Digital Surge review

3.3Last reviewed 2026-08-23

Know before you deposit

Entered voluntary administration in 2022 after the FTX collapse trapped part of its customer assets. Creditors voted to reopen the business in 2023: balances under 250 Australian dollars were repaid in full, larger balances were repaid at 55 cents in the dollar, and the remainder is being paid out of trading profits over five years.

Digital Surge is a working Australian exchange with genuinely cheap funding, and it is also the one platform on this page that has already failed once. Both facts matter, and the second one should decide how much you leave on it.

In 2022 Digital Surge filed for voluntary administration after the collapse of FTX, where it held part of its customer assets. Creditors voted in 2023 to reopen the business rather than liquidate it. Customers with balances under 250 Australian dollars were repaid in full; larger balances were repaid at 55 cents in the dollar, with the remainder scheduled to be paid from trading profits over five years. The founders put 1 million dollars of their own money into the recovery fund.

The platform today is registered with AUSTRAC and holds an ASIC-registered company number. Trading fees start at 0.5 percent and fall to 0.1 percent for high-volume accounts. PayID and bank transfer deposits are free, and AUD withdrawals to an Australian bank account are free as well.

That pricing is competitive, and the exchange has traded without incident since reopening. It is still a custodian that has previously been unable to return customer funds in full, which is the strongest possible argument for buying and withdrawing to your own wallet rather than holding a balance there.

Visit Digital SurgeOpens digitalsurge.com.au

Founded: 2017
Headquarters: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Fees: Trading starts at 0.5 percent and falls to 0.1 percent on volume. PayID and bank transfer deposits are free, as are AUD withdrawals to an Australian bank account.
KYC: Required
Payment methods: Local bank transfer, PayID / Osko
Status: caution

How you can pay on Digital Surge

Every deposit rail Digital Surge supports in at least one market. Which of them you can use depends on your country; the country guides below list the exact methods per market.

Domestic bank rail: Local bank transfer PayID / Osko

As published by Digital Surge: PayID, Direct bank deposit.

Pros and cons

What works

Free PayID and bank transfer deposits, and free AUD withdrawals to an Australian bank account
Trading fees start at 0.5 percent and fall to 0.1 percent for high-volume accounts
AUSTRAC-registered, and has traded without further incident since reopening in 2023

What to watch

Went into voluntary administration in 2022 and repaid larger balances at 55 cents in the dollar
Still paying down the remainder of that debt from trading profits on a five-year schedule
Smaller and less liquid than CoinSpot or Swyftx, with a narrower set of funding rails

Fees in detail

maker: 0.5 percent at the standard tier, falling to 0.1 percent on 30-day volume
taker: 0.5 percent at the standard tier, falling to 0.1 percent on 30-day volume
deposit note: PayID and bank transfer deposits in AUD are free.
withdrawal note: AUD withdrawals to an Australian bank account are free.

Where we recommend Digital Surge

Countries where Digital Surge ranks in our local guide. Availability beyond these is possible but unverified by us.

Australia

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Digital Surge in 2022?

It held part of its customer assets on FTX and entered voluntary administration when FTX collapsed. Creditors voted in 2023 to reopen the business. Balances under 250 Australian dollars were repaid in full, larger balances at 55 cents in the dollar, with the rest scheduled over five years from trading profits.

Is Digital Surge safe to use now?

It is registered with AUSTRAC and has traded without further incident since reopening, but it is a custodian that has previously failed to return customer funds in full. Treat it as a place to buy and withdraw from, not a place to store bitcoin.

What does Digital Surge charge?

Trading starts at 0.5 percent and steps down to 0.1 percent with 30-day volume. PayID and bank transfer deposits are free, and so are AUD withdrawals to an Australian bank account.

Why is it still listed if it collapsed?

Because it is operating, registered and cheap to fund, and because hiding the history would serve you worse than showing it. The status label and this page exist so you can weigh the record yourself.