crypto

8/6/2024 Update: I don’t know if any of the readers are still using their cards but if you are, beware: CoinZoom is suspended in Ohio following regulatory examination (bitcoin.com).

6/29/2022 Update: Few weeks ago CoinZoom added further exclusions on what generates cashback. Limits on grocery and service stations went from $4k and $2k respectively to $1k. Further, a new $1k limit was put on Discount & Variety Stores, Supply Warehouses, General Merchandise or Convenience Food Stores, and Office and School Supply Stores. See the “cashback exclusion and limits” section for details. Clearly people were still hitting the card but beware of the lack of liquidity and general lack of confidence in crypto. As of writing this update, Coingeko is reporting less than $2k in 24-hour volume for token $Zoom, currently priced at $0.0239.

5/1/2022 Update: Massive changes to $Zoom holding required for cards. For example, 5% card now requires 300k $Zoom tokens (previously 100k). I wrote a separate post here.

3/13/2022 Update: Added a section on cashback limits and exclusion. Previously exclusions were covered in this post and cashback on grocery limits was covered in this post. Now they have added a limit on cashback on gas station purchases as well.

3/11/2022 Update: Starting on March 21, CoinZoom Earn will be exclusively available to Accredited Investors (high net worth) in the United States with Staking Rewards available to all U.S. investors. Earn wallets that support Staking Rewards, which will include Polkadot, TRON, EOS, Cardano, ETH 2.0, Polygon, Helium, ALGO, and Solana. Also, USD is no longer included in the Earn service. You can read more in their earn page.

CoinZoom is a minor crypto exchange. If you google about them, literally all post will talk about how they are a scam. If you lookup their reviews on Google Play, you’ll see a lot of reviews about having to update the app. But this is low-key possibly one of the best exchanges going on right now. I will flat out say that their fees aren’t the best, their interest rate isn’t the best, nor is their card. But in my opinion, CoinZoom does a good job in all of those areas to the point that collectively the platform is something worth looking at.

1-5% Debit Cards

I want to start by jumping right into the cards, and then I will explain various features of the platform bit by bit. And if a relationship between the card’s tier and the feature exists then I will try to spell that out as well.

Benefits	Select Card	Preferred Card	Gold Card	Platinum Card	Black Card
$Zoom Required	10,000 (2k)	37,500 (37.5k)	75,000 (75k)	150,000 (150k)	300,000 (300k)
Cashback	1%	2%	3%	4%	5%
Trading Discount	N/A	10%	20%	35%	50%
Earn Bonus Interest	N/A	5%	10%	15%	20%
Instant Reward	N/A	N/A	1%	2%	3%
Physical Card Cost	200 Zoom	200 Zoom	N/A	N/A	N/A
Daily Zoom Me Limit	$500	$1000 (1k)	$2,500 (2.5k)	$5,000 (5k)	$10,000 (10k)

CoinZoom, like Crypto.com, offers 5 tiers of debit card. Their debit card provides 1-5% in cashback in the form of their native cryptocurrency (let’s call it cryptoback?) called Zoom.

$Zoom often hovers around $0.05, so getting a 5% earning card would only require you to buy around $5k worth of $Zoom. On the contrary, buying $4k of native currency from a far more established platform CDC would get you a 3% card. In this case, there is obviously a huge benefit in choosing a lesser-known platform but it also comes with some obvious risks.

One major caveat of this card is the $0.30 transaction fee. You will be charged a $0.30 fee even if you buy a 99 cent ice-cream for $999 iPhone.

Trading Discount – Up to 50% Discount

Coinzoom has a maker fee of 0.36% and a taker fee of 0.44%, however, you get an additional discount based on which card you hold. For example, Black (5%) cardholders get 50% discount and thus only pay 0.18% maker fee and 0.22% taker fee.

