There are 3 types of financial investors – safe players (low risk), risk-takers, and ultra-risk takers.
If you have invested in Cryptocurrencies, you’re in the 3rd group – the ultra risk-taker group.
Completely my personal thing, but I prefer keeping a percentage of my investment amount for the high volatile zone.
So, I’m definitely not the one who’ll judge you for taking risks, no-no.
On the contrary, it’s laudable to an extent when you’re ready to test risky investments in moderation.
I believe you never lose, either you gain money or experience. And first-hand experience in the investment sphere is a must.
That said, at AayushBhaskar, we do not encourage you to blindly follow our advice or anyone else’s for that matter. Do your research, and invest.
Especially with volatile investment markets like the Cryptocurrency market.
WazirX and CoinDCX: The Top 2 Crypto-Investment Exchange in India
And if you’re in the Cryptocurrency investor group, and you live in India, you must have already heard about WazirX and CoinDCX.
Both WazirX and CoinDCX are Crypto exchange platforms that enable buying/selling i.e. trading in Crypto.
In this article we will discuss the best features of each platform, and which platform does what better. There is going to be a complete dissection of these two platforms so that you can choose the one best designed for your investment needs.
Since I always aim to write for novices as well as people who have intermediate or expert-level knowledge about finance and investment, let me give a brief idea about what Crypto is, what exchange does, and more importantly, is a crypto-asset investment for you.
If you want to skip to the critical analysis of the WazirX and CoinDCX part, and their comparative analysis, you can directly skip to that part by scrolling below.
What is Cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is any digital currency that is secured by cryptology (cryptic codes that cannot be decoded).
It is a form of virtual money and is ever-increasingly being used worldwide for trade and transactions, just like we use plastic money (credit and debit cards).
Bitcoin is the most famous cryptocurrency and has almost come to be synonymous with cryptocurrency. There are 8000+ cryptocurrencies in the world right now, and adding up every day.
Should you invest in Cryptocurrency? Is it a bubble that will burst?
If you ask me the answer to the first question, yes. ( But please buy at your own risk and understanding.) The answer to the second question is a clear NO.
In fact, the boom in cryptocurrency has not happened yet! If crypto gurus are to be believed, the price-rise bubble that was in 2021 was only one high point reached, and there are many more to come.
In layman’s terms, cryptocurrency is volatile, but prospects for this digital currency look bright, especially since forward-thinking countries like India and the USA and the UK are adopting it.
Are there high risks, always with Crypto?
Any investment is risky. Banks blow up, right? We have seen that lately, too, during the pandemic. Scammers take out money by sending fishy links to your mobile. Stable stocks dump down.
All investments are risky. It is just a matter of degree and intensity and your risk-taking appetite.
The crypto market is a volatile market, much more than the stock market, at this moment. The volatility is frequent and the intensity is high; i.e., the value of your currency can go drastically up or down in a matter of (as little as) half a day.
The crypto market is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
And with regulations slowly creeping into the cryptocurrency world, it might take only a few more years for the volatility of high-end crypto-coins to be more stable.
Types of cryptocurrency exchange
Cryptocurrency, which was created to have people control their own money, is ironically dealt with in centralized exchanges, controlled by a governing body.
A centralized exchange operates with the help of an intermediary that controls the entire trading scenario, safeguards investors’ money from hacking, stores, their currency, and so on. WazirX is a fully centralized exchange.
WazirX has plans to launch a Decentralized Exchange soon.
How to sell cryptocurrency? Read here.
CoinDCX, on the other hand, is a centralized exchange with features of decentralization. The decentralized feature available with CoinDCX is staking. We explain staking more in the introductory paragraph to CoinDCX features.
A decentralized exchange is not controlled by any central governing body.
It allows people to trade by connecting their wallets to the decentralized exchange. A decentralized exchange is more conducive to the idea of cryptocurrency because the logic of decentralization is at the core of crypto-assets.
The entire idea of cryptocurrency was not financial assets to not be determined or manipulated by any governing body.
Smart contracts and Blockchain rules govern a decentralized exchange.
WazirX features
WazirX is powered by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
Being backed by Binance is probably one of the strongest features of WazirX. Binance is one of the better-regulated crypto exchanges to exist.
With over 7.3 million users already using WazirX, let us see what factors have contributed to its large user base.
Prices in INR, USDT, and BTC
When you open the WazirX dashboard, the Exchange tab shows you prices of cryptocurrency in INR, USDT*, BTC as well as in its own token WRX (WaziriX token).
(*not to be confused with USD. USDT is a stable crypto-coin that is based on and has a similar value as USD)
How’s that helpful? Say you’re more used to peer-to-peer exchange (P2P exchange) – which is basically an INR to USD exchange from person to person (you pay INR value of the USD you purchase from verified sellers on the WazirX platform).
If your bank is not supported by WazirX, you can quickly purchase some USDT from P2P exchange and invest in crypto without having to go through creating a Mobikwik wallet or an account in a WazirX supported bank.
Now let’s suppose you buy some BTC using your USDT.
A few days later, you can use the same BTC you earlier bought to buy another coin. You can use your BTC amount instead of having to fill in more INR funds or do another P2P exchange.
