MoonPay Review: Pros, Cons and How It Compares

Where MoonPay shines

Where MoonPay falls short

What MoonPay is best for

MoonPay at a glance

More details about MoonPay

Is MoonPay right for you?

How we review: Our methodology

Where MoonPay shines

Convenient purchases: MoonPay tries to make buying cryptocurrency as simple as possible, a difficult task for a decentralized industry where many competitors have been attempting the same thing. MoonPay has a slick, web-based interface through which you can sign up, verify your identity and carry out a transaction with a credit card from a single screen.

Tools for businesses: MoonPay is seeking to position itself as a key go-between for companies that work in the crypto space and want to do business with people who use cash. For instance, sellers of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, often can accept only crypto as payment on most other platforms. But by using MoonPay, creators can sell NFTs to people who may not know how to buy crypto.

Crypto selection: MoonPay has about 40 available cryptocurrencies, putting it on a competitive footing even with some full-featured crypto exchanges. However, it's worth noting that among MoonPay's options are versions of popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and USDC that can be used on alternative blockchain networks.

Where MoonPay falls short

High fees: You'll be paying for the convenience you can get by using MoonPay. Fees for transactions are $3.99 or 4.5%, whichever is higher. People who use bank transfers to fund their account can pay less, but that feature isn't available in the United States.

Cards only: In the U.S., you can use MoonPay only with a credit or debit card (or a card linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay). This presents a handful of issues. First, not all credit cards will play nicely with crypto purchases; legitimate transactions are often bounced back or flagged for fraud. Second, using a credit card to borrow money for crypto investing can be risky, as high-interest rates can compound potential losses. Finally, using a debit card to spend money may be more prudent than borrowing to buy crypto.

Limited trading: While MoonPay has a decent selection of cryptocurrencies to buy, it doesn't make it easy to trade one crypto for another. Currently, MoonPay allows you to sell a handful of cryptocurrencies for cash, but it doesn't feature any options for crypto-to-crypto exchanges. However, MoonPay integrates with some crypto wallets, which may have swaps available on their platforms.

MoonPay is best for:

• Crypto businesses.

• Integrations with crypto apps.

MoonPay at a glance

More details about MoonPay

Minimum trade: 2 out of 5 stars

The minimum purchase of cryptocurrency is $30, which is higher than many competitors who often offer purchases as low as $1.

Trading and transaction fees: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay's purchase fee is 4.5% or $3.99, whichever is higher. That places it among the more expensive options reviewed by NerdWallet.

And beyond the transaction fees, customers are responsible for network fees required by the underlying cryptocurrency networks. While these can vary based on which crypto you're buying and the market conditions at the time, they can easily add another percentage point or more to your costs.

Unlike typical cryptocurrency exchanges, MoonPay doesn't store cryptocurrency for you — you'll need a crypto wallet before you can use it — but that means there's no withdrawal fee, either. Instead, the platform sends the cryptocurrency directly to your crypto wallet upon purchase.

You can also use MoonPay to sell crypto for fiat currency such as U.S. dollars, for a fee of $3.99 or 1%, whichever is higher. Of course, you'll also pay network fees for sales.

Number of cryptocurrencies: 5 out of 5 stars

MoonPay offers about 40 cryptocurrencies. If you're trying to sell crypto, you have five options on MoonPay.

Crypto-to-crypto trading pairs: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay doesn't make any crypto-to-crypto trading options available to customers using its basic service.

Storage and Security: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay has no storage options, and you'll need to set up your own wallet to use it. This extra step might be a challenge for beginners, but it's generally a good practice to at least understand how a crypto wallet works and how to store your digital assets safely. MoonPay also had one hack reported in 2020.

Staking offering: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay does not offer staking services.

Mobile app: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay doesn't have a mobile app listed in the app stores of either Android or iOS. So, if you want to use it as a stand-alone product, you'll need a web browser.

However, wallets and other apps that use MoonPay for payments may have their own mobile app that you can use to make purchases using MoonPay's technology.

Customer support options: 1 out of 5 stars

MoonPay encourages users who are having problems to use its support ticket system. There's no readily accessible number for phone support.

Is MoonPay right for you?

MoonPay doesn't check all of the boxes of a traditional cryptocurrency exchange, but it's not trying to be a conventional cryptocurrency exchange. If you're a consumer who wants to interact with a blockchain-based product, you might be willing to pay for the convenience MoonPay offers. If you're planning to trade crypto actively, on the other hand, there may be other options that avoid the fees and other limitations of MoonPay.