U.S.-based exchange is one-stop shop to buy, sell, and spend crypto

A U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange is determined to grow into a one-stop shop focused not only on trading cryptocurrencies but on making them actually usable in the real world.

With 30 tokens supported and trading in more than 120 markets, CoinZoom offers advanced trading tools for both retail and institutional investors. It is a “complete crypto experience,” according to CEO Todd Crosland.

"We offer more than just an avenue for investing in crypto, we make it easy to spend your crypto through our Visa debit card, and send your crypto to friends and family overseas instantly for free through our ZoomMe feature. Our goal is to propel the global adoption of crypto forward and bring the complete crypto experience to the masses,” he said.

That said, CoinZoom is first and foremost an exchange, distinguishing itself with a fiat on-ramp, particularly low fees — just 0.20% for makers and 0.26% for takers, with significant discounts available — and a leadership team with deep experience in regulatory compliance.

It offers a growing suite of trading products and analytical tools. One recent addition is its CZ Prime FIX API, offering institutional traders algorithmic and high-frequency trading tools. Another is a new partnership with retail-focused Hummingbot. This provides public traders with the tools and market data needed to build automated trading strategies including high-frequency trading — though CoinZoom warns these are best suited to advanced and experienced traders.

Beyond that, customer assets are held in cold storage by Institutional Qualified Custodians, and are backed by a wide variety of security measures, as well as a $100 million insurance policy. Accounts can be funded with U.S. dollars and other fiat currencies, which are held in FDIC-insured bank accounts. Finally, a new user experience-focused website and mobile app are under construction.

Real world uses

Both the Visa debit card and its global peer-to-peer payment system, ZoomMe, are intricately linked to the ZOOM utility token at the heart of its real-world spending features.

The CoinZoom Visa card is available in the U.S. now and is being rolled out in Europe over the summer. The card draws on the users’ CoinZoom wallet, allowing them to spend crypto — which is instantly converted to dollars at the point of sale — at Visa’s 53 million merchants. A merchant gateway allowing retailers to accept cryptocurrencies directly is also forthcoming.

While available to anyone, the card comes in five levels beginning at Select and topping out at Black. These offer a number of rewards to anyone holding the required number of Zoom tokens — from 1,000 at Select to 100,000 at Black — starting with 1% to 5% cashback. The four higher-level cards offer trading fee discounts of 10% to 50%, and the three highest have access to airdrop rewards.

Another unusual CoinZoom offering is the ZoomMe money transfer service, which sends funds in the form of ZOOM tokens. The service is somewhat similar to PayPal and remittance services except that it does not charge fees. There are daily limits based on the five card levels, beginning at $500 and rising to $50,000.

The token at the heart of CoinZoom

ZOOM is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token, with a total supply of 600 million. Of those, half are earmarked for purchase by community members using its various debit-card rewards programs, and for staking. Another 30% goes to community rewards and 20% to the development team.

The ZOOM tokens can be staked in support of Dash (DASH) and Algorand (ALGO), earning a yield of 7% to 13% per year. It is available with the top four card levels, beginning with Preferred. The next three levels — Gold, Platinum and Black — earn additional staking rewards of 0.25% to 0.75%, paid in ZOOM.