ChangeHero Review- Fees, Supported Coins & Countries, Payment Methods
Philipp Traugott
There are two main arms of the crypto world. There is the DeFi world, a decentralized economy that allows anonymous transactions without the need for a centralized governing body. No matter how large your transaction is, you do not have to answer to anyone.
There is also the CeFi(Centralized Finance), where things are stricter and where you usually have to go through KYC verification before you can be allowed to trade large numbers, or even to trade at all.
You might be wondering which of these two arms is better. That is a topic for another day. Today, we will talk about an exchange that combines both arms effortlessly. The exchange is called Changehero. How does it operate? What do you personally have to gain from it? Stay on this article and find out.
What you'll learn 👉
OVERVIEW
ChangeHero is a non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2018 with its headquarters in Hong Kong. Being non-custodial means that the exchange does not store funds for users. It only acts as a middleman, providing a swapping mechanism and direct purchases with credit cards.
One of the outstanding features of the exchange is that it doesn’t require registration and login to swap coins or purchase them. In this way, it sticks to the anonymity model that’s common in the DeFi world. However, as we will see in this article, that is not applicable in all scenarios.
SERVICES AND FEATURES
BUY AND SELL CRYPTO
Changehero uses a third-party payment provider, MercuryO, to process buying and selling of cryptocurrencies through Visa Cards. When using this feature, it asks for the issuing country and brings out a list of available fiat currencies in that country.
The process is very straightforward. You enter the amount of fiat you want to use and the preferred currency(only three fiat currencies are accepted at this time, namely, USD, EUR, and RUB); then enter the amount of crypto you want to purchase.
After that, you enter the receiving address or domain name (Changehero does not make deposits into smart contract addresses), the Visa Card details, and you’re good to go! No need for registration, no need for KYC, just pay for your crypto and get it in your desired wallet.
A similar procedure is followed when you want to sell crypto into fiat.
SWAP CRYPTO
This feature operates like the swap feature of Automated Market Makers in the DeFi world. All it needs is your wallet address, and it would be able to swap any of the sixty-six supported coins for another. There are two types of swaps on Changehero. They are the fixed-rate swap and the best-rate swap.
The fixed-rate swap pegs a good rate down for 15 minutes. No matter the price condition of the market at that time, the rate is fixed, making you know exactly how much you’ll get in return for your swap.
The best-rate swap finds the best rate for that transaction at the point of sale. Since crypto prices are volatile, the final rate may fluctuate and may be lower or greater than the fixed rate.
Depending on the network conditions at the time of the swap, and the cryptocurrency pair, the transaction time may range between 5-30 minutes
CHANGEHERO SUPPORTED COINS
Changehero currently supports 66 different cryptocurrencies on different chains. The coins are 1inch, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, ANKR, Cardano(ADA), AAVE, Algorand, Ardor(ARDR), Band Protocol, Cosmos, Basic Attention Token(BAT), Travala.com(AVA), Balancer(BAL), BNB, BUSD(BSC), Bluzelle(BLZ), Smart Chain(BSC), BUSD(ERC-20), Cake, Crypto.com coin(CRO), Compound, Solana, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Chainlink, Litecoin, Matic, Shiba Inu, Serum, Swipe token, USDC, USDT, Vechain, Ripple, and some thirty other tokens.
In all, there are eight stablecoins and more than five networks supported on the platform.
CHANGEHERO DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS
Changehero does not store funds for users, therefore it doesn’t allow deposits and withdrawals. It only allows buying and selling of crypto directly with credit cards or swapping one crypto for another. After buying coins, the exchange sends it immediately to a wallet of your choosing.
Also, all fiat transactions are handled by Changehero‘s third-party service providers, namely Coinify and MercuryO. Therefore, Changehero really sticks to the non-custodial ideal it claims to have. The only exception is in the case you want to sell crypto for fiat. In such a case, a deposit address is provided for you where you send the crypto and get your requested fiat.
CHANGEHERO TRADING FEES
The swap fees charged by Changehero are not fixed. They depend on the network congestion at the point of swap. Nevertheless, the swap fees are usually between 0.5% to 0.7% on the exchange. For buying and selling crypto with Visa Cards, the trade fees are determined by the third-party partners. At the time this article was written, the rate was 4.72% for trading through Mercury.
DOES CHANGEHERO REQUIRE REGISTRATION AND KYC?
From the beginning, Changehero doesn’t require registration nor does it require you to log in to access its services. It operates basically as a decentralized exchange, where you come in, makes your swap, and go. However, that is not always the case.
Changehero operates based on a risk-scoring system. It puts a number of factors into consideration whenever you want to make a swap or purchase to determine how risky the operation is. If the operation scores low on the risk assessment meter, your transaction will proceed without the need for KYC. Conversely, if the transaction is deemed highly risky, you would need to complete KYC verification before your transaction can be processed.
