InstaSwap
Exchange Fees
Deposit Methods
Cryptos (39)
UPDATE 18 September 2024: When trying to access the website of InstaSwap today, we were unsuccessful. As far as we know, there have been no preceding messages on system maintenance or new websites or anything similar.
Accordingly, we believe that this exchange has closed down and we have marked it as "dead" in our Exchange Graveyard. If the exchange's website would become accessible again and the error is just temporary, we will "revive" it and bring it back to our Exchange List.
To find a reliable exchange where you can start an account, just use our Exchange Filters and we'll help you find the right platform for you.
InstaSwap Review
What is InstaSwap?
InstaSwap is a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Greece. It launched in 2019 and it is owned by the Greek corporation Blocktech Private Company (duly registered with the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission). InstaSwap is more of a window into other exchanges' order books than anything else. You could view it more as a broker than a regular cryptocurrency exchange platform. This is how it works:
US-investors
Why do so many exchanges not allow US citizens to open accounts with them? The answer has only three letters. S, E and C (the Securities Exchange Commission). The reason the SEC is so scary is because the US does not allow foreign companies to solicit US investors, unless those foreign companies are also registered in the US (with the SEC). If foreign companies solicit US investors anyway, the SEC can sue them. There are many examples of when the SEC has sued crypto exchanges, one of which being when they sued EtherDelta for operating an unregistered exchange. Another example was when they sued Bitfinex and claimed that the stablecoin Tether (USDT) was misleading investors. It is very likely that more cases will follow.
According to information from InstaSwap to us here at Cryptowisser.com, the platform does indeed allow US-investors on its exchange. So if you're from the US and looking for a platform to do some quick and easy crypto swapping, this platform could be the one for you!
InstaSwap Advantages
The core values of this platform seems to be that it is easy to use, transparent and that it is fast. They also list its competitive market rates and that it is non-custodial (meaning that they never hold any user's assets, adding an element of security to the users) as advantages with the platform:
InstaSwap Trading View
Every trading platform has a trading view. The trading view is the part of the exchange’s website where you can see the price chart of a certain cryptocurrency and what its current price is. There are normally also buy and sell boxes, where you can place orders with respect to the relevant crypto, and, at most platforms, you will also be able to see the order history (i.e., previous transactions involving the relevant crypto). Everything in the same view on your desktop. There are of course also variations to what we have now described. For instance, at InstaSwap, they focus more on simplicity and speed than on availability of different trading tools. Here's the swap interface at InstaSwap:
It is up to you – and only you – to decide if the above swap interface is suitable to you.
InstaSwap Fees
InstaSwap Trading fees
Every time you place an order, the exchange charges you a trading fee. The trading fee is normally a percentage of the value of the trade order. Many exchanges divide between takers and makers. Takers are the one who “take” an existing order from the order book. Makers are the ones who add orders to the order book, thereby making liquidity at the platform.
InstaSwap does not distinguish between takers and makers, seeing as they are more of a window into other exchanges' respective order books. The taker/maker distinction serves no real purpose here. Instead, InstaSwap charges a transparent 0.25% fee when you make a swap or purchase at the platform.
Trading fee industry averages have historically been around 0.20-0.25% but we now see new industry averages emerging around 0.10%-0.15%. According to Cryptowisser.com's latest empirical study, the industry average spot trading taker fees were 0.215% and the corresponding spot trading maker fees were 0.162%. InstaSwap is slightly higher than these averages, but they compensate for this with simplicity and speed instead.
InstaSwap Withdrawal fees
Withdrawal fees are usually fixed and vary from crypto-to-crypto. If you withdraw BTC, you pay a small amount of BTC for the withdrawal. If you withdraw ETH, you pay ETH.
InstaSwap charges 0.0005 BTC per BTC-withdrawal, which is below the global industry average (being 0.00059 BTC per BTC-withdrawal according to this report) and a quite competitive fee.
Deposit Methods
At InstaSwap, you can’t purchase via wire transfer but credit card purchases are perfectly fine. As credit card deposits are accepted, InstaSwap qualifies as an “entry-level exchange” (unlike most other non-custodial exchanges). However, if you for some reason need to deposit fiat currency via wire transfer, you can find one by using our Exchange Filters.
Visit InstaSwap here.