CoinSwitch review
CoinSwitch is the Indian app for people who want buying bitcoin to feel like using a payments app rather than a trading terminal. That simplicity is the product, and the pricing reflects it.
Registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit India, it charges from 0.4 percent per trade, roughly double CoinDCX and well above ZebPay's spot book. UPI deposits are free, and the 1 percent tax deducted at source is handled automatically, which removes a genuine source of confusion for first-time Indian buyers who would otherwise have to reason about it themselves.
What you get for the extra cost is a clean interface, a fast onboarding flow, and no order book to misunderstand. What you give up is the cheaper execution available a screen away on a competitor. For someone buying a few thousand rupees a month, the difference is small in absolute terms; for anyone accumulating seriously, it compounds.
Withdrawals to an external wallet are supported, which is not universal among Indian apps and is the thing to check before you commit to any platform here.
- Founded
- 2017
- Headquarters
- Bengaluru, India
- Fees
- From 0.4 percent per trade, roughly double the cheaper Indian platforms. UPI deposits are free and the 1 percent TDS is deducted automatically.
- KYC
- Required
- Payment methods
- IMPS, NEFT, UPI
- Status
- Operating
How you can pay on CoinSwitch
Every deposit rail CoinSwitch supports in at least one market.
As published by CoinSwitch: UPI, IMPS, NEFT.
Pros and cons
What works
- Registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit India, inside the legal compliance perimeter
- Free UPI deposits and automatic handling of the 1 percent tax deducted at source
- A genuinely simple interface that removes the order book most first-time buyers misread
- Supports withdrawals to an external wallet, so self-custody is available
What to watch
- From 0.4 percent per trade, roughly double CoinDCX and nearly triple ZebPay's maker rate
- No cheaper pro or order-book tier, so there is no way to trade down the fee
- Simplicity is the whole value proposition, which is thin if you already know what you are doing
Fees in detail
- maker
- From 0.4 percent
- taker
- From 0.4 percent
- spread note
- There is no cheaper order-book tier to switch to, so the quoted rate is what you pay.
- deposit note
- UPI deposits are free, as are standard rupee bank transfers.
- withdrawal note
- Withdrawals to an external wallet are supported, which is worth confirming on any Indian platform before you commit.
Where we recommend CoinSwitch
Countries where CoinSwitch ranks in our local guide. Availability beyond these is possible but unverified by us.
Frequently asked questions
Why is CoinSwitch more expensive than CoinDCX?
Because it sells simplicity rather than execution. CoinSwitch charges from 0.4 percent with no order book behind it, where CoinDCX charges 0.2 percent and ZebPay's spot book starts at 0.15 percent maker.
Does CoinSwitch handle the 1 percent TDS for me?
Yes, it is deducted automatically on eligible trades and remitted to the tax authority. That is genuinely useful for first-time buyers, though every FIU-registered Indian platform does the same thing.
Can I move bitcoin off CoinSwitch?
Yes. Withdrawals to an external wallet are supported. That is worth checking on any Indian platform, because it is not universal, and it is the difference between owning bitcoin and owning an IOU.
Worth comparing
- 4.0CoinDCXIndia's largest exchange by volume, FIU-registered with free UPI funding, and the one that absorbed a 44 million dollar breach rather than passing it to customers.
- 4.1ZebPayOne of India's oldest exchanges, FIU-registered, with spot fees from 0.15 percent and a quick-trade button that costs several times more.