Cryptopia cryptocurrency exchange review

What is Cryptopia and how does it work?

Cryptopia is an all-in-one style exchange and trading site focused around cryptocurrencies. Traders can buy altcoins at whatever prices are being offered by other people on the platform, and sell them for the price they think they’ll get.

It's also possible to browse various sale listings, and potentially buy almost anything from gift cards to headphones to a car, with cryptocurrency.

One of the main benefits might be the ability to transfer bitcoin and other currencies between users free of charge, as it’s being passed through Cryptopia rather than along the blockchain. It also offers a range of features that you might find useful, including:

• Marketplace: The marketplace for buying and selling listing with cryptocurrencies.
• Arbitrage: An information section where you can see the prices of coins listed on other exchanges. This can help you pick out the better value for money listings and make more informed decisions.
• Coin info: Up to date information on the over 500 altcoins being traded at Cryptopia.
• Paytopia: Cryptopia’s own products and services, including various promotional tools to use with your listings, available on per-month subscriptions and payable with Dotcoin.

Cryptopia is an entirely peer-to-peer exchange, so you’re buying straight from other users. Like eBay, Gumtree or other online marketplaces you’ll potentially find some very competitive prices, but will probably also find some very bad offers.

Once you have done your research and considered the pros and cons, the first step to using Cryptopia is signing up and verifying your account.

How to get verified

There are three stages of verification.

• Stage 1: By verifying only an email address you can you can withdraw or transfer up to $5,000 per 24-hour period.
• Stage 2: By providing your full name and address, identification and a picture of yourself holding that ID, you can raise your withdrawal and transfer limits to $50,000 per 24-hour period.

• Stage 3: By providing all of the above, as well as proof of address, a photo of a paper with your Cryptopia username handwritten on it, and a written statement about why you need limits above $50,000 per day, you can raise your withdrawal and transfer limits to $500,000 per 24-hour period. Two-factor authentication must be enabled for all parts of a stage 3 verified account.

Who can use Cryptopia?

Anyone with a verified account can use it, from anywhere in the world. However, the only fiat currency it supports is New Zealand dollars, and you can only make bank transfers from New Zealand bank accounts.

If you want to deposit any fiat currency into the account, you’re going to have to be happy using New Zealand dollars. But if you’re only going to be using cryptocurrencies, then you can use Cryptopia from anywhere in the world without any issues.

How to get started, make transfers and trade

• Video tutorial: Creating an account tutorial

• Video tutorial: Making deposits and withdrawals

• Video tutorial: How to trade on Cryptopia

What currencies does Cryptopia support?

The only fiat currency Cryptopia supports is New Zealand dollars transferred from a New Zealand bank account.

However, it also supports an exceptionally wide range of cryptocurrencies. At the time of writing (November 2017) it has 548 different altcoins listed on the exchange. Naturally, this includes all the most prominent ones, like bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash

Fees

There are two kinds of fees you’ll run into.

• Exchange. There are fees for transferring cryptocurrencies from one wallet to another. The fees depend on the currencies being transferred and other factors.
• Withdrawal. Transfer fees apply when withdrawing NZD from your account, as well as cryptocurrencies. When withdrawing cryptocurrencies you’re essentially transferring them from the Cryptopia wallet to your own, so it’s also a transaction fee.

Notably, there are no fees for transferring altcoins between users on Cryptopia. This is because they’re staying in the Cryptopia wallet, but simply allowing a different person access.

Accepted payment methods

The only fiat currency transfer method Cryptopia accepts transfers from a New Zealand bank account. This needs to be done manually by requesting a transfer.

Other than that, you can freely transfer cryptocurrencies between users, or make withdrawals and deposits from cryptocurrency wallets as usual.

How long do transfers take?

Withdrawing or depositing New Zealand dollars might take several days, depending on how quickly the transaction is approved, what time of day you submit the request and how busy it is at the time.

Your cryptocurrency transfer times will depend on the type of altcoin being transferred and how busy the network is, but it can be done in just a few minutes.

Your transfer limits will depend on your level of verification.

Safety, security and privacy

Cryptopia will not distribute any personal information it collects, except for the purposes related to the reason it was collected (ie, to verify your identity).

Cryptopia uses the expected HTTPS security certificate and generally takes all efforts to ensure the integrity and security of all data on the platform. However, it warns that no information sent on the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and offers its services at your own risk.

Nevertheless, Cryptopia has a large user base around the world, and many people find it trustworthy.

To assist your own security, it also recommends two-factor authentication (2FA) for all accounts, and insists on it for level 3 verifications. It also sells its own 2FA device for NZ$35 in the Paytopia section.

In January 2019 Cryptopia was hacked, and many customers lost funds. Since then, Cryptopia has proceeded with reimbursement plans for affected customers.

Customer service and contact

For support, such as reporting errors or requesting a bank transfer, you can send a support request ticket.

You can also get in touch with Cryptopia on social media, use the forums or chat program provided, to contact other users or make enquiries through the site.

Pros and cons of Cryptopia

Next steps

Cryptopia is no longer trading. To find alternative venues, you can compare alternative exchanges.

Compare alternative exchanges

Frequently asked questions

• How does Cryptopia earn revenue?

  The fees may primarily be to cover transfer costs. They can vary though, and it’s not entirely clear whether or not Cryptopia also earns commission for its services.

  Paytopia might be earning its revenue from selling merchandise and Paytopia transactions instead.

Image source: Cryptopia