For this review, I downloaded the Coinpayments wallet and tested it. While Coinpayments is primarily aimed at merchants you can use it for personal use if you want it. This is not the best way to use it but if you are searching for a wallet that is idiot-proof in that you don’t need to store a seed phrase then this wallet could be for you. Let’s take a close look
Coinpayments Wallet at a glance
CoinPayments is a cryptocurrency payment processing platform that allows businesses and individuals to accept, store, and manage various crypto payments. It provides a range of services and tools designed to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions, making it easier for online stores and brick-and-mortar businesses to integrate digital currencies. The wallet is primarily aimed at e-commerce stores but you can use it for personal use as well.
Overall rating 2.75/5
Disclaimer I am rating Coinpayments from a personal use perspective. If I were to rate it as a merchant payments wallet I would likely rate it with 4.5/5.
Overall, CoinPayments is a valuable tool for individuals and businesses seeking to incorporate cryptocurrencies into their payment methods. Its diverse cryptocurrency support, security features, and ease of integration make it a strong contender in the cryptocurrency payment processing market. However, individual users who want to use the wallet for personal use should be mindful of the fact that the wallet is custodial and the overall user experience is geared toward businesses.
Features
- Payment Processing: CoinPayments enables businesses to accept payments in multiple cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and many others. It provides plugins and integrations for popular e-commerce platforms, making it easy to accept incoming payments in crypto.
- Wallet Services: Users can create cryptocurrency wallets within the CoinPayments platform to store, manage, and transact with various digital assets securely.
- Auto coin conversion: CoinPayments offers a feature that allows users to convert one cryptocurrency into another, helping to mitigate the volatility associated with digital assets.
- Shopping Cart Integrations: The platform provides integrations with popular shopping cart software, allowing businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments for goods and services.
- Point of Sale (POS) interfaces: CoinPayments offers POS solutions that enable businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments in physical store locations.
- Vault for Secure Storage: The platform includes a vault service for enhanced security, providing an additional layer of protection for stored cryptocurrencies.
- Multi-Coin Wallet: CoinPayments supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, making it a versatile solution for businesses and users who deal with multiple digital assets.
- Merchant Tools: CoinPayments provides various tools and features for merchants, such as APIs, donation buttons, and customizable payment buttons.
- Available to download on mobile phones on Apple App Store and Google Play Store as well as a web version
- Security: password and two-factor authentication
- Customer service: you can open a support ticket or use the Support wizard
- Multi-language: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Ukrainian
Pros
1. Diverse Cryptocurrency Support
CoinPayments supports a wide variety of crypto coins, providing flexibility for both customers and businesses. The online wallet supports more than 2350 crypto coins and tokens. This extensive support enables you to cater to a broad audience and adapt to changes in the cryptocurrency market. Here are some of the most popular coins
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Litecoin
- BNB Coin
- BUSD
- Dash
- Dogecoin
- EtherClassic
- Ethereum
- Matic Polygon
- Tron
- Monero
- USDC
- USDT
2. Payment Processing Integration
CoinPayments offers easy integration with popular e-commerce platforms and shopping carts. This simplifies the process of accepting cryptocurrency payments for online businesses.
3. Security Features
The platform emphasizes security, with features like a vault for storing cryptocurrencies securely. This added layer of protection is reassuring for users looking to safeguard their digital assets.
4. Conversion Services
CoinPayments’ built-in conversion services allow users to mitigate the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies. This can be particularly beneficial for businesses concerned about currency fluctuations.
5. Point of Sale (POS) Solutions
The availability of POS solutions enables physical businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments, broadening the scope for cryptocurrency adoption.
6. User-Friendly Interface
CoinPayments offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced cryptocurrency users.
7. APIs and Customization
The platform provides APIs and customizable payment buttons, allowing more technically inclined users to tailor their cryptocurrency payment experience.
8. Fiat to crypto
Coinpayments accepts both debit cards and credit cards in case you want to buy crypto with fiat currency.
9. Hardware wallet compatible
If you have a Trezor device you can manage it through Coinpayments. If you plan on storing a large amount of crypto your assets will be safer in a hardware wallet.
