Coinmama vs Altcoin Trader: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Coinmama and Altcoin Trader This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on August 16, 2025

Coinmama

Altcoin Trader

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Available Countries

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

Yes

China

Yes

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

Yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

China

Yes

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

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Coinmama is ideal if:

Effortless for beginners — Streamlined, no-frills interface lets you buy crypto and send it straight to your own wallet in just a few taps.
Global and flexible — Available in nearly 190 countries with a wide range of local payment methods to suit diverse needs.
Built for safety and autonomy — Non-custodial model means you always control your funds, supported by robust regulatory compliance and encryption.

Altcoin Trader is ideal if:

Ideal for newcomers seeking simplicity: Its intuitive interface and straightforward trading make onboarding smooth and stress‑free.
Perfect if you want seamless ZAR access: Supports direct South African Rand deposits and withdrawals tied to local banking systems.
Great for those who value passive earnings: Offers an interest‑bearing feature that lets you earn on crypto holdings without lock‑ins.

Coinmama isn’t ideal if:

Not for advanced traders — Lacks tools like charts, limit orders, and margin trading, making it unsuitable if you need sophisticated trading features.
Limited crypto variety — Offers a relatively small selection of coins, which may frustrate users looking for broader portfolio options or niche tokens.
No built-in wallet or phone support — You must use your own external wallet for storage, and customer support lacks direct phone access for urgent communication.

Altcoin Trader isn’t ideal if:

Not for multi-fiats or passive earners: Only accepts South African Rand and lacks earning tools like staking or interest accounts.
Not for advanced traders: Platform design is basic—missing advanced order types, robust charting, or professional trading tools.
Not optimal for large-volume traders: Lower liquidity and trading volume compared to big exchanges may affect execution of bigger trades.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

Coinmama doesn’t operate with traditional maker/taker tiers based on order book liquidity—instead, it charges a flat commission plus a built-in spread, with loyalty-based fee reductions (up to around 25% off) for users who reach certain cumulative spending thresholds over time.

AltCoinTrader applies a flat fee of 0.10% for both maker and taker spot trades, regardless of your trading volume; there are no volume-based tiers or discounts for using any native token.

Futures/Derivatives

Coinmama currently does not offer futures, margin, or derivative trading, so there are no related maker, taker, or funding costs involved.

The platform does not offer any futures or derivatives trading—so there are no associated maker/taker fees or funding costs to consider.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

While specific spread numbers aren’t publicly listed, Coinmama embeds a markup—commonly known as a spread—within the quoted rate on top of its commission, meaning any trade price you see already includes a buffer above market mid-price.

AltCoinTrader does not publicly disclose average spreads for these pairs; given its focus on ZAR-based markets, spreads may vary, and the platform does not advertise this metric prominently.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

You can fund your account via bank transfers (SEPA, SWIFT, Open Banking) or card/e-wallets (Visa/Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Skrill), with free options for some bank channels and a percentage-based “express fee” for cards and wallets; Fiat withdrawals are sent back to your original payment method, typically taking one to several business days to process.

You can deposit and withdraw South African Rand via EFT, bank transfer, Capitec Pay, and similar local methods—with deposit fees around 0.5% (capped at R95), and withdrawal fees set at 0.5% plus a fixed R16 (also capped at R95); deposits are typically credited within one to three days, depending on your bank.

On-chain Withdrawals

Crypto withdrawals to your own wallet are facilitated without extra platform fees, but actual network fees apply and depend on the blockchain (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron), varying dynamically with network congestion and gas rates.

Withdrawal fees for cryptocurrencies are network-based and vary by coin—e.g., a BTC withdrawal costs approximately 0.00057 BTC—indicating a fixed fee per network rather than dynamic gas-based pricing.

Hidden Costs

Additional implicit costs may come from currency conversion if using non-fiat-native methods or local currency—plus small surcharges for instant payments through certain methods—while there are no inactivity fees and identity verification is required but generally included as part of the signup process, not as a premium service.

Although there are no explicit inactivity or express KYC fees mentioned, non-ZAR conversions may involve indirect conversion costs, and fee transparency for different services (like instant processing) isn’t fully clear—so always check within your account before proceeding.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

If you buy €500 worth of Bitcoin, the price you pay includes Coinmama’s commission and built-in spread, and sending that BTC to your wallet means you’ll also incur the standard blockchain network fee—but there are no surprises beyond the displayed total at checkout.

Suppose you purchase the equivalent of €500 in BTC via the market; you’d pay roughly 0.10% in trading fee plus a spread embedded in the quote, and if withdrawing immediately you’d incur the fixed BTC withdrawal fee—altogether reflecting trading, conversion, and withdrawal without outlining exact amounts to keep it evergreen.

