How To Buy Ethereum In Australia

Hedge With Crypto aims to publish information that is factual and accurate as of the date of publication. For specific information about a cryptocurrency exchange or trading platform please visit that provider’s website. This information is general in nature and is for education purposes only. Hedge With Crypto does not provide financial advice nor does it take into account your personal financial situation. We encourage you to seek financial advice from an independent financial advisor where appropriate and make your own enquiries.

To buy Ethereum (ETH) in Australia, follow these simple steps:

1. Compare and select a crypto exchange. Find and compare cryptocurrency exchanges that support AUD that will be converted into ETH.
2. Register an account with the exchange. Create an account with a crypto exchange using a valid email address or mobile number and complete the ID verification process.
3. Deposit funds to a wallet. Choose a payment option that offers the best fees. The most common AUD payment methods include a bank transfer, wire transfer, debit card, credit card and PayPal.
4. Buy Ethereum. Browse the supported assets and choose Ethereum (ETH). Use the funded account to choose an amount to spend and click on ‘Buy'.

Where To Buy Ethereum In Australia

The best method to obtain ETH is to use a regulated and trusted Australian exchange. Most cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia offer Ether, which can be purchased with AUD using a bank account. The following exchanges are easy to use and comply with AUSTRAC when purchasing crypto in Australia.

EXCHANGE	CRYPTO ASSETS	TRADING FEES	RATING	PROMOTION	WEBSITE	REVIEW
Swyftx	422	0.6%	Rating We provide an overall weighted average rating out of 5 stars. Our ratings are based on objective criteria like the ease of use, fees, deposit methods, customer support and availability. Our reviews are not influenced by 3rd parties. Click here for further information about our rating methodology and a full list of categories we review against. 4.9 / 5	$20 Bitcoin for creating a verified account	Visit Swyftx	Swyftx Review
Binance Australia	600+	0% to 0.1%	Rating We provide an overall weighted average rating out of 5 stars. Our ratings are based on objective criteria like the ease of use, fees, deposit methods, customer support and availability. Our reviews are not influenced by 3rd parties. Click here for further information about our rating methodology and a full list of categories we review against. 4.4 / 5	Up to $50 welcome bonus	Visit Binance Au…	Binance Australi…
CoinSpot	380	1% (instant), 0.1% (spot)	Rating We provide an overall weighted average rating out of 5 stars. Our ratings are based on objective criteria like the ease of use, fees, deposit methods, customer support and availability. Our reviews are not influenced by 3rd parties. Click here for further information about our rating methodology and a full list of categories we review against. 4.7 / 5	$20 Bitcoin for creating a verified account and depositing	Visit CoinSpot	CoinSpot Review
Digital Surge	300+	0.5%	Rating We provide an overall weighted average rating out of 5 stars. Our ratings are based on objective criteria like the ease of use, fees, deposit methods, customer support and availability. Our reviews are not influenced by 3rd parties. Click here for further information about our rating methodology and a full list of categories we review against. 4.7 / 5	$10 Bitcoin for creating a verified account	Visit Digital Su…	Digital Surge Re…

Our review and assessment of the popular exchanges in Australia are based on important factors such as ease of use, reputation, charting features, fees, deposit options, security, and customer support.

1. Swyftx

Swyftx is an AUSTRAC-registered Australian cryptocurrency trading platform with over 600,000 users that provides a simple and transparent way for individuals to invest in more than 310 digital assets, such as Ether. The platform offers excellent features that will suit various types of investors, such as instant deposits and withdrawals, portfolio tracking, recurring orders, low trading fees, demo mode, and price alerts. It is one of the few exchanges within Australia that supports debit or credit card purchases.

The desktop and mobile applications have been designed for beginners and intermediate investors to get started with digital currencies and quickly monitor the daily Ethereum price. The trading experience is very simple on a fully customizable dashboard that can be tailored to suit each investor to trade Ethereum. Lastly, there is a $20 Bitcoin bonus for new customers who sign up with a Swyftx referral link and complete ID verification.

Swyftx has one of the most competitive trading fees in the country. The transaction cost to buy Ethereum is a nominal 0.6% fee in addition to a crypto spread fee that averages 1.7%. Compared to the industry average crypto spreads of 4%, the overall trading fees are reasonable when Swyftx is measured against other exchanges. 

