NZ crypto exchange reviews and the checklist behind them

These NZ crypto exchange reviews cover seven platforms Kiwis use or ask about, from Swyftx and CEX.IO to the closed Easy Crypto. Each one runs the same seven checks: the company behind it, FSPR registration, dispute scheme, NZD banking, custody, full fees and complaint history. None gets a score; the trade-offs are spelled out instead.

This is not a “best exchange” league table. For a side-by-side shortlist for your first purchase, the exchange comparison on our home page does that job. This page explains what we look at, why, and how you can check the same things before you hand any platform your passport scan and your savings.

Stars and scores are left out on purpose. A single number hides the trade-offs that matter: a platform can be cheap and badly banked, or well regulated overseas and awkward for NZ dollars. Each review answers the same seven questions and says plainly where the answer is “we couldn’t confirm”.

Seven NZ crypto exchange reviews, and one app explainer

Global

CEX.IO

Running since 2013 and US-licensed. Accepts NZ residents and NZ cards, but has no NZD wallet, so payments are converted.

→ NZD

Swyftx

Australian-owned, now the main local NZD on-ramp after buying Easy Crypto. Free NZD bank transfers; spread on top of fees.

→ NZD

Independent Reserve

A real BTC/NZD order book, running since 2013. Bank funding is SWIFT-only on its NZ pages, and NZD withdrawals cost NZ$29.

→ Self-custody

Stacked

A young Kiwi Bitcoin-only app that sends coins to a wallet you control. Flat 1% fee via open banking.

→ P2P only

Binance

Has a self-reported NZ registration but no NZD bank rails. NZ dollars move through peer-to-peer trades with other users.

→ Limited

Coinbase

The app is in the NZ App Store, but we found no NZD deposit route and conflicting reports about what Kiwis can do.

→ Closed

Easy Crypto

Stopped NZ trading on 30 March 2026 after Swyftx bought it. What happened, and what to do with an old account.

→ Not for NZ

easyBitcoin app

Not an exchange review as such: an explainer on who runs the app, how it works, and why New Zealanders can’t use it.

→

Which NZ exchange review to read first

Start from what you need, not from the brand you’ve heard of:

The seven checks behind every NZ exchange review

Every review works through the same list, in the same order, and the order is deliberate: there is no point comparing fees on a platform you can’t identify or can’t get your money out of.

1. Which company serves NZ customers, and from where

We find the legal entity that serves New Zealand customers, which is often not the brand name. Swyftx serves Kiwis through Swyftx Pty Ltd in Australia. CEX.IO serves “other jurisdictions”, including NZ, through CEX OVRS LLC rather than its US-licensed company. Independent Reserve’s NZ pages show an Australian company number and no NZ entity. Knowing the entity tells you whose terms you are agreeing to and which country’s courts and regulators might help if things go wrong.

2. Is the exchange on New Zealand’s FSPR?

Firms that exchange, transfer or hold crypto for others in New Zealand generally have to register on the Financial Service Providers Register. We record the FSP number and say whether it was self-reported by the company, cited by a third party, or not found.

As of 16 October 2026 we could not confirm any of the numbers on the register itself, because its search runs as an interactive application, so every review asks you to check by hand. The steps are below.

3. Which NZ dispute scheme you could complain to

A registered provider that deals with retail clients should belong to one of the four approved dispute resolution schemes: the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, Financial Services Complaints Ltd (FSCL), the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS) or the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO). These schemes are free for consumers, and FSCL can consider claims up to NZ$500,000.

We could not confirm scheme membership for any exchange we review, so check the FSPR entry and the exchange’s complaints page before you deposit. A platform with no NZ registration usually gives you no NZ scheme at all.

4. How NZ dollars get in and out, and which bank holds them

How do NZ dollars get in and out, what does each route cost, and which bank is holding the account? A free local transfer, a SWIFT wire with a fee, a card converted into US dollars and a peer-to-peer trade with a stranger are four very different experiences. We name the bank where it has been reported, because in New Zealand that relationship has decided which exchanges survive.

5. Who holds your coins, and can you withdraw them?

Almost every exchange is custodial: it holds the keys and you hold an IOU. That is normal for buying, but it means a failure, freeze or hack at the platform becomes your problem. We check whether you can withdraw Bitcoin to your own wallet, what it costs, and whether the platform publishes anything about cold storage or segregation. If the difference is new to you, read our custodial vs non-custodial explainer first.

6. The full fee in NZ dollars, spread included

We list the published trading fee, deposit and withdrawal fees and card charges, then look for what isn’t published. The usual gap is the spread: the difference between the price you are quoted and the mid-market price. Instant-buy screens often earn more from the spread than from the fee. Our all-in Bitcoin cost calculator shows how the pieces add up in NZ dollars.

