There are loads of ways to buy Bitcoin these days. This glut of options can be complicated for investors, but the search for the perfect exchange is worth the work. CoinCorner is a way to buy Bitcoin using Euro and British Pounds Sterling as payment. CoinCorner has its strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the rest of this CoinCorner review, we’ll get into detail, covering the exchange’s platform, fees, and reputation. We’ll also provide you with some strong alternatives that may give you better results.
We evaluate all cryptocurrency exchanges by usability, coins offered, security, reputation, fees, and other metrics. We want to give you a true sense of what it’s like to use the exchange, and how an exchange like CoinCorner stacks up to the other cryptocurrency exchanges available to you in 20322.
Daniel Scott, Phil Collins, Charlie Woolnough and David Brown founded CoinCorner in June 2014. They wanted an easy way for people in the UK to buy Bitcoin. Today, CoinCorner is headquartered in the Isle of Man. Bitcoin remains the only coin traded on CoinCorner, but the service is now available in 45 countries. CoinCorner is a reliable way to buy Bitcoin (if expensive), but the company makes it very difficult to withdraw fiat currency.
CoinCorner is said to have collaborated with the Isle of Man government to establish a regulatory framework by which national cryptocurrency businesses must operate. In May 2016, the company was awarded Designated Business status by the IoM Financial Services Authority. This speaks to CoinCorner’s compliance with national money laundering and anti terrorist funding regulations.
According to the Financial Services Authority, this designation pertains to “the business of issuing, transmitting, transferring, providing safe custody or storage of, administering, managing, lending, buying, selling, exchanging or otherwise trading or intermediating convertible virtual currencies, including crypto-currencies or similar concepts where the concept is accepted by persons as a means of payment for goods or services, a unit of account, a store of value or a commodity.”
CoinCheck had one hacking alarm in 2016, but managed to stave off the attack by getting their users to change passwords. No funds were reported missing, and such incidents have not recurred. Users also have a second layer 2 Factor Authentication option to further secure personal accounts.
For their part, CoinCorner stores about 90% of Bitcoins in the platform in cold storage, where they are nearly 100% safe from hackers.
Because Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency traded using the CoinCorner platform, one would rightly assume that the platform is easy to use.
A user simply has to sign up, choose a payment option (bank transfer, credit/debit, Neteller), and a purchase can be immediately initiated. Of course, debit/credit will always be completed faster than bank transfer, but all of these methods are reliable.
Because CoinCorner is also a Bitcoin wallet, users will find their new Bitcoin stored within the platform (not sent to an external wallet, as with Bittylicious and others). We don’t recommend ever storing coins long term in an exchange wallet, because hackers can and do target these storage mechanisms. To CoinCorner’s credit, however, the exchange/wallet system has never been successfully hacked.
CoinCorner only sells Bitcoin, but this was not always the case. When the company debuted in 2014, they also sold Dogecoin and Litecoin. There simply wasn’t much demand for these altcoins, and both were summarily removed. Bitcoin has been the sole product sold ever since, and CoinCorner has published no intentions of adding new altcoins to the platform. User demand could make a difference, as it did in the removal of Dogecoin and Litecoin.
Up till now, CoinCorner has performed admirably, but there is a great deal to complain about when it comes to fees and buying limits. In brief, CoinCorner is expensive.
CoinCorner charges 2.5% for all deposits (debit/credit, bank wire transfer, and NeTeller; there is no Paypal option). The company takes 1% of all transactions, whether the user is buying or selling. Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are free. Users pay only the transaction costs implicit in the Bitcoin miner transaction system. CoinCorner takes 5 EUR/GBP just to process a refund. Finally, while there is no current mechanism to withdraw fiat from CoinCorner, users report that withdrawals can be “arranged” and that they are very expensive. One user reports paying 80 Euro to withdraw fiat.
Other users report that they were able to work out no such deal, and that they had to first turn their cash into Bitcoin (for a fee!) and then transfer the Bitcoin to an external wallet. CoinCorner customer service is evasive about why cash withdrawals are not available. We can only imagine how much they would cost if they were.
