Important Update
Following the collapse of FTX, Digital Surge has gone into administration, citing exposure to FTX as the primary reason.
About Digital Surge
Digital Surge is an Australian crypto exchange that was founded in 2017 by Josh Lehman and Dan Rutter. With it’s clear focus on customer support and ease of use, it’s clear Digital Surge was designed for beginner traders and investors. With 300+ tradable cryptocurrencies and even a feature that allows users to pay their bills in crypto, Digital Surge is one of the top contenders to the throne of Australian cryptocurrency exchanges. Continue reading this in depth 2022 Digital Surge review for more details.
Quick Summary
- Website: digitalsurge.com.au/
- Headquartered: Brisbane, Australia
- Trading fees: 0.5%
- Listed cryptocurrencies: 280+
- AUD Deposit and withdrawal fees: Free
- Deposit limit: 20,000
- Fiat currencies: AUD
- Deposit Methods: Bank transfer, POLi & PayID
- Australian-based customer service: Yes
Pros
- Beginner-friendly app and trade platform
- Below industry standard fees
- Clean user interface
- Fast ID verification process
- 300+ tradable crypto assets
- 24/7 support available through live chat and email
- Several deposit methods available
- Offers staking
Cons
- Credit card deposits not supported
- Limited trading features for experienced traders
Our honest thoughts on Digital Surge
At Coinware, we find Digital Surge to be one of the most easy to use crypto apps to use. The app and desktop trading platforms can be easily navigated by any user, regardless of their experience. Below we have listed some of our favourite things about the Digital Surge crypto exchange:
Customer support: Digital Surge has a strong focus on customer support. The majority of the customer support staff are based in Australia and they always deliver speedy and helpful responses.
Low trading fees: Digital Surge charges trading fees of just 0.5% which is lower than the industry standard in Australia. Digital Surge also has quite tight spreads, which is the difference between the buy and sell price listed on the exchange.
Listed cryptocurrencies: Digital Surge lists 300+ cryptocurrencies which gives their users a wide range of crypto assets to choose from when trading crypto. This includes both large and low cap cryptocurrencies.
| Exchange Website | Cryptocurrencies | Fees | Supported | Visit Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
351 | 1.0% | AUD | Join Coinspot |
 |
330+ | 0.6% | AUD, USD & NZD | Join Swyftx |
 |
250+ | Varies | AUD, USD, GBP & more | Join Crypto.com |
 |
280+ | 0.5% | AUD | Join Digital Surge |
 |
400+ | 0.1% | AUD, USD, NZD & GBP | Join Binance |
 |
140+ | Varies | USD, NZD & GBP | Join Coinbase |
 |
50+ | Varies | AUD & GBP | Join Coinjar Exchange |
 |
40+ | 0 | USD, GBP & more | Join Nexo |
Is Digital Surge safe?
Regulation: Digital Surge Pty Ltd is a Registered Australian business (ABN: 89 620 473 109). It is registered with AUSTRAC which means they must verify and identify all of their customers (KYC), maintain records of customer transactions and comply with government AML/CTF reporting requirements.
Security features: Digital Surge have integrated a range of security features into their platform to protect thor users funds from theft and scammers. Alongside two-factor authentication (2FA) which adds an extra layer of authentication on top of your password, Digital Surge also has a highly sophisticated multi-layered security framework including:
- Regular security reviews and updates
- Website traffic runs entirely over encrypted SSL (HTTPS)
- All passwords are hashed and salted in the database
- Application credentials kept separate from database and codebase
- Secure server and closed network environments
- All Digital Surge employees must pass a criminal background check
Digital Surge fees
Trading fees and spreads
When it comes to trading fees, Digital Surge is very open and transparent. They have a trading fee of 0.5% for instant buy and sell market orders.
When trading on the Digital Surge cryptocurrency exchange, the fee is based on your 30-day trade volume. Essentially the bigger your 30-day trade volume, the less you will pay in fees. The maximum fee you will pay regardless of your trade volume is 0.5% which is lower than other Australian exchanges like Swyftx and Digital Surge. More details can be found in the image below.
