In this review, you will find out why Cryptomate is not an online crypto exchange that we recommend and what made us take this decision.
About Cryptomate – not recommended
As a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, Cryptomate focuses on providing crypto buyers and sellers in the United Kingdom with a way to connect. This already means that if you live anywhere else on the planet, this platform is not for you. It’s important to note that this exchange does not actually sell crypto itself but it helps GBP transactions through a centralized system. It already sounds complicated and unusual. Basically, it offers clients an order matching system thanks to which they can see prices and execute their orders.
It’s also worth mentioning that most of the time, the coins do not reach the customer’s account or are completely blocked. This means that the only way in which you can solve the issue is through their customer service which is not the most professional and quick. If an exchange clearly states that some problems might arise, you clearly need to run the other way and never look back. Interestingly enough, Cryptomate claims to always refund the client in case a vendor doesn’t complete their part of the deal but, so far, there has been no proof that they are actually doing that. With an experience of only three years, it’s normal for various issues to arise but these issues must also be solved and not used as excuses.
Moreover, Cryptomate claims that the UK banks will not flag your crypto transactions (as the law states) and that all clients are free to sell and buy virtual coins without any issues. However, this is a very risky move because, as we already know, banks do not really like cryptocurrencies and will do anything to stop such transactions from happening. So, in case you are deciding to choose this exchange, be prepared for nasty surprises that they won’t help you solve.
Trading on Cryptomate
When it comes to trading on Cryptomate, as we have already mentioned, they don’t actually sell crypto but intermediate the transactions between customers and vendors. However, their interface is not the easiest to understand, especially for beginners, and there is no tutorial or educational resource to help you in that case. So, you are left alone to deal with all those numbers and hopefully make mistakes so the exchange can profit.
As for their fees, it must be noted that, on average, clients spend about 7% of their investments on transaction fees which is absolutely huge and definitely not worth your time. You can also only pay using pounds and there is an option to exchange using an unverified account. This is a huge problem because basically anyone can do anything and trick customers without ever getting caught. At the moment, there is no Skrill or PayPal support because the exchange only works within the borders of the United Kingdom. Cryptomate also does not store any crypto which means that you will have to choose a type of wallet before doing anything else.
Cryptomate lacks features and has a poor security score
As you can see, Cryptomate lacks a ton of useful features that would make anyone choose them as their favorite exchange. In fact, their security score which has been determined at the Observatory by Mozilla is only an F which is way below the average for the market right now. So, we definitely do not recommend going for them if you want to exchange crypto and if you are living anywhere else than the United Kingdom. This platform is very poor when it comes to useful features, educational resources, platforms, and currencies. We would be lying if we said that it can help you learn anything or advance in your trading passion. They are only intermediaries that connect clients with vendors without having any means of verifying who these people are. The money may not reach their destination and there is nothing clients can do about that, the vendors can be sketchy, and the overall platform has a cheap and fake feeling to it. Thumbs down for sure!