Everything Crypto: Battle of Instant Exchange Services
Or, where can you exchange crypto without an account?
Centralized Crypto Exchanges are on the verge of elimination largely due to the evolution of Instant/Atomic swaps in the crypto space.
If you find large, centralized crypto exchanges awkward, perplexing or frustrating to use, then you are not alone. Although centralized crypto exchanges provide a wide variety of supported digital currencies, they are often vulnerable to service interruptions caused by large transaction volumes, technical problems, and cyber-attacks.
Recently, almost $30 million was lost in the Bithumb Exchange hack. Additionally, in July this year, Binance, a giant global crypto exchange, put off trading for some hours because of “atypical trading” activity they considered suspicious.
Centralized crypto exchanges naturally demand clients to provide their detailed personal information, not forgetting headshots and photos of delicate documents like Driving Licenses and Passports to conform to the KYC/AML requirements for all transactions. For those longing to enjoy their rights to privacy on these services, kindly keep off.
Such kind of awkward, perplexing and frustrating experiences are thought to make some traders and investors pull out of the crypto world. Because of that, instant exchanges like ChangeNOW, Shapeshift, Changelly and the Fairlay Shift were invented. Instead of storing your crypto assets, these instant exchanges link your hardware or software wallet directly and enables you to swap one digital currency for another without taking them out of your wallet first. This is more safe, private and convenient.
Now, let us compare the features and supported coins of these instant exchanges.
ChangeNOW
ChangeNOW is a revolutionary project that provides non-custodial crypto exchange services. NOW token is the native currency on the ChangeNOW platform and the first token to be designed by an instant exchange service.
ChangeNOW has a very simple interface that even a kid can comprehend. Users are not required to register to carry out transactions, and the exchange has no limits. What you need to do is stipulate the amount and the cryptocurrency you want to receive. Next, state the wallet where you want to send the money to and make the order. Everything else is automated, and prior to confirming your transaction, you can see the commission charged and the amount you will receive.
ChangeNOW supports over 150 cryptocurrencies, and the list is ever increasing. What makes this platform even more unique is the fact that it supports even rare tokens, which are never supported by other exchanges. Besides, the platform enables cryptocurrency buying using MasterCard and Visa credits.
Shapeshift
It is an inventive method of swapping cryptocurrencies. Shapeshift allows users to do the whole exchange within 10 seconds without the need of setting up an account. You basically pick the currency you want to exchange and the cryptocurrency you want to receive.
The main feature of Shapeshift is that it has been developed basically to be incorporated into other services via API. This means that, from the viewpoint of an average customer, it is not directly a crypto exchange, rather an invention that is now being incorporated to various wallets enabling a user to create an account in various cryptocurrencies.
On the 4th of September 2018, Erik Voorhees, the founder, and CEO of Shapeshift declared that all Shapeshift users would face “mandatory” know-your-customer (KYC) requirements to trade cryptocurrencies. Since Shapeshift has been known as an exchange without accounts, this policy will see many Shapeshift users seek services from other instant exchange services that provide an account-free experience.
Changelly
Changelly is a common exchange service founded in 2013 in Prague by the same founders who started the MinerGate mining pool. The site has over one million customers, and it has a simple user interface and provides a convenient way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Apart from digital currencies, Changelly also facilitates local currency exchange using Visa or MasterCard. Changelly charges a constant transaction fee of 0.5%. However, it is good to point out that the rate for swapping digital currencies with local currencies is very high due to the need for third-party services for these transactions. Also, Changelly requires account creation for every transaction made on the service.
Fairlay Shift Exchange
This platform is hosted by Fairlay.com, an open Bitcoin (BTC) Prediction Market. One of the key features of the Fairlay Shift service is that they facilitate swaps from and to BTC through ETH, DASH, LTC, and BCH. Currently, Fairlay doesn’t charge any fee for using the Shift Exchange service, except for the transaction charges paid to the blockchain and the spread between ask and bid orders.
The Fairlay Shift Exchange transaction charges have been labelled to be as low as the network allows and Much lower than any other exchange and highly competitive.
Another stronghold of this exchange service is that, unlike Changelly and Shapeshift, the exact minimum and maximum amounts are shown transparently on the Status Deposit page. The site also has the lowest lower limits; for instance, you can swap 0.00003 DASH.
Conclusion
The instant swap services are a step in the right direction but cutting out the third-party middlemen altogether is the ultimate goal. The original concept was a trustless transaction between two people without a custodian holding the funds in between. That was the revelation. And then what did we do? We went straight back to the traditional banking model where we trust people we don’t know to look after our money for us. Then the exchanges lost that money, just like the banks do. Stupid human nature, ever repeating the mistakes of the past. So at least the Fairlay Shift, Changelly, Shapeshift, and ChangeNOW are an improvement on that.
Unlike ShapeShift and Changelly, ChangeNOW has neither limits nor the need to register. The objective of the project is to make the exchange of cryptocurrencies as fast and effective as possible, to return transparency and security to cryptocurrency payments.
As always, ChangeNOW is here to provide the best tips out there for your average crypto user. After all, it’s the place that has more than 150 coins available for swapping at great rates, no account needed, easy as cake!
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