Koinex - Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange Review (First Impressions)

Koinex (koinex.in) was launched recently in August end and is still in beta phase.

Intro

As per the website Koinex is the first complete exchange supporting multiple cryptocurrencies/ tokens on a single platform. Built entirely from scratch, Koinex is aimed at bringing the magic of blockchain technology to India.

It currently supports trading in BitCoin/INR , LiteCoin/INR, Ripple/INR and Ether/INR combinations. Even though the site displays INR prices for alt currencies like BitCoinCash, OmiseGo, Golem and IOTA, it currently DOES NOT allow trading in them. The company list Aditya Naik, Rahul Raj and Rakesh Yadav as the key members and has provided the links to their linkedIn profiles in the About section.

Now coming to the review (first impressions after using it for nearly 2 weeks)

Sign up/Getting Started :

KYC is mandatory for signing up and using this platform. You have to first pay an amount of INR 100 to their account to start the KYC process which they will refund from your first trade fee.( There is a catch here, you are paying INR 100 and currently their trade fee is 0.4% which means you will get the amount refunded only if you trade for INR 25000 when you do your first trade, which is very rare in my opinion as people will be skeptical at first and will be trading their first trades for lower amounts and thus getting way less refund (for instance i got around INR 2 as I did a test first trade on Ripple).)

So you have to provide your PAN Card photo, Aadhar number and bank details to set up your account first hand after paying INR 100. After this they will put you on KYC pending status, all the mean time you are NOT allowed to chat or trade till the KYC is verified. For me the KYC verification just took a few hours (may be 2 hours or less). Once its done they send you an email with the notification and you can then login and start using the platform.

Rating 4/5

KOIN Chat

This is an open chat where you can view the chat of signed up members and also join them once your KYC is verified. This is a good feature though most of the time the active users are less than 150 and the trading volumes are very limited. The admins are mostly available here and help out users very often with their queries.
I doubt how it will scale and stop manipulations in price through chat. Also every user is mentioned using their first name on Chat and many a times there are more than one person with the same name which creates confusion and some times chaos.

Rating 3.5/5

Buy/Sell/Withdraw/Deposit Experience

The interface is sleek and very user friendly.

There is no restrictions like in other indian exchanges regarding the quantity or size of the trade (meaning you can start ordering 0.001 BTC or 0.01 ETH as well) which is good but also comes up with unwanted price manipulations and movements.

The trading exchange works currently on exact price matching algorithm which means if you are placing a Buy order of 100 XRP at 12.50 then you need some one with the exact sell order of INR 100 ( more or less is fine) XRP at 12.50 to do the trade. Even if there are buyers selling 100XRP for 12.45 your trade wont execute, the Price needs to match.

They are planning trade matching engine upgrades to avoid manipulations where people buy/sell in very low quantities causing the rates going haywire

Withdrawals/Deposits of Ripple requires a destination tag which is causing confusion to few users. I hope they create a video to help users on that part soon.

Rating 3.5/5

Fees

The fees is only for BUY trade currently that too at 0.4 % which is kind of less compared to few other indian exchanges. The withdrawal fee is a bit high for LTC specifically at 0.01LTC and also for BTC.
Also they implemented Payment gateway for instant deposits with 2% as the rates to be bourn by user which is really high (200 for 10000). But there is NEFT/imps to their accounts which is free but can take upto 3 hours (in my experience it was always done under an hour). Withdrawals to INR is charged Rs 10 and takes at least 2 days to get done. So i am taking out 1.5 from my rating for the above points.

Rating 3.5/5.

Team/Company/Security/Support

Till now the experience has been good and the site seems to be secure enough. The coins are stored in their wallet but can be withdrawn to personal wallets at the mentioned rates (above). The team looks to be good and are helping people whenever required. They have a telegram and Koin Chat and also support teams.

Rating 4/5