Coincheck Review

Coincheck is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014 by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It was originally intended for Japanese customers only and was later extended to other areas. This platform is not only a cryptocurrency exchange but also a wallet service for merchants, of which there are 2200 in Japan alone, using their native Bitcoin payment solution.

Coincheck is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and is owned by Monex (Monex Group, Inc.), a Japanese financial services company regulated by the FSA.

The exchange is a member of the JBA (Japan Blockchain Association) and participates with the government in the development of community standards for Bitcoin use cases. Coincheck is one of the exchanges that has taken a major step in connecting real estate with Bitcoin. It has partnered with SEKAI to help Taiwanese, Chinese and Hong Kong investors buy property in Japan with Bitcoin.

Coincheck Features Review

Coincheck Security Review

In 2018, Coincheck suffered a serious breach, which led to the theft of 500 million NEM coins worth $530 million at the time. The exchange itself struggled to recover, but eventually resumed operations back to normal. The 260,000 affected users were compensated in Japanese Yen through Coincheck’s own capital. Coincheck was mandated by the Financial Services Agency to invest in security infrastructure and improve security practices on the platform. 

Coincheck’s security options are:

• 2FA Authentication
• SSL Client Certificates
• KYC
• Automatic Log-out

The security measures at Coincheck are below average, especially compared to top exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, and KuCoin.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Coincheck is fairly limited to fiat deposits and withdrawals, as the only available currency is the Japanese Yen. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, there are 11 options:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ethereum Classic
• LISK
• Factom
• Ripple
• NEM
• Litecoin
• Bitcoin Cash
• Monacoin
• Stellar

Order Types 

Besides the simple buy and sell orders on the main platform, there is a more advanced option with a more suitable interface for advanced traders. 

Available order types on Coincheck: 

• Market
• Limit
• Stop Loss Order

Trading Instruments

In addition to spot trading, the direct buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, there is also margin trading with up to 5x leverage on multiple pairs. 

Available Leverage trading pairs:

• BTCJPY
• ETHJPY
• ETCJPY
• LSKJPY
• FCTJPY
• XRPJPY
• XEMJPY
• LTCJPY
• BCHJPY
• MONAJPY
• XLMJPY

• ETHBTC
• ETCBTC
• LSKBTC
• FCTBTC
• XRPBTC
• XEMBTC
• LTCBTC
• BCHBTC
• MONABTC
• XLMBTC

Coincheck can be used for over-the-counter (OTC) trading but is only applicable for orders with larger volumes. The minimum is 10 BTC and the maximum 300 BTC with buying and selling available only for one currency – the Japanese Yen.

User Interface 

The UI of Coincheck is pretty good. It is simple, user friendly, and most importantly – effective. The main part of the exchange comes only in one color scheme. It is compact and effective, but for some people, it may seem overloaded with small buttons and tabs.

The interface overlay of the start page follows a logical path with all menus on the left, followed by the Spot Trading, Order List, and Currency tabs. Below you will find “Open orders”, “Positions” and “My trades”. At the bottom of the page is a simple bloomberg like chart for 3 pairs – BTC JPY, ETH JPY, and ETH BTC. 

At Coincheck you have the opportunity to trade with another charting software called Tradeview, which is tailored for advanced traders. The Tradeview user interface comes with one color scheme and does not offer the possibility to customize it. 

Coincheck mobile app

The Coincheck mobile application is only available on iOS and serves both as an exchange and a wallet with a well-designed interface that provides an accessible mobile trading environment.

Coincheck Payment for business

Coincheck offers a payment solution for commercial companies to accept payments in Bitcoin. Like the mobile app, it is only offered as an application for iOS only. The payment solution has been used by various business and eCommerce websites since 2017. There are no hidden fees, no initial costs, and no monthly fees. The direct conversion of BTC payments to JPY can be done manually at any time.

Coincheck Fees

The deposit and withdrawal fees at Coincheck are relatively low, also the fees for margin trading are low, which providing a nice trading environment.

Volumes and Liquidity

The volume of Coincheck is in the lower spectrum of the crypto industry with a 24-hour volume of about 30 million for BTCJPY.  However, keep in mind that it is an exchange based in Japan and currently only residents of that country are accepted.

Coincheck Review Conclusion

Coincheck is a very good local exchange for buying and selling Bitcoin in Japan. The fees are low enough for the exchange to act as an effective fiat gateway, while also offering something on the margin trading side. TradeView’s UI design urgently needs to be revised and updated. Since Coincheck is fully regulated and works closely with the authorities, it is overall a very good option for Japanese residents.

Coincheck was founded in 2014 by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka, providing valuable business solutions like crypto payment solutions besides a trading exchange.