Use this link to get $10 in Bitcoin (BTC) on Coinbase when you buy/sell $100 or more in crypto

Their fees aren’t too terrible, especially considering Coinbase Pro charges 0.5% fee, however Coinbase is a far far bigger player and likely a “safer” option. It is worth mentioning that their fees used to be half of what they are right now, which means there was a time when Black (5%) card holders paid 0.1% fee like one can in Binance.

https://accounts.binance.us/en/register?ref=55355434

CoinZoom Earn – 7.5% Base Interest in USD? What?

Exchanges typically give you interest for lending crypto but these folks also give you interest for lending good old American Dollar. You get 7.5% base APY on USD but you can boost it to 9% by holding their Black (5%) card.

You get up to 20% (this is really 1.2x multiplier) bonus on interest for holding their debit card. For example, base rate on ADA is 4.5% but if you hold Black (5%) card then you get additional 20% bonus on the interest that would be paid, i.e. you net 4.5*1.2 = 5.4% interest. It is worth noting that this bonus amount will be paid in Zoom token itself.

Beside USD, some noteworthy base rate (before getting boosted for holding for card) are 8% on USDT, 7.5% on USDC, 4.5% on XLM, 10% on DOT. Since these rates are subject to change, you’re better off checking CoinZoom’s official earn page for more up to date information. I have no idea what they are doing to get better rate on USDT than USD or USDC.

However, it is worth reminding that crypto lending aren’t insured. In above mentioned page CoinZoom’s FAQ says:

Your Earn balance is not insured by CoinZoom but held with our highly vetted and accredited third party partners. Digital assets are not covered by FDIC insurance. CoinZoom is currently partnering with accredited third-party borrower Genesis. Genesis is regulated as a securities broker-dealer with the SEC and FINRA.

No Staking of $Zoom!

If a crypto company has a tiered system, they usually force you to stake their native currency to get better, rates cashback, etc. For example, anything but the base card from CDC requires staking of their native currency for 6 months. But CoinZoom has not cared for staking so far. You can “Zoom Me” (no fee) all of your $Zoom to your spouse and their card will likely turns into a Black (5%) card instantly.

Zoom Me – Instantly Send Crypto and USD without Fee

You can instantly send crypto and USD to anyone else on Coinzoom for free. The transfer of USD is likely limited to only those within US.

Also, it is worth noting that Coin Zoom does not support USD withdrawal as of yet. They do however allow you to add USD through bank account.

No Lending Period!

Exchanges that provide lending feature aren’t very common in US and even the ones that do that tend to reserve best rewards when you agree to lockup your crypto (aka no selling or withdrawl) for a certain period of time (see CDC). Well, Coinzoom does none of that. You can lend it this moment and withdrawal it the next.

However, interest in Earn wallet only accumulates once an asset has been in said wallet for a day.

The bummer is that they pay interest once a month when their competitors pay weekly or even daily. But of course you can see your interest increase daily.

Instant Reward – Up to 3%

As of writing this article you can’t google to figure out what CoinZoom’s Instant Reward feature is. Essentially, there is 2.99% fee for using a debit card to purchase crypto on CoinZoom, however you can withdraw funds to a debit card that was previously used to fund your CoinZoom account. This withdrawal costs 1.5% fee (minimum $1.50) and funds instantly arrive to your debit card.

Now, if you happen to hold Black (5%), Platinum (4%), or Gold (3%) card then doing this withdrawal will earn you 3%, 2%, or 1% reward in the form on Zoom token.

How do I Use it?

My primary cards are Altitude Reserve credit card and Coinbase debit card which give me 4.5% and 4% cashback respectively, so why use CoinZoom card?

There are some obvious (and not so obvious plays here) and I will leave that for you to figure out on your own.

As always, whenever I am given the option, I spend USD on crypto cards. Whatever cash I am not planning on spending, I put it in EARN and let it acquire interest. Since I have had the platinum card, I ( used to) get 7.5% APY on USD paid in USD + 1.125% APY paid in $Zoom.

Because there is a 30 cent fee per transaction, I do not use this card for every day purchase.

