It is not every day that we get to see a cryptocurrency exchange that has its roots in the lesser active parts of Asia when it comes to cryptocurrency trading.
With this review we are aiming to learn more about Zebpay and its provided services in order to determine whether it is a viable option for traders to use for their everyday needs.
Based out of India and headquartered in Singapore, Zebpay is one such cryptocurrency exchange service. The cryptocurrency exchange service lets users trade between cryptocurrencies through its mobile apps for iOS and Android.
What adds to its reputation is that it is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, where it holds a large portion of the user base.
With the increasing number of cryptocurrency traders desiring solutions that are easier and do not require them to learn conventional trading terminologies and processes, services such as Zebpay that operate through simple mobile UI have been gaining traction with more and more users who are turning towards this medium of trading as of late.
But since learning about each of such services proves to be a daunting task for individual users, we have put together detailed information about Zebpay to determine whether it is a good option for traders who want to delve into the aforementioned trading method.
Speaking of, when you visit Zebpay as of May 23, 2018, the exchange displays the following notice.
While it does not bode well for the users of the exchange, regulatory issues are out of its control. Therefore, we still went through the rest of the aspects of Zebpay in order to find out how it fares as compared to its competitors that work in the same medium of mobile-based exchanges.
Zebpay Review: History of Zebpay
Originally launched as Buysellbitco.in in 2012, Zebpay was soon rebranded in late 2014 when new partners Saurabh Agrawal and Sandeep Goenka joined founder Mahin Gupta in expanding the reach of the platform.
Zebpay started off with the idea to make cryptocurrency trading easier for those who were not aware of technical terminologies and processes pertaining to trading but still wanted to benefit from the world of digital assets.
Zebpay had simplicity and intuition in mind with the ease of use as the core aspect of the Zebpay operation.
Since Zebpay was based in India, it focused on the local market and allowed fiat deposits through bank transfers. This method allowed users to be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies right from their mobile devices, greatly simplifying their onboarding experience to the realm of crypto.
Keeping that approach in mind, Zebpay launched its operations through its mobile apps for iOS and Android. While the platform initially only traded in Bitcoin, it launched Zebpay 2.0 in January 2018 for its users and started adding support for altcoins.
At the time of writing, Zebpay supports 14 cryptocurrencies through its platform.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Ripple
- Bitcoin Cash
- EOS
- OmiseGo
- Tron
- Golem
- 0x
- Augur
- Kyber
- Basic Attention Token
- VeChain
What Does Zebpay Do?
Zebpay in itself is a mobile wallet that also provides cryptocurrency exchange and trading services. All that users have to do in order to sign up with the service is to install the app on their phone, provide their cell phone number and select a customized PIN code which lets them access their saved information on the app.
However, Zebpay only seems to be simple on the surface, since after signing up, users have to go through a verification process which can take a few days before they can start using their account properly.
As mentioned above, since Zebpay is primarily targeted towards an Indian audience. As a matter of fact, the exchange seems only targeted toward the citizens of India . The exchange offers them the option to deposit INR through bank transfers in order to facilitate buying and selling actions for cryptocurrencies. The platform also offers a peer-to-peer trading platform through its app for those users who are familiar enough with trading interfaces to use such a solution.
Zebpay Review: Fees
Once users are registered and have completed the verification procedure at the exchange, they can start the procedure of selecting their desired cryptocurrency as well as their deposit method either in cryptocurrency or fiat, and move forward with executing a buying transaction.
On the other hand, if they are selling cryptocurrency, then all that they have to do is specify the respective amount, and wait for the trade to go through with either the exchange or through a peer-to-peer execution, depending on the option that they select.
While there is no fee for starting or maintaining a Zebpay account, it does charge fees on a maker-taker model.
In this model, users who add liquidity to the market by adding orders that don’t execute right away are branded as market “makers”; whereas, users who post orders that get executed instantly and thus take liquidity away from the exchange are termed as market “takers”.
For all trades being executed through the exchange, users are either charged a maker fee of 0.20% or a taker fee of 0.25%, depending upon which category they fall in.
Furthermore, if a user executes buy and sell transactions in a calendar day, they are also charged with an “intraday” fees of 0.1%.
There are no fees for deposits by Zebpay except for the bank/network charged by the respective platform, while withdrawals through the exchange in fiat and cryptocurrency transfers cost differently for each cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, while there are deposit limits in place for fiat transactions, deposits in cryptocurrencies do not have any restriction. In contrast, both cryptocurrency and fiat withdrawals have limits associated with them, which once again depend on the payment method and the transacting cryptocurrency.
Zebpay Review: Security
Zebpay uses a 4 digit PIN code for its users to sign in through the app, but it does not have the same security standards as other exchanges such as two-factor authorization in place.
That being said, Zebpay adds an extra layer of security to their platform by integrating multi-sig technology into their wallets.
Zebpay Review: Customer Service
Zebpay has a direct customer service number for its customers to reach out to its support team. While it is reported that the exchange does respond to inquiries, there have been isolated instances where customers have taken to the Internet to complain about its service.
That being said, as with any other operation on the planet, being a business that has an extensive outreach, Zebpay is bound to have a few unsatisfied customers along the way. Therefore, while these instances can be present, they do not mean that they represent Zebpay’s overall service.
Should Zebpay Be Selected as a Primary Trading Platform?
The question about whether or not to use Zebpay depends upon your familiarity with exchange platforms and the region from where you are using the service.
Zebpay’s rates remain competitive when you compare them with mobile-based cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as Coinbase or Coinify, but the way that the platform has been built to focus exclusively on the Indian market make those rates exclusive for the local industry rather than international clients.
Sending fiat deposits in INR to Zebpay’s exchange is not as easy as a task from another country as it is from India itself; hence, that option in itself gets written off when you are accessing the exchange from anywhere other than India.
To add to it, once you take India’s current approach to cryptocurrencies into account, trading with Zebpay does not seem to be a reliable approach in the current regulatory climate of the country.
Furthermore, while the complaints from a few customers can certainly not be ignored, the factor of having to follow anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) procedures by the exchange provides a justification for the delay in the processing of funds.
All in all, Zebpay remains one of the best options for Indian traders due to its diverse portfolio and overall reasonable fees, but international traders can find better rates with more accessibility in traditional exchanges such as Poloniex, Kraken, and Binance.