ChangeNOW Review: Crypto Swaps, Trading, Loans and More
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ChangeNOW is a non-custodial cryptocurrency platform that has expanded substantially since launching in 2017. What began as a service focused primarily on fast crypto exchanges has developed into a broader “crypto super app,” combining swaps and trading with lending, wallet functionality, portfolio tracking and a variety of services for businesses.
Today, ChangeNOW supports more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies, over 70 fiat currencies and more than 110 blockchain networks. The platform has served millions of users worldwide and has established partnerships with recognizable crypto brands including Exodus, Guarda, Trezor and Bitcoin.com.
One of the most important aspects of ChangeNOW is its non-custodial design. ChangeNOW does not store customer funds, so users retain control of their assets rather than depositing them into an exchange account for extended periods. This model extends across several products in the ChangeNOW ecosystem and is central to how the platform approaches crypto swaps and asset management.
In this ChangeNOW review, we’ll take a closer look at the platform’s crypto swapping and trading functionality, ChangeNOW Pro subscription, NOWLoans service and the broader collection of consumer and business products available within the ChangeNOW ecosystem.
ChangeNOW key features
| Launched | 2017 |
| Platform type | Non-custodial crypto super app |
| Supported cryptocurrencies | 1,500+ |
| Supported fiat currencies | 70+ |
| Supported blockchains | 110+ |
| Minimum swap | As low as $2 |
| Maximum swap | No upper limit |
| Typical swap speed | Most completed within 1 minute |
| Exchange rate options | Fixed and floating |
| ChangeNOW Pro | Free and paid subscription tiers |
| Crypto lending | NOWLoans |
| Loan-to-value ratio | Fixed 50% |
| NOWLoans APR | Fixed 10% |
| Consumer products | ChangeNOW, NOW Wallet, NOW Tracker, NOWLoans |
| Business products | NOWPayments, NOWNodes, Exchange API, Exchange Widget |
| Customer support | 24/7 |
Crypto swaps and trading are at the heart of ChangeNOW
Crypto swapping remains ChangeNOW’s core functionality, and the platform is designed to make exchanging one cryptocurrency for another as straightforward as possible.
Its biggest advantage is the sheer number of assets available. ChangeNOW supports more than 1,500 digital assets spanning categories including meme coins, DeFi tokens, AI-related cryptocurrencies, GameFi assets, stablecoins, liquid staking tokens, Layer 1 and Layer 2 cryptocurrencies, privacy coins, utility tokens, DePIN projects and real-world asset tokens (which have been introduced to the ChangeNOW platform recently).
New cryptocurrencies are added on a weekly basis, which should make the platform particularly useful for investors who regularly trade newly launched or less established assets.
When it comes to real-world assets (RWAs), ChangeNOW supports a wide range of tokenized stocks and precious metals, allowing users to effectively access markets beyond crypto. Currently, this includes tokenized stocks of companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, Nvidia and Apple, tokenized ETFs tracking popular products such as the SPY and the QQQ, as well gold tokens including Paxos Gold and Tether Gold.
ChangeNOW also supports cross-chain swaps across more than 110 blockchains. Users can exchange assets between major networks such as Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, Polygon and Avalanche, alongside a broad variety of smaller blockchain networks. This means users aren’t restricted to swapping tokens that exist on the same blockchain.
The minimum transaction amount can be as low as $2, while the platform does not impose an upper exchange limit. ChangeNOW says most swaps are completed in less than one minute, although actual completion times can naturally depend on blockchain confirmation speeds. Users can also follow transactions with real-time tracking.
ChangeNOW provides both fixed and floating exchange rates. A floating-rate transaction follows changing market conditions while a fixed-rate exchange locks in the agreed rate, helping protect the transaction from price movements while the swap is being processed. ChangeNOW says 98% of its swaps either complete at a better rate than originally estimated or deviate from the estimate by less than 0.5%.
Fees are incorporated into the rate displayed before the swap instead of being added as an unexpected charge afterward. Another useful feature is the Permanent Exchange Address, which allows users to repeatedly exchange funds to the same destination without creating an entirely new swap each time. Transaction history and advanced search functionality also make it easier to keep track of previous activity.
ChangeNOW is accessible through its website, Android and iOS apps and a Telegram bot, giving users several ways to make exchanges.
Fiat purchases are also available in more than 70 currencies through partners such as Transak, Simplex, Banxa and Guardarian, with supported payment methods including Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA, ACH, Pix and Revolut.