These are called pairings. WazirX allows these 4 pairs – INR, USDT, BTC and WRX.
WazirX P2P
WazirX allows P2P exchange. A peer-to-peer exchange means that you can purchase USDT from a verified seller who will exchange USD for INR. You can buy for as little as $16 to start trading through WazirX P2P.
Why P2P is so important in WazirX is because a lot of the banks are not supported for instant deposits. Also, the UPI function for deposits is not always available (they are working to make it a stable option for deposits/withdrawals).
There is only a single wallet option – Mobikwik, and if you do not have this wallet, a P2P exchange is the safest and fastest way to ensure that you have the funds to buy crypto coins and tokens.
Fee structure
Depositing through net banking has a fee of Rs 47.2 per transaction.
Deposit through Mobikwik wallet has a fee of 1.77% per transaction.
P2P exchanges work on the dollar rate exchange, so there isn’t any fee to it, except for the periodic shifts in the INR-to-USD rate.
My WazirX account does not avail me of UPI transactions. but I know from the one time they made it available that UPI has the lowest fee (it was probably free) and the fastest fund deposit time.
(wondering if that is why they don’t support this option for my account?)
Apart from the fund deposit fee, WazirX charges crypto buy and sell fees differently on different crypto assets. You can check it out from this page: https://wazirx.com/fees
User experience +Account opening
Buying is pretty easy on WazirX.
Deposit funds, buy-in INR or USDT ( if you happen to do a P2P exchange), and you’ll see your funds in the Funds tab.
You can choose a white mode or dark mode from the settings (appearance).
Account opening is easy and fast too. There is a KYC in place and the verification process is not lengthy.
Ease of Use
I would rate it 6 out of 10. I deduct 3.5 points solely because there are no clear Deposit button / Add Funds links on the Funds tab.
You need to click on the INR section inside the Funds tab to be able to see Deposit and Withdraw options. For a trade page, if you hide Deposit from clear view, it is a drawback point as per me.
Conversion of dust to WRX token
This is a feature I like. So, in WazirX, Rs.50 is the minimum amount to invest in Crypto. If you’re buying in USDT, the minimum amount may differ from token to token.
So let’s say you have 100-dollars in your WazirX account, and you buy 1 Solana (SOL) token for $97.81 (price at the time of writing this article).
After the purchase, you’ll be left with $2.19. WazirX gives you the option to convert this “dust” amount to WazirX (WRX) tokens. This feature enables you to not let your smaller amounts lay around until your next deposit, but rather invest in WRX tokens.
Quick Buy
The Quick Buy tab shows you the top trending coins and tokens for a quick buy. Quick buy shows results only in INR values.
Order history and trade reports
You can check your open orders and order history from the Orders tab.
If you would like to download your trade report, you can do so by going to the Settings tab and choosing the Download Trade report link.
Spot Trade + Limit Orders
WazirX allows spot trading i.e. buying directly using fiat or cryptocurrency pairs they have.
You can also have a Limit set so that the app buys your preferred cryptocurrency only when it reaches that specified amount you are willing to pay.
CoinDCX crypto exchange : CoinDCX Features
The DCX in CoinDCX probably stands for decentralized and centralized exchange (I’m not very sure, did a quick research on the DCX part.
No substantial information on the internet, hence gave my assumptions the benefit of the doubt ;))
CoinDCX allows staking.
What’s staking?
Staking is when you earn rewards (returns) on your cryptocurrency lying on your CoinDCX wallet. Staking is like the savings deposit of a bank.
When you stake your cryptocurrency (selected ones) with CoinDCX, they reward you with returns on your investment.
You can withdraw those returns and keep adding to your crypto wallet to stake and HODL more (HODL is h=hold o=onto d=dear l=life).
If you are a long-term investor, staking is a very good option for you.
CoinDCX is backed by Coinbase. Coinbase is the second-largest crypto exchange after Binance.
Account opening
The account opening process and KYC and bank verification are easy on CoinDCX.
They ask for documents, a selfie, bank details, and verify you within a maximum time frame of 2 hours. I got verified in 5-7 minutes flat and started trading 10 minutes after opening my CoinDCX account.
User Interface + Ease of Use
You’ll love CoinDCX for the UI and the ease of use. Tab names are relatable and simple – Home, Prices, Orders, Investments (this shows your staked coins/tokens), Account.
The dashboard shows you the newly launched crypto assets, the Top Gainers, and the Top Losers of the day.
It also shows the cryptocurrencies that are popular amount new investors.
Watchlist + Market
The Prices tab has two options – Watchlist and All Coins.
The All Coins tab has the list of all the coins that are listed with CoinDCX. If you tap on a coin, it will give you two options Price alert and watchlist.
You can add the coin to your price alert list to buy it in the dip.
You can also put it on a watchlist so that you can check the prices of your preferred coins at a glance.
The price chart gives a conclusive view of how the coin has fared in timelines of 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, and All Time. It also gives you a 24-hours high and low and a 1-year high and low.
This glance information is beneficial in giving an idea about the performance (and volatility) of the coin/token.
