platform - MoneyHub is conservative and our publisher,Christopher Walsh, has zero Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency investments.
- We present this information in good faith and remain objective at all times.By including this guide under our Investing and Saving section,we are not advocating that cryptocurrency is an investment. We mayearna referral bonus for anyone that clicks onsome of the below links - see ourAdvertising Policyfor more details.
If you're looking to buy cryptocurrency, Easy Crypto is one platform. To help you decide if it's right for you, read our Easy Crypto vs Swyftx comparison.
Setting up an Easy Crypto Wallet
- To begin buying and selling crypto on Easy Crypto, you will need to set up a wallet for the specific cryptocurrency you are interested in purchasing. A cryptocurrency wallet is an app or device that stores the public and/or private keys.
- Easy Crypto offers crypto wallets;simple, safe and easy to use mobile app designed to deliver a secure and intuitive experience for managing multiple digital assets and crypto wallets, regardless of whether you're a crypto novice or an experienced user. You can see more details here.Our Bitcoin wallet guide has all the details you need to make a safe decision.
- When it comes to cryptocurrencies, the asset you want to protect is the private key, not the coins themselves. The private key is used for signing transactions and allows anyone who possesses it to transfer cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, from the corresponding address.
- There are plenty of free, reputable desktop and mobile wallets out there, such as the Exodus Wallet and Trust Wallet. It is always a smart decision to check the reviews and general trustworthiness of a specific wallet before deciding to open a wallet with them.
- A safer alternative to the desktop and mobile wallet is the hardware wallet (e.g., Trezor, Ledger). EasyCrypto is an official resellerofboth brands. The costs of these wallets range in the hundreds of dollars and are more suitable for people with larger cryptocurrency holdings.
Buying and Selling on Easy Crypto
Payment methods supported on Easy Crypto are as follows:
- Account2Account
- Bank Transfers
- POLi Pay
Fees:Account2Account and Bank transfers are both free. Transfers going through Account2Account are instant, and Bank transfers vary depending on the bank and the timing of your deposit. The POLi Pay method is instant but charges a 1% fee, with a maximum fee of $3.
Fractional and Set Dollar Amount Purchases
- Easy Crypto offers an"Instant buy & sell"function, which allows you to buy or sell one particular cryptocurrency based on fiat amount (e.g., $50 worth of bitcoin) or in units of crypto (i.e., 0.1 bitcoin).
- For buy orders, you will need to enter your wallet address for Easy Crypto to send you the purchased crypto. For sell orders, you will need to send your crypto to an Easy Crypto specified bitcoin address, and settlement in NZD will be sent to your registered bank account.
- Minimum order: There is a minimum order amount of NZ$50, which applies to both buy and sell orders. Easy Crypto can send crypto directly to your existing wallet, another exchange account or a hardware wallet.
- The time it takes for crypto to arrive on your wallet will vary based on the network activity at the time. To put this to the test, our research team bought $50 NZD worth of bitcoin, which arrived in our wallet in roughly 4 minutes.
- Easy Crypto also offers a"Multi-coin order", which allows you to buy or sell multiple cryptocurrencies at once. The same process above applies; you will need to enter your wallet address for the multiple cryptocurrencies you are purchasing.
Video Explainer:To help explain Easy Crypto and the crypto market in general, we suggest watching the video below from a MoneyHubLIVE event held in September 2023. In it, Doug Shephard of MoneyHub and Janine Grainger of Easy Crypto explain what crypto is and answer common FAQs asked by MoneyHub users.
Easy Crypto's Fees
All fees are included in the price you buy or sell crypto, which is why the buy-sell spread for Easy Crypto appears to be wider than alternative platforms.
Important: Easy Crypto makes around 0.9% on orders - or less depending on yourDiscount Tier(these start from just $1,000 spend) and can be as low as 0.70%.
Mandatory fees:
- Network fees are fees charged by the network to send crypto - Easy Crypto does not charge such fees. You will need to pay this fee on other platforms when withdrawing crypto into your wallet. Traditionally, network fees have been relatively high for some cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin due to the high network costs.
