Conversion rates

Determining buy and sell prices

For currency exchanges within CoinJar there are two prices that can be used - the buy price, or the sell price. These prices are encountered when buying or selling a currency, and along with any transaction fees, directly influence the total price paid when completing a currency conversion.

Rather than pulling data from other cryptocurrency exchanges, buy and sell prices are influenced by active trades placed on CoinJar Exchange by CoinJar members.

This method of determining a price point provides rates that match what other CoinJar members are willing to trade at the time, with the convenience of not having to match your trade with another willing participant at the time. CoinJar acts as a market maker in this case.

Spread & traded amount

The difference between the buy and sell price at any given time is known as the "spread". When it comes to making a new currency conversion, the size of the spread is influenced by the actual amount being converted.

As a general indicator, the rates displayed within CoinJar are based on a trade worth £2,000 Great British pounds. Any larger trades will begin to see the size of the spread increase, whereas smaller trades will experience a decrease in spread.

Final buy/sell prices are always quoted in full before confirming any transaction.

Reference rates

The reference rate within CoinJar is the approximate value of a cryptocurrency at any given time, and are used to provide an estimate of the value of each account in a familiar currency. CoinJar's pricing algorithm takes a weighted volume across a series of global exchanges, then measures current liquidity, availability and other local and global market factors to determine a reasonable reference rate for each cryptocurrency on offer.

You can also choose your reference currency within your CoinJar's settings under 'More' - allowing you to view that particular currency equivalent for each of the cryptocurrency account balances within your CoinJar.

Transfer discrepancies

The cryptocurrency accounts within CoinJar uses reference rates to provide an estimated value for the funds in that account. However, when you are trading you use CoinJar's buy price when buying, and CoinJar's sell price when selling.

This can appear to cause a discrepancy when comparing the amount you've just exchanged to the estimate value as shown in that cryptocurrency account.

For example, if you purchase a bitcoin for £7,000 using the buy price of 1 BTC = £7,000, that 1 BTC will instantly show up in your Bitcoin with an estimated value lower than £7,000. This is because the estimated value is calculated using the reference rate - not the buy price.