Investments + Staking
The staking rewards in any DeX or a partial DeX like CoinDCX are beneficial for long-time crypto holders.
Not only do you earn rewards, your holding a crypto token helps in increasing the INR/USD value of the token too.
Margin trading + Futures Trading
Margin trading refers to the buying and selling of crypto assets based on collateral, and the ratio of buy vs sell profit gain. Margin trading can be risky and needs a good understanding of the market and the general upward and downward trends.
Futures trading is capitalizing on market speculation and movement. When you participate in futures trading, you can leverage and lock a percentage of your capital to buy when the price speculation matches with the market price.
Margin trading is not advised for beginners. Futures trading can be taken up after careful consideration of the pros and cons. The best option is to start with spot trading. It helps with understanding the trade scenario of a crypto platform.
Limit Orders
If you have used a stock market app, you would know about limit orders. A limit order means when you set up a buy price and quantity for a cryptocurrency.
Whenever the cryptocurrency reaches that price, the app automatically buys it for you.
Limit orders are a great feature for volatile markets. It is also great for people who are infrequent in checking market graphs.
DCX Learn
DCX Learn is the educational aspect of CoinDCX.
In DCX Learn, you can learn about Crypto concepts and about blockchain. All DCX courses are free. Some courses offered by Blockchain Council are paid courses.
The education platform from DCX is a great move. It will encourage beginners to start investing in crypto and help them with the terms involved in crypto trading.
Fee structure
CoinDCX has a 0.2% crypto trading fee. The withdrawal fee is specific to the assets, and the full list of fees can be found here – https://coindcx.com/fees
Spot and margin trading fees and futures trading fees can also be found at the above link.
WazirX vs CoinDCX
Ease of Use + Security
Both apps are easy to use. CoinDCX is more beginner-friendly.
The fact that CoinDCX has an interface akin to the new-age share trading apps in India, works in its favor. It is almost as easy to use as Zerodha.
WazirX is also easy to use, less than CoinDCX, but not an unintelligible app in any way.
Both WazirX and CoinDCX have easy registrations and KYC approval is also pretty hassle-free. Both apps have 2FA authentication available for extra security.
Trade features
CoinDCX has more features. You can stake, spot and margin trade, and futures trade on CoinDCX. WazirX only allows spot trading.
Fee
The fee structure for both apps is pretty simple and straightforward. WazirX, backed by Binance, is known to have a lower fee than Coinbase-backed CoinDCX.
Buying pairs
On WazirX, you can buy in 4 pairs – COIN/INR, COIN/USDT, COIN/WRX, COIN/BTC.
This means that if you have BTC, you can buy any other coin by exchanging BTC for the value of the coins you want to buy.
Similarly, you can buy other coins by exchanging your WRX, USDT, and INR.
Whereas in CoinDCX, you can only buy cryptocurrency by using fiat money, that too INR. WazirX is the winner here.
P2P exchange
WazirX allows peer-to-peer exchange. CoinDCX does not have this great feature.
Regulations and insurance
Both WazirX and CoinDCX are backed by Binance and Coinbase, respectively. Binance has better insurance and licenses in place.
Coinbase too, insures digital assets upto a certain sum.
BitGo’s insurance policy insures CoinDCX. WazirX keeps 95% of its funds in offline storage and is therefore insured against hackers.
Both WazirX and CoinDCX are not regulated by any government-recognized regulatory body in India.
With crypto legalization done this budget of 2022, it is expected that the government will probably form a regulatory body for crypto assets or bring it under SEBI.
Number of assets
WazirX has a lot more crypto assets to choose from regarding trading. WazirX also keeps on adding new coins for trading regularly.
CoinDCX, in comparison, has a limited number of assets for trading.
Payment options
Both WazirX and CoinDCX allow bank payments.
However, the number of supported banks is less. More banks may be added soon, with the government recognizing crypto. Both platforms support Mobikwik wallets.
Conclusion: WazirX vs CoinDCX: which is better?
Both WazirX and CoinDCX are reliable platforms for crypto trading.
WazirX has a lot of options in terms of coins and has cheaper fees, while CoinDCX is more user-friendly with all the major coins that a beginner would want to invest in.
CoinDCX has staking and holding features and WazirX is soon planning to launch its decentralized exchange, which probably would have a lot more, and better features apart from staking.
You can start with anyone app, or have both installed and invested in to see which one suits you better. You can start small, and then experience for yourself which application makes it easier for you to invest.
In my suggestion, if you’re experimental, and would love to invest in coins other than the big 10 (BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, ADA, XRP, MATIC, etc), WazirX is the platform of choice.
If you’re a beginner and want to invest only in the top 5-10 crypto currencies, the interface and usability ease of CoinDCX might look more appealing to you.
Since crypto is touted as the new future, and rightfully so, it might be good to add the crypto dimension to your portfolio.
You can start with as little as Rs 500. I started that small.
The way the world is warming up to cryptocurrency, you may start seeing profits in your investment in a couple of years.
Share with us your crypto trading experiences with WazirX and CoinDCX.
Which platform do you like better?
Maybe you have questions?
Let me know in the comments below.
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