Easy Crypto is New Zealand’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency retailer, making it ‘safe, smart, and easy‘ for Kiwis to buy and sell over 160+ cryptos including Bitcoin in NZ.
In this guide, Cryptocurrency NZ will delve into the history and features of this titan in the New Zealand cryptocurrency industry – and help gauge if this platform is suited to you.
What is Easy Crypto?
Easy Crypto NZ is a homegrown, non-custodial NZ based crypto retailer – famously known for it’s simple interface, rapid transaction speeds and large selection of over 160+ coins.
Since launching in 2018, EC has generated over 200,000+ users and has processed over 2 Billion NZD in order volume – securing their title as New Zealand’s crypto heavy weight.
Easy Crypto is known for their active, friendly and responsive customer support, near instant KYC verification and transparent fee structure. They’re also active in the domestic crypto industry, community and market, sponsoring Cryptocurrency NZ’s meetups and engaging in New Zealand’s various community forums, groups and monthly meetups.
History of Easy Crypto NZ
EC was founded in 2017 by Alan and Janine Grainger, sibling duo hailing from Ōmokoroa, NZ. Alan developed Easy Crypto’s website from his laptop while Janine, Easy Crypto’s CEO would drive all things customer support, compliance, regulation, HR and grand strategy.
At the time, prices in New Zealand were around 20% higher than on international crypto exchanges, with Easy Crypto seeing near instant success for providing fair crypto rates.
Once an underdog in the NZ crypto scene, Easy Crypto quickly grew in users, volume, features and staff, at one point supporting over 100 team members in NZ and aboard.
Easy Crypto’s success would lead it to set it’s sights on the global crypto market, expanding into Australia, South Africa, and Brazil – with it’s HQ in Auckland, New Zealand.
Today, Easy Crypto’s staff are distributed across New Zealand, Malaysia and beyond.
In November 2021, Easy Crypto raised over $17 million in Series A funding, setting the record for the largest first funding round achieved by a New Zealand firm.
Pros and Cons of Easy Crypto NZ
Pros
✔️ Beginner friendly: Easy Crypto’s interface is well suited to first time or casual investors.
✔️ Near instant KYC: you can typically create an account, verify your ID and trade within minutes.
✔️ Non-custodial: crypto is sent directly to your own private wallet, Easy Crypto doesn’t store it for you.
✔️ Transparent fee structure: When you place an order, you can see the exact numbers of how much you will receive.
✔️ Local customer support: when you need help, EC provides high quality one-on-one assistance.
Cons
❌ Limited features: day traders are better suited to live exchanges like Binance NZ, Kiwicoin or Dasset.
❌ Excessive compliance: You can’t buy privacy coins like Monero without proving the source of your funds.
❌ No on-site wallet: users must have a secure wallet already set up to buy and sell through Easy Crypto.
❌ Slippage: There’s sometimes a difference in prices between when you locked in your fees vs current prices
Opening a Easy Crypto NZ Account
To open a Easy Crypto NZ account in New Zealand, follow these steps below:
Go to the Easy Crypto website (www.easycrypto.com/nz) and click on the ‘Sign Up’.
Enter your email address and create a strong password. Make sure to use a secure password that includes a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Check your email inbox for a verification email from Easy Crypto. Click the ‘verify your account’ button to proceed with Easy Crypto’s KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
On completion, you’re ready to buy and sell over 160+ cryptos in NZ with Easy Crypto.
How to Buy Bitcoin with Easy Crypto NZ
To buy Bitcoin, Ethereum or other crypto with Easy Crypto NZ, follow these steps below:
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Go to Easy Crypto’s website (www.easycrypto.com/nz) and click on ‘Buy Crypto’.
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Select the coin you want to purchase, i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Dogecoin.
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Enter the amount of NZD you would like to spend, or how much crypto you want.
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Click ‘Buy Now”- entering the next stage where you insert your personal wallet address.
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After that, (if you don’t have a wallet, see our NZ wallet guide here), click ‘Next’.
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Select your payment method, i.e. bank transfer, Poli Pay or credit card. All are safe.
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Proceed with your payment option. Once EC receives your funds, their automated system kicks into gear and sources and sends you your crypto as per your order.
Easy Crypto NZ Best Platform Features
Auto-Buy
EC’s Auto-Buy feature allows you to set up automatic buy orders, sent directly to your wallet of choice. This feature is ideal for those wanting to dollar cost average or automate the purchasing and delivery of Bitcoin on a daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly basis.
Portfolio Tracker
When you buy crypto with Easy Crypto, your portfolio tracker page is instantly populated with how much crypto you own, the price you purchased at, and your current gain or loss.
Tax Tracking
Easy Crypto’s portfolio tracker also calculates how much tax you owe based on your gains or losses from previous orders – removing the smoke for how much you owe to the IRD.
Minimum Order Size
EC NZ allows New Zealanders to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with a minimum order size of $50 NZD, making it easy for kiwis to start trading with a small amount of capital.
This makes it easier for every day New Zealand crypto investors to buy and sell on EC.
Cryptocurrencies Available on Easy Crypto
Easy Crypto NZ offers an extensive range of over 160+ cryptocurrencies that you can buy and sell on their platform – such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Monero.
Note: Easy Crypto NZ regularly adds new cryptocurrencies, which users can vote for here.
Easy Crypto NZ Fees
Like any retailer, Easy Crypto NZ takes a small fee for every buy and sell order – usually keeping around 0.5 – 1%. Additionally, there is a 0.4% forex fee from the exchange/s Easy Crypto sources the crypto from, as well as the standard network fees of the coin you buy.
At Cryptocurrency NZ, we think these fees are reasonable as the market moves 1% up and down pretty much on the daily anyway. We’re happy to support our local, plus appreciate the local customer support. However for more advanced trading, Binance is better suited.
Security on Easy Crypto NZ
Easy Crypto NZ has always been a security first platform, rooted in their non-custodial model where users physically can’t store crypto on their platform. All orders go directly to your own wallet, so in the case that Easy Crypto is hacked, your money isn’t there to take.
On top of this, Easy Crypto has never had a user information leak, and has commissioned white hat hackers and penetration testers to ensure the security of Easy Crypto’s platform.
Easy Crypto also partakes in regular security audits, and has a highly experienced IT team.
Customer Service
Easy Crypto NZ is generally known to have excellent customer support, incentivized to solve your problem or query as soon as possible. Their customer support team receive perks for exemplary and fast response times, ensuring you can get the help you need.
Email: [email protected]
Monday to Friday Live Chat: https://easycrypto.com/nz/help
Customer Satisfaction
Easy Crypto has received positive reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars across more than 1,701 reviews. Many users have praised the platform, however there have been some criticisms of Easy Crypto, typically due to delays or compliance.
Cryptocurrency NZ Final Verdict
Easy Crypto NZ is a reputable, reliable and Kiwi focused cryptocurrency retailer who without a doubt achieves their mission of making it safe, fast and easy for Kiwis to buy and sell Bitcoin and 160+ other coins in NZ. EC typically provide rapid order speeds through their simple interface; well suited to first time Kiwi crypto investors. Our biggest critique would be EC’s excessive compliance, which in fairness is not surprising considering their role in helping shape NZ’s crypto regulation. For privacy focused users, non-KYC’ed options such as the NZ P2P Crypto Marketplace may be better suited.