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

Coinmama offers over 40 cryptocurrencies in total, including around 19 of the top 30 by market cap. Its top-20 by volume mainly include familiar names like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), BNB, Solana (SOL), XRP, and others, ensuring exposure to the most traded assets.

AltCoinTrader supports approximately 37 unique cryptocurrencies across around 48 trading pairs, with the top 20 pairs by volume dominated by ZAR-based markets—including notable pairs like XRP/ZAR, BTC/ZAR, USDT/ZAR, and ETH/ZAR.

Product Range

Coinmama focuses exclusively on spot purchases and simple swaps—offering no margin, perpetuals, options, ETFs, staking programs, loans, copy trading, grid bots, or automatic DCA functionality.

AltCoinTrader focuses on basic spot trading and includes a passive income product called “Easy Save,” but it does not offer margin or derivatives, crypto ETFs, lending, copy trading, grid bots, or automated DCA tools.

Liquidity

Being a broker rather than an exchange, Coinmama doesn’t display order books or real-time volume data for pairs like BTC or ETH; liquidity is assured through its own inventory, making market depth and 24-hour volumes internal and not publicly shown.

Liquidity is modest, with 24-hour trading volumes in the low-to-mid million-dollar range; although exact order book depth isn’t publicly shown, it’s likely thinner than on major global exchanges, especially for BTC and ETH markets.

Tools

Coinmama offers none of the typical advanced trading tools—there are no limit, stop, or OCO orders, no alerts, no charting interface, no public API or WebSockets, and no native integration with TradingView for analysis.

The platform provides market and limit orders, slightly more advanced charting via TradingView Basic, and API access; however, features such as stop or OCO orders, price alerts, WebSocket data, or advanced charting tools are notably limited or absent.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

All of Coinmama’s services are globally accessible where regulations permit; no additional products like derivatives or margin are available anywhere, so there are no region-specific product restrictions beyond general country bans.

Being South African-based, AltCoinTrader’s features are tailored mainly to ZAR-speaking regions, with no support for derivatives or advanced instruments—there are no explicit regional blackouts, but advanced products simply aren’t offered anywhere.

Innovation

Coinmama doesn’t support features like launchpad or launchpool initiatives, nor does it offer flexible or locked earning programs—its current setup remains strictly focused on one-time fiat-to-crypto purchases without ongoing yield products.

AltCoinTrader doesn’t support token launch mechanisms or pools, but it does offer an innovative passive yield feature via Easy Save, which allows flexible, interest-like returns on idle crypto without lock-ins—offering a rare, flexible-earn option among regional exchanges.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

Coinmama is operated by a regulated company incorporated in Ireland (originally founded in Israel in 2013) and is part of Wellfield Technologies, with its current main base in Vancouver, Canada.

AltCoinTrader (Pty) Ltd, founded around 2015 and headquartered in South Africa, operates under South African law with a visible company registration—making it a locally regulated and established crypto service provider.

Licenses/Registration

Coinmama is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and also compliant with Canadian regulation under FINTRAC, ensuring proper oversight in these key jurisdictions.

AltCoinTrader is officially licensed by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as a Category I/II Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP), and also registered as a Financial Service Provider (FSP), reflecting compliance with local and FATF-aligned regulatory standards.

Custody

Coinmama operates on a non-custodial model—meaning you always control your crypto, as they don’t hold tokens on your behalf—and there is no public proof of reserves, auditing statements, or disclosed cold-storage ratios.

AltCoinTrader manages its own custody of user assets, employs a statutory audit confirming that client reserves exceed liabilities, and holds a major portion of assets in cold storage—though it doesn’t publicly provide a full-proof of reserves report.

Insurance & Protection Funds

The platform does not advertise any insurance or user fund protection schemes, so users rely primarily on Coinmama’s non-custodial approach for the safety of their crypto holdings.

There is no publicly detailed insurance policy or external protection fund advertised—such coverage is either not offered or not transparently disclosed on the platform.

Incident History

Coinmama experienced a data breach in 2019, involving compromised emails and hashed passwords of older accounts; since then, no major hacks or regulatory penalties have been reported publicly.

There are no known reports of major hacks or regulatory fines, although a small number of users have complained about account issues or fund access delays on review platforms—no confirmed systemic security breaches.

Risk Controls

Security measures include two-factor authentication (strongly recommended for users), but Coinmama does not currently offer advanced features like address whitelisting, anti-phishing layers, sub-accounts, or granular API permissions.

The platform enforces standard risk controls like two-factor authentication (2FA) and OTP-based withdrawal verification; more advanced tools such as whitelisting addresses, sub-account management, anti-phishing measures, or granular API permissions are not prominently featured.

