What is a reserved balance?
For security reasons, CoinJar places a reserved balance on funds purchased using a debit card, credit card, or mobile payment method. The reserved balance helps protect your assets and is held for 7 calendar days from the time of purchase. Trading is unaffected, you will still be able to buy and sell throughout the reserved balance period.
Bank transfers are not subject to the reserved balance. Funds deposited via bank transfer are available to send or withdraw immediately.
After the 7-day period on your first purchase with a given payment method, all future purchases using that same card or mobile payment method are no longer subject to the reserved balance.
First-time card and mobile payment purchases
First time debit card, credit card and mobile payment purchases (Apple Pay, Google Pay) would trigger a reserved balance for 7 calendar days on the first purchase made with each card or payment method. The reserved balance is equivalent to the amount of the purchase, not your total account balance.
If you are using a new card in your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet, the first purchase with that new card will trigger a new 7-day reserved balance, even if you have previously made purchases with a different card from the same mobile payment method.
Trading is unaffected, you will still be able to trade throughout the period of the reserved balance.
What restrictions apply during the reserved balance period?
During the reserved balance period, the purchased amount cannot be sent to an external wallet address or withdrawn to your bank account. You also cannot unbundle or liquidate a Bundle that contains reserved funds.
Additional purchases made during an active hold will also be locked for the remainder of the 7-day period.
When will I see a warning?
Before you complete a purchase, CoinJar displays a warning about the reserved balance on the transfer method screen and on the purchase confirmation screen. Information about the reserved balance is also included in our Terms of Service.
Recurring buy with debit or credit card
Recurring Bundles and individual crypto purchase funded by debit or credit card are subject to the 7-day reserved balance on the first purchase with that method. Subsequent scheduled transfers are not reserved. Only the first purchase with a new payment method is reserved.
How price fluctuations affect your reserved balance
The reserved balance is calculated in EUR value, not in crypto quantity. This means market movements can affect how much of your portfolio is available to send.
If the price goes up, you will have more than the original deposit amount available to spend. The reserved balance still covers only the original EUR value.
Example: Claire purchases €1,000 of Bitcoin with her debit card. The Bitcoin is reserved for 7 days. If bitcoin's value rises 50% to €1,500 during that period, Claire can immediately send or withdraw the €500 gain.
If the price goes down, the reserved balance may extend to other holdings in your account to cover the original deposit value.
Example: Pietro holds €500 of Ethereum and purchases €2,000 of Bitcoin using Apple Pay. The €2,000 is reserved for 7 days. If Bitcoin drops 25% to €1,500, the reserved balance (€2,000) now exceeds the Bitcoin's value. In this case, $500 of Pietro's Ethereum balance also counts toward the reserved balance, reducing what he can send.
How to check your reserved balances
To check if any of your funds are subject to a reserved balance, view your portfolio in the CoinJar app. Your available balance for sending and withdrawals reflects your total balance minus any portion currently subject to the reserved balance.