As otherwise described, users can pay for their Bitcoin with debit/credit cards, bank wire transfers, and NeTeller. Connecting with any of these methods is as easy as is customary on internet financial platforms. If you can handle creating a Facebook account, you can probably connect your bank or sign up with NeTeller without difficulty.
CoinCorner seems to go out of their way to create a positive experience for their customers whenever possible. There are plenty of complaints about the lack of deposits or the high fees, but as these are publicized by CoinCorner, and the company is quick to explains the why’s of these persistent issues, we can’t hold these problems against the customer service department. Unlike many other exchange customer service systems, CoinCorner responds quickly. They always seem to be civil and friendly, even when they’re not about to resolve an issue to the perfect satisfaction of the customer.
CoinCorner has few unique features, which is what you’d expect from a platform that sells only Bitcoin. Their direct-to-wallet (legit wallet, not just an exchange wallet) is a strong feature, however, and the fact that this is also a dedicated mobile app is also a nice touch. As a whole, the platform is attractive and easy to use, though these are far from unique features.
Registration with CoinCorner is about what you’d expect from a solid cryptocurrency exchange like this.
You have to provide and email and unique password, after which CoinCorner will send you a verification email with a link you need to click. This will lead you to the inside of the exchange, and you can set up 2 Factor Authentication to add additional security to your account.
Before you can trade, you’ll have to include government ID, a picture of your face, and proof of address. Because CoinCorner is regulated, they’re subject to financial regulations of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man doesn’t want financial platforms in their country to be used for money laundering, fraud, or for the financing of terrorism. These “Know Your Customer (KYC)” rules ensure that the CoinCorner platform is not used for these purposes.
Once inside, you’ll be able to connect your payment method, then buy Bitcoin. Bank wire transfer, debit/credit card, and NeTeller are all accepted payment channels. It’s important to note that CoinCorner supports no methods of fiat withdrawal (except for information methods we’ve heard about from user accounts…no sure thing here). This means all funds must be changed to Bitcoin before withdrawal can be completed. Bitcoin withdrawals are free.
You’ll see the buy Bitcoin area on the main page. Your price will already be specified, so all you have to do is choose how much Bitcoin you want, commit to the order, and wait for your coins to arrive in your CoinCorner wallet. The process can take as little as 2 minutes for credit and debit card orders, though bank wire transfers and NeTeller take a bit longer.
CoinCorner is an exchange and a wallet. Some might even call it a wallet that you can buy Bitcoin with. As of the time of this writing, there has been no major hacking scandal associated with CoinCorner, except for a one-off scare that didn’t result in any loss of funds. CoinCorner may secure your coins relatively well, but they do so by having full control of the user’s private keys. Few users will want this, so we recommend that you transfer your coins to a safe wallet that you control, like Exodus. If you want to have a truly “Hands off” experience and don’t mind CoinCorner controlling your keys, by all means use their wallet. The companies claims to store most Bitcoins in cold storage may afford you a bit of extra security over the typical exchange wallet.
CoinCorner seems to be a safe way to buy and store Bitcoin. We like CoinCorner for it’s simplicity and reliability, though the platform will be too expensive and limited for some. Furthermore, it’s important for users to understand that there’s no way to withdraw cash from CoinCorner (which, if it’s not a problem now, might be a problem for you later). Users can always change their fiat to Bitcoin (At a cost), then withdraw, but this adds a step that many won’t want to make.
Therefore, while CoinCorner is likely safe to use, we can’t recommend it wholeheartedly. You can find many cheaper exchanges that accept Euro and Pounds Sterling on coinjournal.net. Many of these will accept a much wider array of altcoins that CoinCorner, with it’s nothing but Bitcoin trading limitations. It’s possible that CoinCorner will expand its services and lower their prices in the future, but for now we find these extremely limiting, even though the core performance of CoinCorner is excellent. It’s an odd problem to have.
If you try CoinCorner, please let us know your experience in the comments. Did you love it? Hate it? Other users will benefit from your comments as well. Good luck trading!