2. Binance Australia

Binance is a premium crypto exchange in Australia that allows you to buy Ethereum on a feature-rich platform. Binance Australia allows investors to instantly deposit and withdraw using AUD via PayID/Osko (NPP payments), which is supported by over 100 Australian banks and financial institutions.

Binance exchange is one of the cheapest platforms for buying Ethereum, with fees between 0% and 0.1%. Due to the low fees and deep liquidity across their trading pairs, Binance is one of the best options for cryptocurrency altcoin traders. Moreover, Binance Australia can be used to stake Ethereum to earn an estimated staking reward of up to 2.4% APY, paid out in ETH. Binance Australia also supports ETH2.0 staking, which will pay 5.2% APY once the Ethereum upgrade is completed.

3. CoinSpot

CoinSpot was founded in 2013 and has built up a solid reputation as a leading Australian cryptocurrency exchange focused on helping newcomers buy Ethereum with AUD. The Australian exchange is regarded as one of the safest platforms, with bank-like security measures to protect its customers' information and funds.

Coinspot supports several payment methods for users to deposit funds such as POLI, PayID, BPAY or a cash vouchers. Each payment method using an Australian bank account deposit does not incur a deposit charge. In comparison, using BPAY or cash payments will incur a deposit fee of 0.9% and 2.5% respectively.

The trading fees depend on the method used to purchase cryptocurrencies. The Instant Buy and Sell platform has a 1% trading fee to exchange coins quickly. To obtain a lower transaction fee of 0.1%, users can trade on the exchange, which requires a greater understanding of technical charts and types of orders.

4. Digital Surge

Digital Surge is a Brisbane-based digital currency exchange that provides a fast and easy way to buy Ethereum using AUD. The platform has focused on providing a beginner-friendly exchange website for everyday Australians to start with ETH.

Based in Brisbane, the team is committed to building trust and transparency within the cryptocurrency community and bringing awareness to the industry for all investors. The Australian cryptocurrency exchange is focused on simplicity, which starts with the automated verification process. That means users can buy Ethereum quickly and easily using a buy wizard that guides them through each step.  

Guide To Buying Ethereum In Australia

1. Compare and select a crypto exchange

The first step to buying Ethereum is deciding what type of cryptocurrency services to use. There are several options, which include fiat-to-crypto exchanges, trading platforms, decentralized exchanges, and brokerages to choose from. Centralized exchanges are the most commonly used and convenient for beginners, and they allow individuals to buy Ethereum. Other important aspects to keep in mind before buying crypto on an exchange are:

• Supported countries and accepted fiat currencies
• Deposit methods and limits
• All fee types (deposit, trading and withdrawal)
• Ease of use for all experience levels
• Trading volume and liquidity (minimize spread and slippage)
• Industry-standard security measures
• Live-chat and 24/7 customer service team

Exchanges such as Swyftx, Digital Surge, and CoinSpot offer a wide range of features, products, and services that can be beneficial after the initial purchase. These providers are locally based, reputable, and trustworthy examples.

2. Register an account with the exchange

The next step to purchasing Ethereum is to create an account with a cryptocurrency platform in Australia, such as Swyftx. To get started, visit the Swyftx website using our link for $20 BTC and click on the “Sign Up” button. This will redirect to the registration page that will show the promotion code. Enter a valid email address, and set a strong password, full name, and phone number. Click “Agree” to the terms and conditions and hit “Create My Account”.

Once an account has been created, the next step is to commence the ID verification process by Know Your Customer (KYC) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulations under Australian law. Before a wallet can be funded with AUD to deposit and withdraw funds, the account must be verified as per the rules set by AUSTRAC.

Using Swyftx as an example, the verification process is fast and hassle-free, and it can be completed within 2 minutes of creating a new account. To start verification, login to the account and navigate to the ‘Verification' tab under the ‘Profile Tab'. A valid email address, mobile phone number, or identity document number will need to be provided.

To protect any funds within an exchange account, increasing the basic account security level and turning on Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is vital. This should be the first step after verifying an account and prior to depositing any funds. 2FA is a type of multi-factor authentication requiring two methods to verify the user's account and even withdrawal requests. Popular 2FA apps for multi-factor authentication are Authy and Google Authenticator which can be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices.