10. Built-in exchange
The wallet partners with third-party exchanges such as ShapeShift.ai to allow you to convert from one crypto to another from within the platform
11. Vault
Users and merchants can lock their crypto in a vault. This enforces a timebound limit on transactions for added security. For example, if someone were to hack your account and try to transfer your crypto out of your wallet and into theirs you would receive an alert before the transaction has time to go through. Once you set a time limit there is nothing anyone can do to change it
12 Multisig
As a Coinpayments wallet user, you have the option to create a multi-signature wallet which means that more than one person will need to approve transactions (via email) for them to go through.
Cons
1. Fees
While CoinPayments is competitive in terms of fees if you intend to use it as a payment method it is not that great if you plan on using it for personal use only. See the fees section below for more details.
2. Custodial
CoinPayments operates as a custodial wallet service, which means that when you create a wallet on the CoinPayments platform, you are entrusting them with the custody and management of your cryptocurrency funds. They maintain control over the private keys and the security of the wallets on their platform. This custodial approach offers some convenience, especially for users who may not be technically inclined or want an easier way to manage their cryptocurrency holdings.
However, it’s essential to be aware of the implications of using a custodial wallet. When you use a custodial wallet, you are relying on the security and trustworthiness of the platform provider to protect your funds. This means that you do not have full control over your private keys, and if the platform were to experience a security breach or other issues, your funds could be at risk.
If you value complete control and ownership of your cryptocurrency assets, you may prefer to use a non-custodial wallet, also known as a self-hosted wallet. These types of wallets provide you with full control over your private keys and, therefore, your funds’ security. While non-custodial wallets require a higher level of responsibility and understanding of cryptocurrency management, they are often considered more secure for those who want to maintain independence and reduce counterparty risk.
3. Lack of Privacy
Unlike other crypto wallets, when you use Coinpayments you need to provide an email address and go through the normal KYC process you would with crypto exchanges. This means uploading ID verification and proof of address documents.
There are plenty of wallets you don’t need to reveal any personal data. Crypto adherents are all about privacy and creating an alternative financial system without centralized intermediaries. If that is your philosophy too then the coinpayments crypto wallet is not for you.
4. Poor ratings
The app received a poor rating on the Google Play Store and Trust pilot.
Most of the complaints center around the verification process and glitches in the app that prevent them from sending/receiving crypto. Some users also complain of extortionate fees.
5. Annoying Mobile sign-in
The first time you log in to the mobile app it asks you to log into the website on a desktop device and search for and scan a QR code. Once you log in you can set up a PIN or biometric authentication to log in the next time
6. Pretty basic UI
The user interface looks a bit outdated. When I logged in I expected to see a screen with all the wallets I could set up. Instead, you are offered three options: receive, send, or convert crypto.
7. Closed source
Closed-source software means that the source code is not publicly available for scrutiny by the cryptocurrency community, security experts, or the public. This lack of transparency can lead to distrust, as users have no way to independently verify the wallet’s security and trustworthiness.
8. They got hacked
On June 5th, 2017 hackers exploited a glitch in the software that allowed users to withdraw excessive amounts of XRP from Ripple hot wallets.
Coinpayments fees
Business owners
As a payment system for online merchants, Coinpayments has low transaction fees for incoming payments to your wallet at 0.5%. If you wish to have those payments coming to an alternative digital wallet then you will need to account for the additional network fees that are paid to the blockchain for verifying the transaction.
Personal use
If you use the Coinpayments as a wallet then receiving crypto into your wallet is free up to $15,000 per month after which you will be charged 0.5%.
Exchange
When converting one currency to another you will need to account for fees to the third-party exchanges that Coinpayments integrates with as well as network fees to the blockchains.
For withdrawals, Coinpayments does not charge any fees apart from the network fee.
How to use Coinpayments
1. Sign up with your email address and create a password
2. Verify your email and sign in
3. Coinpayments will send you an authentication code to sign in
4. Start account verification
5. Select whether you are using the account for personal or business reasons. I selected personal
6. Select your country of residence
7. You will now be required to fill in your complete personal data including your name, date of birth, and phone number. You will also need to scan your ID and take a selfie
8. To scan your ID the webpage conveniently directed me to mobile using a QR code. From there I continued photographing my document. They would not accept a screenshot so I needed to get my actual passport.
9. Next they will ask you for a proof of address document. You can upload a utility bill, tax invoice, bank statement, or certification of residency
Once you upload your documents it will take a little while for them to cross verify the information. It says it could take up to an hour which in my case it did.
Useful Resources
Alternatives to Coinpayments
If you are looking for a personal-use wallet then here are some alternatives
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