7. Verification, new-account limits and complaint patterns

What identity checks are required, what limits apply to new accounts, and what do users say about verification holds and withdrawals? We read app-store listings, Trustpilot and news coverage, and we treat them carefully: people with a problem are far more likely to post a review than people without one. A pattern of the same complaint matters more than any single angry post.

How do I check if a crypto exchange is registered in NZ?

Search the Financial Service Providers Register by company name and by FSP number, then read the entry. It takes about five minutes and is the most useful check you can do before opening an account.

1. 01

   Find the legal name

   Open the exchange’s terms of service or footer and note the exact company name and any FSP number it quotes. The brand on the app is often different from the company you contract with.

2. 02

   Open the official register

   Go to the Financial Service Providers Register at fsp-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz. Type the address yourself rather than following a link from an ad or email.

3. 03

   Search by name and by number

   Search the company name, then the FSP number separately. If the two searches lead to different entities, or the number doesn’t exist, treat that as a red flag.

4. 04

   Read the entry

   Check that the status shows as registered rather than deregistered, that the listed financial services cover what the exchange does for you, and that the address and directors look consistent with the company’s own claims.

5. 05

   Find the dispute scheme

   The entry should name a dispute resolution scheme if the firm serves retail clients. Note it, and check the scheme’s own website lists the firm as a member.

6. 06

   Keep a screenshot

   Save a dated screenshot of the entry. If you ever need to complain, you will know which scheme to approach and what the firm was registered for at the time.

Why NZ crypto exchanges keep closing: the banking problem

Most NZ closures trace back to a lost bank account. In larger markets, an exchange losing one bank is an inconvenience. In New Zealand, with a handful of major banks and a long record of “de-risking” crypto businesses, it can be fatal.

Dasset, an Auckland exchange, lost its banking provider in January 2023 and could not replace it. Withdrawal problems had been reported from around October 2022. It went into liquidation in August 2023, and the liquidators’ first report found a gap of about NZ$6.3m between what customers were owed and what was on hand. The Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation in February 2024.

Kiwi-Coin, the country’s longest-running Bitcoin exchange, told customers in October 2025 that it would close. Its director said it had been difficult to operate “without a bank account” for years. Trading halted on 15 December 2025 and the business ceased on 1 January 2026.

That is why our reviews ask which bank handles a platform’s NZ dollars, not just whether NZD is “supported”. Swyftx’s reported move to Kiwibank in January 2026 is a real strength for now, and Swyftx has had temporary NZD pauses before. Independent Reserve sidesteps the problem by using SWIFT, at a price. CEX.IO avoids it entirely by not holding NZD, which is why your card payment gets converted.

There is also friction on the customer side. ANZ NZ says it blocks Visa Debit and credit card payments to some exchanges it considers high-risk, without publishing a list. Our guide to NZ bank and card payments for crypto covers what we found for each bank.

Cryptopia, Dasset, Kiwi-Coin and Easy Crypto: NZ exchanges that closed

Two lessons run through that list. One is banking, covered above. The other is custody: Cryptopia and Dasset customers waited years for partial recoveries because their coins were held by the platform. Easy Crypto’s exit was orderly by comparison, but it still forced a customer base of more than 350,000 users to move platforms on someone else’s timetable.

Every reviewed platform side by side: NZD, registration and custody

The table pulls the same facts from each review. Order is not a ranking, and “registration” means what we could find, not what we confirmed on the register.

How these reviews are researched, and what they leave out

Every review is desk research from published sources, dated, with gaps marked.

• We don’t claim hands-on testing. We describe each platform from its own published fee pages, terms and help articles, regulator registers and dated third-party reporting. Where a figure comes only from a third party, we say so.
• We don’t rank or score. Fit depends on how you buy. Someone buying NZ$50 a week has different needs from someone moving NZ$20,000 once.
• We don’t give investment advice. Reviews describe platforms, not whether you should buy Bitcoin.
• We do update. Every fact carries a date. If a platform changes its fees, bank or registration, tell us via the about page.

A five-step check before you open any NZ crypto account

About to sign up somewhere? Run through these first:

1. Name the legal entity and find it on the FSPR, including its dispute scheme.
2. Check how NZ dollars go in and come back out, and what each direction costs.
3. Compare the quoted price with the live mid-market Bitcoin price in NZD at the same moment.
4. Plan to withdraw anything you intend to hold to a wallet you control.
5. Download your transaction history regularly. You will need it for IRD, and you may need it if a platform closes.

Wondering where crypto sits legally in the first place? Our guide to whether crypto is legal in NZ sets out what the FMA, the DIA and the FSPR each do.