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

Trying to choose between Coinmama and Valr 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

Valr

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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

Latin America

India

China

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.

Valr is ideal if:

Ideal for mobile-first traders Offers both a streamlined “Simple Buy/Sell” interface for quick trades and a robust exchange terminal with TradingView charts—perfect whether you're on the go or want advanced control.
Great for institutions and high-frequency traders Comes with institutional-grade APIs, subaccounts, and deep liquidity options tailored to algorithmic and corporate trading strategies.
Strong choice if you value security and regulation Backed by reputable investors and regulated across South Africa, Europe, and Dubai, offering peace of mind for users in jurisdictions where it's licensed.

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.

Valr isn’t ideal if:

Not ideal if you're seeking global fiat flexibility Limited to a handful of fiat currencies, it doesn't support many global financial methods like PayPal or cards beyond ZAR.
Not ideal for complete beginners needing guidance Lacks educational tools, tutorials, and demo trading—so newcomers must learn by doing.
Not ideal if you need broad crypto variety or margin options Offers a narrower selection of assets and more restricted leverage choices than many mainstream exchanges.

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.

VALR uses a tiered structure where increased 30-day trading volume leads to lower or even negative maker fees and reduced taker fees on both fiat and crypto spot trades.

Futures/Derivatives

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

Perpetual futures follow the same volume-tiered schedule—makers may pay zero or negative fees, while takers benefit from progressively lower percentages as volume rises; funding occurs regularly based on market conditions (but specific rates fluctuate over time).

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.

Spreads are generally tight, aligning with industry norms for highly liquid pairs, ensuring minimal difference between buy and sell prices.

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.

Fiat deposits (wire, SEPA, card, EFT depending on the currency) are free of platform fees and usually post within two days; bank withdrawals follow standard local banking hours and policies, with occasional small charges and speed options.

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.

Crypto withdrawals incur variable, network-based fees that depend on blockchain congestion—no fixed flat rates from the platform itself.

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.

There are generally no surprise or maintenance fees—no inactivity charges, no hidden conversion costs, and premium KYC (if offered) doesn’t carry extra fees unless noted at the point of use.

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.

If you were to purchase €500 of BTC, your total would include a modest trading fee (based on your tier), a minimal spread typical of liquid markets, and your withdrawal cost would depend on the chosen network’s fee at that time.

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.

VALR lists over 75 cryptocurrencies across roughly 60–71 trading pairs; top volume pairs typically include BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, and BTC/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.

VALR offers spot trading, spot margin with up to 5× leverage, and perpetual futures with leverage up to 60×. It also supports staking/earn programs and lending, but lacks options, crypto ETFs, copy trading, grid bots, or automated DCA products.

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.

The exchange typically handles over US$30 million in daily trading volume, with deep liquidity on major BTC and ETH pairs facilitating tighter order book depth.

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.

You can place limit, market, and stop-limit orders (including OCO equivalents). VALR offers advanced charting integrated with TradingView, configurable alerts, and both API and WebSocket access for real-time trading and data needs.

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.

Some jurisdictions are restricted from offering certain features—derivatives, for example, are only available in qualifying regions, meaning not every user can access margin or futures products depending on local compliances.

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.

While VALR doesn’t offer launchpads or launchpools, it does provide both flexible staking and lending options alongside traditional locked products, giving users varied approaches to earning on their assets.

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.

VALR operates through several legal entities including VALR Proprietary Ltd (established 2018, headquartered in South Africa), VALR EU in Poland, and regional branches in India and Dubai—demonstrating a multi-jurisdictional operational structure.

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.

VALR holds multiple regulatory approvals

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.

VALR maintains a fully reserved custodial model, where all user funds are held 100% backed and are never lent out. Transfers of crypto assets require multi-signature approvals across secure locations, with funds stored in both cold and hot wallets using multi-sig technology.

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’s no publicly stated insurance or user protection fund offered—VALR emphasizes full reserves and strong internal safeguards rather than insured coverage.

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 publicly documented major security incidents, hacks, suspensions, or regulatory fines affecting VALR to date, reflecting a clean track record.

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.

VALR implements robust user protections

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.

VALR does not publicly publish monthly financial or reserve reports, nor does it offer a public wallet or explicit service-level agreements (SLAs); transparency is delivered through regulatory registration and communication rather than open-ended disclosures.

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.

Users can deposit ZAR via EFT or South African-issued Visa/Mastercard (3D Secure), while USD and EUR can be sent via SWIFT or SEPA transfers (converted to stablecoins). ZAR card deposits incur around a 3.9% fee; EFT is free. USD deposits require a minimum of $5, while EUR has a €1 minimum. Processing times vary—from instant for cards to up to 48 hours for bank transfers.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

Verification is tiered

VALR employs a tiered KYC system with different levels (standard and Fully-Verified Plus). Higher levels, enabled by features like 2FA, unlock significantly higher withdrawal limits—ranging from fractions of a BTC up to 100 BTC daily.

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.

Daily crypto withdrawal limits depend on KYC status (up to 100 BTC). Users can choose networks like ERC-20, TRC-20, BEP-20, and more; fees are dynamically quoted. Fiat (ZAR) withdrawals follow local banking hours, with free standard or paid fast transfers depending on the bank.

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.

VALR offers 24/7 support through a chatbot, email/ticket system, and a searchable knowledge base. Response via live chat or phone is limited, but the help center is comprehensive.

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 operates primarily in English (with limited additional language support), displays prices in local currencies like USD, EUR, or ZAR based on region, and reflects applicable regulatory contexts transparently.

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.

VALR offers both web and mobile interfaces. Mobile apps are regularly updated, delivering smooth charting and trading experiences. While exact crash rates aren’t disclosed, user feedback suggests the app is generally stable, with no major performance complaints in recent updates. (No explicit crash rate data available.)

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.

The platform offers a dual-interface approach—with a beginner-friendly “Simple Buy/Sell” mode for quick swaps and a more advanced trading terminal for experienced users, creating a smooth progression as your familiarity grows.

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.

VALR delivers generally low-latency execution and stable performance even during busy periods, with no widely reported system outages or KYC bottlenecks—even in volatile market conditions.

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.

There’s no formal academy, demo account, or Spanish-language content on VALR; educational guidance is minimal, placing the learning responsibility primarily on the user.

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.

VALR supports a referral program and maintains communication channels through its support portal and social media, but doesn’t feature official forums or active Discord/Telegram communities.

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 exchange integrates TradingView natively for charting and supports external trading bots through its API, yet it lacks built-in tax reporting or bookkeeping tools.

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.

VALR shines for mobile-first traders and corporate users seeking advanced tools and clean interfaces, but may feel limited for beginners needing educational support or for users seeking tax and community integration.