- Also included in the fee is the foreign exchange fees, as fiat purchases and sale of cryptocurrencies are executed in USD. Easy Crypto packages foreign exchange fees in their all-inclusive price.
- Crypto trading limitation:Due to the 0.70% to 0.90% fee in buying and selling, active traders looking to buy and sell crypto frequently may find that the fees significantly reduce theoverall returns. But for anyone who plans to invest and hold and seldom trade, Easy Crypto'sfees appear to be reasonable.
Safety of Your Funds and Crypto
Many exchanges allow you to keep your purchased cryptocurrencies in an account on their platform. The idea is to make it convenient for active users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and to avoid the network costs of withdrawing currencies into your wallet.
Unlike these exchanges, your NZD (fiat) and crypto do not get stored in an account on Easy Crypto's platform. Instead, when buying crypto on Easy Crypto, your fiat is sent directly to Easy Crypto, and Easy Crypto will send the cryptocurrencies you've purchased directly into your wallet.
Know this: Delivering your purchases into your wallet is arguably the most secure way of buying and selling crypto because it avoids having your money stored on an intermediary platform (such as an exchange), which has a risk of getting hacked. Hackings of platforms are not uncommon in the crypto world - Christchurch-based Cryptopia is one example of many. When exchanges are hacked, the investors can lose some or all of their crypto.
Easy Crypto's Notable Platform Features
Easy Crypto offers some useful features to help buy and see cryptocurrencies without friction or uncertainty. We explain the notable features in detail below.
Slippage
Another essential aspect to examine when evaluating a platform is slippage. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage is a common occurrence when buying and selling cryptocurrencies due to their volatile nature.
Determining the risk of slippage: To check if slippage is an issue for larger trades, you can change the buy amounts to larger amounts when executing an order and check if bitcoin's quoted price has changed. Our research team has not found slippage to be an issue using this method. However, results may vary based on market liquidity. We recommend contacting Easy Crypto for larger trades to understand if there is a likely risk of slippage.
Swaps
Swaps are a function offered by Easy Crypto which essentially allows you to "swap" a crypto for another (e.g., Bitcoin to Ethereum). Swaps are processed through a third party vendor, and may run slowly during high network volumes. We estimate that swaps will most likely take longer than expected during holiday periods, and deliveries can take up to 36 hours. To limit any price and timing issues, Easy Crypto recommends placing normal sell and buy trades for speed and certainty of your rate.
Other features – Tracker, Pro Trading, Autoinvest, Tax Reporting Tracker
Tracker
This page shows you a record of your trading history with Easy Crypto. This is a handy tool to check your overall statistics, such as the total market value of all your purchases with them, net fiat invested, total returns. You can also manually add trades you make on other crypto platforms to show up on this tracker page.
Auto-Invest
With Easy Crypto's auto-invest function, you can create an automatic purchase order to make regular purchases of selected coins. You decide what coins you want to purchase on their template and the ratio you want to purchase them at. For example, you can choose for each deposit to buy 50% bitcoin and 50% Ethereum.
Each time you deposit into Easy Crypto, their system automatically purchases those coins in your selected ratio. This is an effective way to dollar cost average into your favourite cryptocurrencies.
Tax Reporting
Easy Crypto provides a tax summary based on your buy and sell transactions. These are indicative only and should only be used as an estimate. While Easy Crypto does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented here and take no liability or responsibility for the results, this is a handy tool for you to calculate your taxes.To understand more about tax on cryptocurrencies visit the IRD's website here.
Easy Crypto - Pros and Cons
Pros:
- One of the most beginner-friendly platforms, from the sign-up process to the purchasing process. Easy Crypto allows you to make crypto purchases quickly and easily using their instant buy & sell function.
- Fees are included in the price, so what you see is what you get.
- Cryptocurrencies get sent directly into your wallet, and therefore it is one of the safest methods of purchasing cryptocurrencies.
- Their tracker page allows you to track your overall purchases and shows you useful statistics such as your % returns, total purchases etc.