If you do not want to perform KYC verification after your transaction has been deemed risky, you can ask for a refund and you will be credited back to the originating address. However, in such a case, the network fees will be deducted along with Changehero‘s operational refund fee of 10% or $100 (whichever is higher).
CHANGEHERO SUPPORTED COUNTRIES
Changehero is available in many countries around the world. However, it’s terms and conditions states that it’s services are prohibited from residents or citizens of Cuba, North Korea, the United States of America, Iran, Bangladesh, Crimea, Bolivia, Sudan, Syria, the US virgin islands, and countries in the United Nations Security Council Sanctions List. You also have to be at least 16 years old to perform services on the exchange legally.
HOW TO START WITH CHANGEHERO
You do not need to register or create an account before you start using the exchange. There are three main functions the exchange offers. You can swap coins, buy them, or sell them.
To swap coins
- After opening the website, enter the crypto pair you want to swap between, the amount of crypto, the rate type(either fixed rate or best rate), and your wallet address. Then click ‘Exchange’.
- The next page asks you to review and confirm the transaction details before finally sending
- A wallet address will be generated by Changehero. Send the token you want to swap into that address.
- Wait for your address to be credited with the other token.
To buy coins
- On the website homepage, click ‘buy crypto with Visa’
- Select the currency you want to buy crypto with, the amount, your wallet address, your phone number, and your email
- Provide your card details and verify the transaction parameters again
- Tick the box to show you agree with the terms of service.
- Click ‘Buy’
To sell coins
- Enter the crypto amount you want to sell, select the fiat currency(only USD, EUR, and RUB are supported), enter your email address and your phone number
- Provide and verify your credit or debit card details
- Provide a refund address and verify the transaction type
- You will be given a deposit address to send the coins to
- Once the coins have been successfully sent to the address, your bank card will be credited instantly.
DOES CHANGEHERO HAVE A NATIVE TOKEN?
Changehero does not have a native token, nor have there been talks of developing one
IS CHANGEHERO LEGIT AND SAFE?
Changehero is not a custodial exchange, therefore, your funds are never stored on the exchange. This gives a measure of confidence in it that your funds are safe. Also, the exchange includes a link where competent authorities can request pertinent information regarding its safety protocols. It doesn’t seem like they have anything to hide.
However, the exchange’s founders and team members are anonymous. This brings an element of uneasiness into the picture. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, as the company’s physical address is clearly stated on the website.
Lastly, the exchange has a good reputation on social media and in the general crypto world. Therefore, it is safe to say Changehero is a safe exchange.
IS CHANGEHERO REGULATED?
Changehero claims to be registered under the Hong Kong Government and incorporated under Herofintechs limited which is located in Wanchai, 178 Gloucester Road, CHINACHEM century tower. It also has a registered office in Intershore Chambers, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, 4342, under the company name, Disruptive Fintechs incorporated.
CONCLUSION
We have seen how Changehero combines the properties of both DeFi and Cefi systems. On the platform, you can trade without having to register or do KYC verification, to an extent. On the other hand, the services of the exchange are not extended to residents of some regions. Weighing the pros and cons and various features as we have discussed in this article, I hope you how to know if it is one exchange you can use or not.
Read also:
- Changelly Review – Still a Viable Bitcoin Buying Place?
- SwapSpace Review – Is It Legit and Safe to Use?
- ChangeNow.io Review – Is Changenow.io legit or scam?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT FIAT CURRENCIES DOES CHANGEHERO SUPPORT?
For buying, Changehero supports EUR, RUB, IDR, NGN, GBP, JPY, TRY, UAH, GHS, TZS, ZAR, BRL, VND, and MXN.
For selling crypto, the only currencies supported are RUB, USD, and EUR
DOES CHANGEHERO HAVE FIAT DEPOSIT?
It doesn’t accept direct deposits of fiat into your account as it is a non-custodial exchange. However, it allows users to use various fiat currencies to buy and sell crypto. It does this through MercuryO, a third-party payment provider. The fees are high but the transactions are processed instantly.
CAN I TRADE WITH LEVERAGE ON CHANGEHERO?
No, you can’t trade with leverage. You can only swap one coin for another on the exchange
WHERE IS CHANGEHERO BASED?
Changehero is based in the following address: Intershore Chambers, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, 4342
HOW DOES AML ON CHANGEHERO WORK?
From the beginning, Changehero doesn’t require registration nor does it require you to log in to access its services. It operates basically as a decentralized exchange, where you come in, makes your swap, and go. However, that is not always the case.
Changehero operates based on a risk-scoring system. It puts a number of factors into consideration whenever you want to make a swap or purchase to determine how risky the operation is. If the operation scores low on the risk assessment meter, your transaction will proceed without the need for KYC. Conversely, if the transaction is deemed highly risky, you would need to complete KYC verification before your transaction can be processed.
If you do not want to perform KYC verification after your transaction has been deemed risky, you can ask for a refund and you will be credited back to the originating address. However, in such a case, the network fees will be deducted along with Changehero‘s operational refund fee of 10% or $100 (whichever is higher).