Transparency

The exchange does not provide transparent, publicly available reports like monthly proof-of-reserves, accessible wallet addresses, or service-level agreements for uptime—but emphasizes clarity about its regulatory standing and verification processes.

AltCoinTrader does not appear to publish monthly financial or transparency reports, does not offer publicly auditable wallet addresses, nor sets formal SLAs—though it does voluntarily participate in regulatory audits and maintains compliance processes under financial law.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

You can fund your Coinmama account using bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and e-wallets (like Skrill or Neteller), as well as regional systems such as Giropay, PIX, and PSE, with minimum amounts usually starting around $5–$20 and daily or monthly maximums tied to your verification level; processing times vary by method, with cards and e-wallets instantly crediting your account and banks typically taking longer.

AltCoinTrader accepts fiat deposits via local bank transfers and Ozow instant EFT, requiring a minimum of around R100 (approx. $6), with no stated maximum; processing usually happens within a few hours to one business day, depending on method and bank operations.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

Verification is tiered

AltCoinTrader uses multi-tiered verification

Withdrawals

Crypto withdrawals are sent directly to your own wallet and incur only the standard blockchain fee; fiat withdrawals return funds through the original payment method, with a minimum typically around $30 and timing dependent on the payout channel.

Crypto withdrawals depend on the chosen network (ERC-20, TRC-20, etc.) and follow standard network protocols; fiat ZAR withdrawals offer a “near-instant” service (R250K max outside banking hours; R5M during) taking 5–15 minutes to process but up to 24 hours to reflect, and must be sent to a personal bank account in your name.

Customer Support

Support is available 24/7 via live chat and email, backed by a rich knowledge base and academy content for self-help—though phone support isn’t offered, allowing generally quick replies and practical guidance.

Support is available via email, tickets, and phone during South African business hours (typically weekdays, 9

Languages & Localization

The platform’s interface is primarily in English, but supports multiple fiat currencies (like €/USD/GBP) for display, and adapts payment options and compliance to match local regulatory requirements across different countries.

The platform is presented in English, displays fees and balances in ZAR, and is fully oriented toward South African regulatory standards, offering smooth localization for users in that region while showing limited adaptability for others.

App Quality & Stability

Coinmama operates via a web-based service and does not offer a mobile app; while the website is reliable and regularly updated, there’s no downloadable application to discuss in terms of stability or crash performance.

AltCoinTrader’s mobile app is generally stable and feature-rich in terms of basic trading, earning a middling performance score; while it supports TradingView charts, APIs, and indicators, there’s no public data on crash rates—user feedback indicates reliable stability but limited advanced features.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

Coinmama uses a clean, modern web interface that’s highly intuitive—there’s no Lite or Pro toggle, keeping it straightforward and instantly approachable for newcomers who just want to buy crypto quickly.

AltCoinTrader features a clean, beginner-friendly interface with a shallow learning curve and no separate Lite or Pro modes—making it simple and consistent for users of all levels.

Performance

Purchases are generally processed swiftly after payment confirmation, with minimal order latency even during busy periods; KYC processes remain efficient, and there’s little evidence of significant delays during bull runs.

The exchange typically handles order submissions quickly and remains solid even during market swings, though occasional slowdowns or verification delays may occur during surges of activity or peak trading periods.

Education

Coinmama offers a helpful Academy hub with beginner-friendly articles in English, though it lacks demo trading tools or simulators, and currently doesn’t provide education content in Spanish.

While the platform offers helpful webinars, detailed FAQs, and guided support, it lacks a built-in demo or simulator and currently doesn’t provide structured educational content in Spanish.

Community

While Coinmama doesn’t host an official forum or Discord, it does run a robust affiliate/referral program with tools and dashboards, fostering a grassroots community of promoters rather than active chat groups.

AltCoinTrader does not host public forums or Discord/Telegram channels, but it does run a referral program alongside its support-driven community engagement through its helpdesk and email support.

Integrations

The platform remains minimalist with no external integrations—there’s no TradingView, bot support, tax accounting tools, or bookkeeping connectors, keeping the focus purely on one-click fiat-to-crypto purchases.

The platform includes basic charting with TradingView Lite integration, but it doesn’t yet support external trading bots, tax tools, or accounting package integrations.

Who Each One Is Best For

This platform excels for buyers who value simplicity and speed, especially beginners; advanced traders seeking analytics, automation, or educational languages beyond English may prefer more feature-rich alternatives.

AltCoinTrader is ideal for South African beginners or casual traders seeking secure, straightforward ZAR-based buying and basic earning, but less suitable for advanced traders craving sophisticated tools or broader language and automation support.