ChangeNOW Pro offers lower fees and cashback on swaps
More active users can upgrade to ChangeNOW Pro, a subscription service that adds benefits such as lower exchange fees, cashback on swaps, enhanced transaction-history tools and access to unlimited crypto loans.
More than one million users are already using ChangeNOW Pro, according to the company.
Cashback starts at 0.1% of each swap and can either be withdrawn or used again. Higher subscription tiers also raise cashback limits and unlock additional features.
ChangeNOW Pro is available in three tiers:
| Price | Swap cashback | Monthly cashback limit | Other notable features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIP | Free | 0.1% | 1,000 NOW | Unlimited crypto loans |
| Emerald | $15/month | 0.1% | 30,000 NOW | Unlimited loans, private crypto payment webpage |
| Brilliant | $100/month | 0.2% | 50,000 NOW | Unlimited loans, personalized payment webpages with a unique domain |
The free VIP tier is noteworthy because it gives regular ChangeNOW users access to cashback and loans without requiring a paid monthly subscription.
The Emerald and Brilliant tiers make more sense for frequent traders and users who can take greater advantage of their higher cashback limits and additional tools.
ChangeNOW Pro also improves transaction record management. Users can search previous swaps using transaction IDs, addresses or transaction hashes and export their transaction history in PDF or CSV format, which could be useful for accounting and record keeping.
Private Transfers allow users to send several cryptocurrencies privately
ChangeNOW has recently introduced a feature called Private Transfers, which allows users to send cryptocurrency to a wallet of their choice privately. The feature is currently supported for BTC, ETH, SOL, ADA, USDT (on the Ethereum chain), XRP, DOGE and LTC.
Private Transfers are implemented through a private routing mechanism, which makes it substantially more difficult to link the transaction’s original sender with its receiver, even though all operations are performed on-chain.
The Private Transfers feature is implemented in an intuitive manner, and using it requires no knowledge of privacy tech. ChangeNOW users can access Private Transfers either directly through the main ChangeNOW interface or the NOW Wallet (which we’ll touch on a bit further down in the review).
NOWLoans lets users borrow against their crypto
ChangeNOW’s expansion beyond simple asset swaps is particularly evident with NOWLoans, its crypto-backed lending service.
NOWLoans allows users to put cryptocurrency up as collateral and receive a loan against it. Loans use a fixed 50% loan-to-value ratio, meaning the value of the loan can be up to half the value of the collateral. The interest rate is also fixed at 10% APR.
There is no predetermined maximum loan duration. A borrower can close a position after a few hours, several months or even a year. Although interest accrues monthly, borrowers don’t have to make monthly interest payments; accumulated interest is instead paid when the loan is closed.
ChangeNOW says collateral is kept in unique wallets whose private keys are renewed monthly. The service also uses a fixed repayment structure designed so that fluctuations in the market value of the collateral don’t change the amount of collateral returned once the loan has been repaid according to its terms.
Loan processing and collateral release typically take between five and ten minutes, depending on how quickly the relevant blockchain confirms the deposit.
NOWLoans therefore adds another dimension to the ChangeNOW ecosystem. Instead of selling crypto to access liquidity, users can use their holdings as collateral and repay the loan later.
NOW Wallet and NOW Tracker expand the consumer offering
ChangeNOW has also built additional products for users who want to manage cryptocurrency beyond simply exchanging it.
NOW Wallet is a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet supporting more than 40 blockchains and thousands of tokens. Users can store, buy, exchange, sell and stake cryptocurrency through the wallet, while NFT support is also included. Crypto purchases and sales can be made through credit cards or bank accounts.
WalletConnect integration allows NOW Wallet to connect to decentralized applications on networks including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Avalanche C-Chain, Optimism, Fantom and Algorand by scanning a QR code.
NOW Tracker, meanwhile, is designed for monitoring investments rather than storing them. It combines holdings from multiple wallets and exchanges into one portfolio view and provides real-time cryptocurrency price tracking. ChangeNOW swaps can also be accessed directly through the app.
Its coverage extends well beyond cryptocurrency, with support for more than 7,000 cryptocurrencies, 23 fiat currencies and over 8,000 stocks. Exchange integrations listed in the brief include Binance, Poloniex, Coinbase, Bitfinex and Kraken.
