If you’ve come across Cointree in your hunt for online crypto exchanges and want to know whether you should give them your money or not, then we’d suggest you don’t do it until you’ve read this post. Since it’s a fair Cointree review, we won’t sugar-coat anything, but instead, we’ll be brutally honest. This is how we believe we can protect people dipping their toe into the sea of cryptocurrency. That said, let’s get started:
Basic Specifics:
- Name: Cointree
- Established In: 2013 in Melbourne Australia
- Founder: Shane Stevenson
- Type: Online Cryptocurrency Exchange
- Fiat Currency: Australian Dollar
- Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, Etherium and over 100 more
Introduction to Cointree:
Cointree is one of the well-known cryptocurrency exchange based in Australia that provides fast and easy purchase of more than 130 cryptocurrencies.
Being a local Aussie exchange, it allows deposit in AUD and its conversion into digital assets like Etherium, Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The platform has over 80,000 users and is regulated by AUSTRAC.
The Major Caveat of Using Cointree:
One thing that many people joining Cointree don’t realize is they aren’t a trading platform. By this, we mean you do not trade your cryptocurrency with other people on the platform. Instead, you buy the digital currency from Cointree, and when you sell it, you sell it right back to them. This is not that big of a problem because at least then you have some trading volume on the platform.
However, the problem is unfair prices. The difference between their selling and buying prices is too much. At the time of writing this Cointree review (10th May 2021), the buying price of Bitcoin on Coindesk is $73,628 AUD, but the cost listed on the Bitcoin page of Cointree is $74850 AUD. This is HUGE; over $1200 AUD difference.
You will see a similar difference on selling Bitcoin, you’ll get a high price when buying, but when you sell the coin back to Cointree, over $1000 AUD difference will be there at the very least. This is where Cointree makes its money, but it’s a straight loss for you; this makes them not worth your time and money.
You can even compare the spread (the difference between buying and selling price) of Cointree with its competing exchangers in Australia like Independent Reserve, CoinSpot, and Coinjar; you’ll see a big difference; Cointree will have a higher spread.
The Bottom Line: Seeing how Cointree can rip off its users, it doesn’t make any sense to use the platform to buy or sell digital currency. They claim to be offering low fees than other exchanges, which is not true either. Besides high spreads, their fees are significantly high too. Read on to know more about them:
They Have Ridiculous Trading Fees
Besides insanely high spreads (difference between buying and selling prices), you will have to pay a trading fee which is a lot more than what other alternatives like CoinSpot or CoinJar charge. Cointree has a tier trading fee with 5 levels ranging from Bronze to Diamond.
- For Bronze, you pay a 0.9% fee on a trading volume of $0 to $9,999.
- For Silver, you pay a 0.8% fee on a trading volume of $10,000 to $49,999
- For Gold, you pay a 0.7% fee on a trading volume of $50,000 to $199,999
- For Platinum, you pay 0.6% fee on a trade volume of $200,000 to $999,999
- For Diamond, you pay a 0.5% fee on a trading volume of $1,000,000 and upwards.
This is A LOT of money; imagine paying $1200 AUD for a trade of $200,000 or $5000 AUD for a trade of $1,000,000.
Other Cryptocurrency Exchange That Are 10x Better Than Cointree
We’ve reviewed many cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia, and Cointree didn’t appeal to us, not one bit. Their insane spreads and unfair fees make them one of the worst places a beginner trader can start from.
So instead of going for them, explore other Australian online exchanges that we’ve also reviewed, like Coinjar and CoinSpot, and you’ll find them much better than Cointree, whether you’re a beginner or a pro trader.