The Bad – Partnership with MLM and More

Not too long ago, CoinZoom used to have half the trading fee it does today. Black (5%) card owners would be charged trading fee as low as 0.1%, however all of that changed all the sudden with no advanced warning. Similarly, Gold (3%) card used to require one to hold only 12k Zoom tokens but out of the blue, without advanced warning, the requirement was bumped to 25k. So, yes, they aren’t all too communicative in that regard. However, having said their CEO, Todd Crosland (LinkedIn), talks about the platform in a monthly webinar like session hosted by Beyond Wealth.

What is Beyond Wealth? It is a multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme. CoinZoom has confirmed that Beyond Wealth is a partner of theirs but I am not sure if the ties go deeper than that. Some said Zoom token’s sky high price of like 0.80 cent was attained b/c of their involvement with Beyond Wealth but I don’t know.

What I do know is few days ago their partnership with Daisy AI was reveled, which is yet another MLM scheme (ouch). And since then the price has sky rocketed from around 5 cent to around 8 cent (60% increase). You can read about how D.AI.SY AI is a horrible scam or how they are security fraud scheme or how an exit scam is imminent. Behind MLM has written several pieces on daisy and you can read if you like [1] [2] [3]. Who would have guessed 3% DAILY gain isn’t legitimate?

The weird part is also how CoinZoom is giving “free” Gold (3%) card and 2% additional APY on stable coins to Daisy members. Something similar had happened when their partnership with Beyond Wealth had started.

Cashback Exclusions and Limits

The following MCC categories no longer earns cashback:

• MCC Code 6011 (ATM Transactions)
• MCC Codes 4829, 6012, 6051, 6211, 9402 (Financial Institutions Payments) and
• MCC Code 6513 (Real Estate Agents and Managers)

Also, purchase over a purchases over $1,000 for a rolling 30-day period on following MCC codes do not qualify for cashback:

1. MCC Codes 5310 and 5331 (Discount & Variety Stores)
2. MC Code 5200 (Supply Warehouses)
3. MCC Code 5399 (General Merchandise or Convenience Food Stores)
4. MCC Code 5411 and 5912 (Grocery Stores) [previous limit was $2k in rolling 30 day period]
5. MCC Code 5541 (Service Stations) [previous limit was $4k in rolling 30 day period]
6. MCC Code 5943 (Office and School Supply Stores)

The following text is taken directly from CoinZoom’s Card page:

Card Rewards Back: Cardholders will receive 1% – 5% in Card Rewards (ZOOM tokens) for qualifying purchases, depending on the number of ZOOM tokens they maintain in their accounts at the time of each purchase. Qualifying purchases exclude MCC Code 6011 (ATM Transactions), MCC Codes 4829, 6012, 6051, 6211, 7392, 7801, and 9402 (Financial Institutions Payments), MCC Code 5310, and 6513 (Real Estate Agents and Managers), and purchases over $1,000 for a rolling 30-day period for MCC Codes 5310 and 5331 (Discount & Variety Stores), MC Code 5200 (Supply Warehouses), MCC Code 5399 (General Merchandise or Convenience Food Stores), MCC Code 5411 and 5912 (Grocery Stores), MCC Code 5541 (Service Stations), and MCC Code 5943 (Office and School Supply Stores). The following types of transactions are excluded from the ZOOM Rewards program calculation: Transactions in digital wallets, digital banking services, crypto exchanges, stored value products, gift cards, and money remittance services. The list of qualified merchants is subject to change by CoinZoom at its sole discretion.

You may check this page to see if new changes have been made to the exclusions and limits.

Closing Thoughts

I have been writing this review for a while but after Daisy shenanigans I had decided to postpone it. But, now I am releasing it with an added elaborate section on CoinZoom’s involvement with MLM schemers.

I don’t think the current price is sustainable so I would not recommend jumping in at this price. At a price of 8.4 cent, $Zoom has a marketcap of 33.6 million (coingeko), which is kinda silly for a coin that had $30k usual volume only a few days ago. Although, this coin is now getting $500-600k 24 hour volume, CoinZoom platform as a whole has around the same $2-4 million 24 hour volume (coingeko) as usual…..lol?