Changelly is a bitcoin and altcoin exchange, that lets you switch between different coins without having to depositing coins at an exchange.
It's one of the most popular exchanges out there, so I thought I would test it out and compare it to other popular exchanges.
Exchanging Coins on Changelly
Changelly works a little differently to most exchanges. You don't store any coins on Changelly. You simply send coins to the service, and they are exchanged and you're sent back the exchanged coins. This means you don't need to worry about depositing coins on a third party service.
Here is how it works:
- Sign up for a Changelly account. It's free!
- Select the coin you want to send to changelly.
- Select the coin you want to receive back
- Input wallet addresses for both coins
- Send the coin you want to exchange
- You'll receive the exchanged coin directly to your wallet.
Can you trust Changelly?
Because you never deposit coins to store on Changelly, you don't need to worry about them going out of business and taking your coins. Changelly isn't a wallet. They are just an exchange to convert currency into another. They are one of the largest exchanges and have developed a good reputation. I've never heard of any issues surrounding Changelly.
What can you exchange on Changelly?
One of the biggest pro points of Changelly is the huge range of altcoins that you can exchange. Of course you can exchange all the popular coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin etc. But you can also exchange some of the more obscure altcoins which are only just becoming more popular.
Changelly is great for getting rid of altcoins that you no longer want to hold. Unlike traditional exchanges, you don't need to first exchange the altcoin into bitcoin before buying another coin. You can go straight from one altcoin to another.
There are too many coins on Changelly to list here. I suggest visiting the website and just seeing for yourself what's available to exchange.
What are the Fees on Changelly?
Changelly charges a fee of just 0.5%. You'll also be charged network fees – these are the fees the blockchains charge. These are usually quite small.
How Fast is Changelly?
The good thing about Changelly is you don't need to wait days for an exchange to go through. They display an estimated arrival time when before you start an exchange. I've found this to be around 5-30 minutes. When testing the service, I was able to exchange Bitcoin for Ethereum within 20 minutes. This was the total time from sending the bitcoin to seeing the Ethereum in my wallet.
Changelly has very good liquidity so you'll never be stuck waiting for orders to fulfill.
Buying Cryptocurrency with a Credit/Debit Card
As well as being able to exchange one currency for another Changelly also lets you buy Bitcoin using a credit/debit card. So if you don't yet have any crypto, you can easily buy bitcoin which you can then use to exchange into other altcoins.
Just be aware that buying cryptocurrency with a credit card can be more expensive than when buying using a bank account. This is due to credit card fees. You need to weigh up whether you want speed over cost.
Changelly vs Shapeshift – which is better?
Both Changelly and Shapeshift are very similar and work the same way. The fees on Changelly are slightly lower and there are no limits for crypto to crypto exchanges.
Changelly vs Coinbase
Coinbase is a bit different to Changelly. I think they both work great together. Coinbase is better for buying cryptocurrency using fiat currency. Whereas Changelly is great for turning one cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin) into another.
I use both Coinbase and Changelly. I buy Bitcoin with Coinbase and then exchange it using Changelly to invest in other altcoins.
What I like about Changelly
Like everything I review on TheCashDiaries I've tried out Changelly myself. These are the main things that stood out from using Changelly:
Quick Signup with just an email
There is no complex verification process on Changelly. All you need is an email address. I like how fast and easy it was to get setup. Much easier than other exchanges.
Don't need to worry about Storage Issues
One of the things I worry about the most is exchanges suddenly disappearing and taking my funds. I always recommend you store large amounts of cryptocurrency on your own hardware. You don't need to worry about this issue with Changelly as they don't store your crypto. It goes from your wallet, to another wallet instantly.
Easy to use
Exchanges can be quite complex. bid, ask, market order, limit – these are confusing terms for regular people. Changelly is very simple to use and you don't need to worry about these. They put a user friendly interface in front of the exchange. That's why I recommend changelly for new cryptocurrency users. It's a great way to get into cryptocurrency without the huge learning curve.
Find out more about Changelly here