- Free instant payment method supported by Account2Account allows you to buy crypto quickly.
- Easy Crypto offers an auto-invest function, which supports a 'dollar cost averaging' strategy. This is particularly useful if you are planning to invest a set amount into cryptocurrencies over time.
- Easy Crypto also has a wide range of learner materials for the crypto beginner, from setting up a hardware wallet to what Decentralised Finance (DeFi) is. You can check out the full range of topics covered here.Easy Crypto offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies. If you are looking to buy a particular cryptocurrency that is not currently offered by Easy Crypto, get in touch with their support team. They may add that cryptocurrency to the list of coins available.
- You can buy fractions of a cryptocurrency, with a minimum purchase order of NZ$50, making it accessible for anyone to buy high dollar value cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
Cons:
- Due to Easy Crypto angling itself towards beginners, there is limited functionality compared to other options. For example, there are no trading tools for users who are looking to perform technical analysis.
- Easy Crypto does not offer a limit buy or stop loss function. Therefore, this might not suit anyone looking to execute trades when a certain crypto reaches a certain price.
- Because all fees (such as Forex and network charges) are already included in the buy and sell price, Easy Crypto is not suitable for people looking to trade frequently. A better option for active traders would be an exchange where funds are stored on the platform which avoids the need to pay forex and network fees each time you buy and sell.
Alternatives to Easy Crypto - Binance vs LocalBitcoins
Easy Crypto isn't the only option for New Zealanders - we compare three popular and trusted options below.
Binance
- Payment methods:Debit/credit card via third-party payment provider Simplex
- Fees:Card processing fees are 3.5% with a minimum fee of US$10. When withdrawing Bitcoin, for example to your private wallet, there is a withdrawal fee of 0.0005 BTC, approximately NZ$28
- Minimum order size:The minimum order size is the equivalent of US$30, which is approximately NZ$46
- Settlement:On an account
- Coins available:With a bank card, you can buy 18 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. On the exchange, there is hundreds of coins are available to trade once you have an account funded with crypto
- Learn more:Binance
LocalBitcoins
- Payment methods:It depends on your agreement with the seller
- Fees:A fee of 1% is charged to the party which listed the ad on the platform, other fees might be priced into the offer from the seller
- Minimum order size:The seller sets the minimum order size
- Settlement:Private wallet
- Coins available:Bitcoin only
- Learn More:LocalBitcoins
Easy Crypto - Frequently Asked Questions
Easy Crypto is user-friendly and transparent, but there are still some must-know facts to be aware of. We answer common questions below:
How safe is the Easy Crypto platform?
We believe Easy Crypto is one of the safest platforms because Easy Crypto does not store any of your funds or private keys, and they also offer a 100% funds safety guarantee on all orders. Any purchases get sent directly into your wallet.
Important: Easy Crypto offers crypto wallets; simple, safe and easy to use mobile app designed to deliver a secure and intuitive experience for managing multiple digital assets and crypto wallets, regardless of whether you're a crypto novice or an experienced user. You cansee more details here.
How long will it take for crypto to get sent into my wallet?
It depends. The network speed of cryptocurrencies varies between one another. It also depends on how busy the network is at the time of purchase. For example, MoneyHub's test run with purchasing NZ$50 worth of bitcoin took roughly 4 minutes. However, the timing may vary if we execute the buy order at a different time of day.
Can I use buy and sell limit or stop-loss orders on Easy Crypto?
Unfortunately, Easy Crypto does not support this function. You can only use market orders.
Do I need to pay taxes on my cryptocurrencies if I make a profit?
Easy Crypto has a tax summary page which is designed to be a guide to assist you in calculating your taxes; however, this may not be a complete and accurate picture of your tax obligations. To understand more about tax on cryptocurrencies visit the IRD's website here.
Are there any account fees with Easy Crypto?
No, it is completely free to sign up for an account with Easy Crypto. Easy Crypto makes its money per transaction, which is 0.70% to 0.90% per transaction.
Is there a minimum buy order?
Yes, the minimum purchase amount for any cryptocurrency is NZ$50.