3. Deposit funds to a wallet

Most cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia have direct AUD payment methods with varying fees. The most common deposit options include bank transfer, POLi and PayID. POLi connects to Australian Bank accounts and is processed instantly. PayID and bank transfers can take between 1 and 3 business days.

Alternative payment methods available with certain Australian exchanges include cash Flexpin vouchers at a local news agency, BPAY, and credit cards. Swyftx is the only crypto exchange in Australia that allows credit card purchases.

4. Buy Ethereum

Now that an account is verified and funded with AUD, the next step is to buy Ether. To get started, click “Trade” on the left side bar. This will bring up the “Assets” list where you can search and select Ethereum. Select how much to spend and click “Instant Buy”. The ETH amount will be purchased based on the current Ethereum price and shown in the trade history. The ETH will be stored on Swyftx and can be transferred to an external wallet.

How To Pay For Ethereum With AUD

Using a crypto exchange offers several ways to buy Ethereum. Here are the common payment methods available and their pros and cons.

Buying Ethereum With A Bank Transfer

Exchanges in Australia provide the option to purchase Ethereum by transferring funds by direct debit, NPP, PayID, or POLi payments using a regulated platform. Several exchanges in Australia accept payment via bank deposit, such as Swyftx, Coinspot, CoinJar, Independent Reserve, and Binance.

Buying Ethereum With A Cash Deposit

Exchanges such as CoinJar and Coinspot allow users to buy Ethereum with cash in Australia. Transferring funds to an exchange using this method incurs a fee of 1.5% to 2.5%, in addition to the platform's fees.

While using cash will benefit some investors, buying ETH takes longer as the investor must obtain the QR code and take it to a supported newsagent to complete the payment. There are also maximum daily limits to consider. Once the payment is made, the exchange will transfer the purchased Ethereum to the nominated ERC-20 address within a day.

Buying Ethereum With A Credit Card

The major Australian banks such as Westpac, Macquarie Bank, Judo Bank, Jolt Bank, ANZ, and NAB allow investors to buy Ethereum with a credit card. These are subject to change depending on personal circumstances and the credit card issuer.

Buying Ethereum With PayPal

Some exchanges, such as eToro and Paxful, still allow PayPal as a payment type. However, this payment option has fallen out of favor due to chargebacks and higher fees. Users with an existing PayPal account can decide to use currency in the account; however, there are better methods to invest in Ethereum with lower fees.

Buying Ethereum With Cryptocurrency

A popular way is to use an altcoin trading platform or instant crypto swap platform to convert other digital currencies such as Litecoin, Cardano, Dash, and Tron into Ethereum. Exchanges in Australia with low fees for converting coins into Ethereum are Binance and BTC Markets.

What Is Ethereum?

Ethereum is an open-source, public, blockchain-based, distributed and decentralized platform. The Ethereum blockchain is fully autonomous and is not controlled by a central authority or an individual without a central point of failure. Ethereum is run from thousands of computers around the globe which means it can never go offline. Many Ethereum blockchain-based projects utilize the Ethereum network, often referred to as a ‘smart contract' which is a computer program that resides at a specific address on the Ethereum network.

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market in terms of market cap and ETH staking to earn rewards. Moreover, Ethereum is a popular investment choice due to its use cases in several industries such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and investing in Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Is Ethereum A Good Buy?

Despite the recent declines, Ethereum has plenty of upsides to drive the price to new all-time highs. The continued expansion of DeFi, the fast-growing NFT market, and the implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, which will see better scalability and faster transactions, are strong reasons for increased adoption. Moreover, Australian investors have access to several financial products, such as earning interest to generate a positive return even if the price of Ethereum remains stable.

Where To Store Ethereum In Australia

If you have purchased Ethereum and are currently storing it on an exchange, your ownership of your Ethereum investment is at risk. With over 2.5 billion in crypto assets stolen from exchanges, the safest and best crypto wallet to store ETH is a hardware wallet such as a Ledger Nano X or CoolWallet Pro.

The stored Ethereum coins can then be accessed using an open-source wallet that directly connects to an online wallet such as myEtherwallet. This is one of the most popular wallets for storing Ethereum and can also be integrated with a hardware wallet for additional security.

Frequently Asked Questions