Together, NOW Wallet and NOW Tracker help turn ChangeNOW from a service used only when making a swap into a broader platform that can also be used for storing, managing and monitoring digital assets.
ChangeNOW also offers a substantial set of tools for businesses
Although ChangeNOW’s main platform is consumer-oriented, the wider ecosystem includes several services aimed at companies and developers.
NOWPayments is a cryptocurrency payment gateway that enables merchants and individuals to accept payments in more than 300 cryptocurrencies. It is non-custodial, meaning payments are sent directly to the user’s wallet rather than being held by NOWPayments. Transaction fees start at 0.5%.
The service includes integrations for platforms such as WooCommerce, Shopify and Magento, alongside an API, crypto invoices, subscriptions, donation tools, point-of-sale payments, mass payouts and fiat conversion functionality.
NOWNodes is aimed primarily at blockchain developers and companies that need infrastructure without operating their own nodes. It provides access to more than 100 RPC nodes and blockchain explorer APIs. According to the supplied figures, the infrastructure offers 99.95% uptime, capacity exceeding 15,000 transactions per second and response times of around 0.6 seconds. NOWNodes handles maintenance on behalf of customers.
The ChangeNOW Crypto Exchange API allows businesses to integrate ChangeNOW’s exchange functionality directly into websites or mobile applications. It supports more than 1,500 coins and over 100 million possible exchange pairs, including cross-chain swaps. Both standard and fixed-rate exchange flows are available. Partners can customize commissions and earn starting from 0.4% on transactions processed through their integration.
For businesses that want an easier implementation, the Crypto Exchange Widget provides an embeddable exchange interface instead. It supports more than 2.25 million exchange pairs and over 1,500 assets, including cross-chain exchanges, with new assets continually being added. Businesses can embed a full exchange module, add a top-up module or use ChangeNOW’s WordPress plugin.
These business products make the ChangeNOW ecosystem considerably broader than its consumer-facing exchange alone, covering crypto payments, blockchain infrastructure and turnkey crypto swap integrations.
Pros:
- ChangeNOW supports more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies and more than 110 blockchains, including a wide range of cross-chain swaps.
- ChangeNOW’s core exchange doesn’t store customer funds, allowing users to retain control of their assets.
- Transactions can start from as little as $2, while ChangeNOW doesn’t impose an upper exchange limit.
- ChangeNOW says most exchanges are completed in less than one minute.
- Users can choose between locking in an exchange rate or using a rate that follows market movements.
- The VIP subscription costs $0 and still provides 0.1% swap cashback and access to unlimited crypto loans.
- In addition to swapping, ChangeNOW offers crypto lending, a wallet, portfolio tracking, payments, blockchain nodes and integration tools for businesses.
- Customer assistance is available around the clock.
Cons:
- Emerald costs $15 per month, while the Brilliant plan costs $100 per month.
- Both the VIP and Emerald plans provide 0.1% cashback on swaps.
- The lending product uses a fixed 50% LTV and fixed 10% APR rather than allowing users to choose from several lending structures.
- Fiat purchases are provided through partners such as Transak, Simplex, Banxa and Guardarian rather than directly by ChangeNOW.
- Although most transactions are fast, confirmation speeds can affect how quickly an exchange or loan is completed.
The bottom line
ChangeNOW has evolved considerably from the instant crypto exchange it launched in 2017. Its core swapping service remains the centerpiece of the platform, combining support for more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies and 110+ blockchains with low minimum transaction sizes, cross-chain swaps, fixed and floating rates and typically fast processing. Its non-custodial structure will also appeal to users who prefer maintaining direct control over their cryptocurrency.
ChangeNOW Pro makes the platform more appealing to frequent users through lower fees and cashback, while the free VIP tier provides a useful entry point without requiring a paid subscription. NOWLoans expands the platform into crypto-backed lending, with fixed 50% LTV and 10% APR terms and flexible loan durations.
The broader ecosystem is another strong point. NOW Wallet and NOW Tracker cover storage and portfolio management, while NOWPayments, NOWNodes and ChangeNOW’s API and widget products address the needs of merchants, developers and crypto businesses.
Overall, ChangeNOW now fits the description of a crypto super app considerably better than that of a basic swapping service. Users can exchange assets, access crypto-backed loans, manage a wallet and monitor their portfolio within the same ecosystem, while businesses can use ChangeNOW infrastructure to add payments, blockchain data and crypto exchanges to their own products.
