A Brief History of Changelly
This platform was founded during Bitcoin’s initial boom (in 2013) and, by still going strong to this very day, Changelly has truly established themselves as one of the veterans of the crypto industry.
Originally started by a company named Minergate, Changelly rapidly gained enormous popularity for its easy-to-use exchange services (it was also one of the only exchanges to – at that time – offer relative anonymity to its users).
Right from the get-go, they offered instant crypto-to-crypto exchange services. All a user was required to do was decide on his/her chosen cryptocurrency exchange pair and send the necessary funds to the address provided.
These funds would be converted from one cryptocurrency to another (using the predetermined exchange rate), then transferred to your chosen wallet address.
Originally founded as an exchange to allow users to swap cryptocurrencies, Changelly has significantly evolved in recent years, and they now offer competitive professional features similar to those that you see from other major exchange platforms.
The company has grown steadily since its inception, adding more than 170 cryptocurrency assets to its offering list and expanding its traffic to more than 2 million users each month.
Changelly now includes buying and selling services serviced through 3rd-party brokerage partnerships, a more advanced Pro platform and a new Earn feature that allows influencers to earn a portion of its revenue.
The current CEO of Changelly is Eric Benz, a young entrepreneur who has been involved in a number of Blockchain and Fintech businesses (both as investor and board director) since 2012.
He has delivered SaaS systems for some of the industries largest institutions involving payments, identity technology, and banking infrastructure and is also a founder member of the UK digital Currency Association.
Former CEO’s of the company include Benz’ predecessor, Ilya Bere (CEO from mid-2018 to early-2019); who has since moved on to become the CEO of Finchpay and co-founder Konstantin Gladych (CEO from mid-2016 to late-2019); who left to found Atomicwallet.io and has remained there as CEO ever since.
The Pros
If you’ve never used a cryptocurrency exchange in the past, you’ll love Changelly’s straightforward and intuitive exchange platform. Simply enter the cryptocurrency that you have in your wallet and select the cryptocurrency you intend to swap; and Changelly will show you how many coins or tokens that you’ll receive after the exchange closes, as well as your exchange rate.
After finishing filling out your order form, you can view the network fee (and Changelly fee) laid out directly and subtracted from the total number of tokens or coins that will be deposited into your wallet. Simple!
This way their platform provides an effortless way for you to exchange between two different cryptocurrencies at a very fast speed. Hassle-free conversions are done without delay, with any transaction on the platform costing a fee of just 0.5% per transaction (which is cheap for the level of service that it provides, relative to many competitor sites).
We say all this without even mentioning the fact that Changelly functions primarily as an anonymous (crypto-to-crypto) exchange, which means using their service can be a secretive way of digitally transacting; as you only need to sign-up on the platform using your email ID to get started.
All in all, Changelly is a fairly all-inclusive provider, with a massive selection of more than 170 cryptocurrencies to buy, sell and exchange, a simple and straightforward platform which is easy enough for beginners to get their heads around and a Pro-platform which is ideal for advanced traders and more experienced crypto-users alike.
The Cons
While Changelly offers a fiat-to-crypto exchange service (where you can buy cryptocurrencies using fiat currency) the fee that you would need to cough up is high.
For this reason, among others, it is better to stay away from this platform if you plan to buy cryptocurrencies using real-world money – as many of Changelly’s competitors offer a better value service in this regard.
They have also been the subject of occasional customer service delays, which can come at a very inopportune moment for an unsuspecting/inexperienced user.
This has led some people to write rather dismissive reviews of Changelly on some well-known online forums, including Reddit.
With no option for phone support, the customer service section has been found lacking in the past (though their 24/7 live chat is rapidly responsive and proactive), leading some users to try out other platforms – particularly if phone communication is favoured for any reason.
Additionally, their KYC (Know Your Customer) identification process can both be long and arduous, and unpredictable at best – as their procedures can often change dependant on current regulations within the industry/company itself.