Deposit and withdrawal fees
Cryptocurrency and PayID deposits on Digital Surge are free, however, Poli deposits incur a fee between $2.00 and $3.30.
There are no fees associated with withdrawing AUD from the platform. However, when withdrawing crypto from your account and sending it to another exchange or an external wallet, you will be charged a flat network fee. These fees can vary depending on the coin you’re sending and what blockchain network you’re sending on.
Digital Surge features and benefits
Platform interface
Digital Surge has created a crypto trading platform with a very sleek and minimalistic interface. This is great for beginners who are new to crypto and might find other trading platforms like Binance and Crypto.com difficult to navigate. Despite Digital Surge’s simple interface, it does not compromise on providing a full range of advanced trading features like integrated viewing charts.
iOS and Android app
Digital Surge has its very own mobile app available on iOS and Android devices. This app has the full functionality of the Desktop training platform and makes it extremely convenient to trade and check your portfolio on the go.
Listed cryptocurrencies
Digital Surge lists over 300 cryptocurrencies on its app available for trading. This is one of the biggest benefits of the Digital Surge exchange. For an exchange that is so suited for beginners, you may expect to only be able to trade a few cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano etc. However Digital Surge lists hundreds of coins allowing users to buy, sell and trade coins with small and large market capitalisations (market cap).
You can instantly buy crypto via the ‘Buy & Sell’ tab in your account. Here, simply find the coin you would like. On this page you can get information about the coin as well as the price in Australian dollars (AUD). You can either select the amount of coins you’d like to buy or the price equivalent in AUD.
Customer support
Digital Surge has an excellent reputation for customer support. This is reflected in their 4.7/5 star rating on TrustPilot. Digital Surge provides Australian-based, personalised customer support through their live chat. Rather than providing a quick answer, their support staff will attend to your until your query is fully answered or your issue is fully resolved.
The staff at Coinware did a test with the Digital Surge Customer support live chat, where we submitted a query and time how long they took to get back to us. Despite us messaging them at a relatively busy period in the crypto market (prices going up), they were able to deliver a helpful response within 15 minutes. This is far better than some other cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly international exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, who both took over a week to deliver a response to us.
Having good customer support is very important for a crypto exchange. A lot of people are getting into crypto for the first time and often find it difficult to understand. By having someone to help you every step of the way, makes this process a lot less daunting. The digital Surge team are very experienced at handling issues and have a proven track record for providing great customer service.
Digital Surge Earn
in April 2021, Digital Surge launched a crypto staking feature called ‘Earn.’ This feature allows users to earn interest on cryptocurrency they hold in their wallet. This is a lending program whereby users lend their crypto to Digital Surge and receive an advertised APY percentage return as interest. You can currently earn on 11 coins with APY’s ranging between 5% (on Tezos) and 23% (on Kava). Rewards are paid out and compounded monthly.
Read our full guide to staking on Digital Surge.
Digital Surge Pay Wizard
The Digital Surge Pay Wizard is a unique feature that isn’t offered by many other exchanges. This feature allows Digital Surge customers who are residing in Australia to settle their bills and amenities with Bitcoin. All you need is your BPAY details. You can pay for the bills listed below:
- Pay BPAY bill
- Pay to Credit Card
- Pay to Bank Account
How to pay bills with BTC
To pay for your bills in Bitcoin through Digital Surge, you need to to follow the simple steps provided below:
- Open the Pay Wizard tab within your Digital Surge app
- Choose between 3 options: Pay BPAY bill, pay to credit card, pay to bank account
- Choose which wallet you would like to pay from: Either you DS wallet or an offline wallet
- Enter your BPAY details and confirm!
Digital Surge educational articles
There is a section on Digital Surge’s website dedicated to educating users on the basics of blockchain and cryptocurrency. They cover off on topics such as:
- How to evaluate a good crypto investment
- Which crypto investing strategy is right for you
- How to diversify your crypto portfolio
These are great resources, especially if you’re a beginner who wants to learn about the technology and the industry before you start investing.
Recurring orders
Digital Surge has a recurring order feature which allows you to automatically execute buy or sell orders over regular intervals at a time of your choosing. This allows you to dollar-cost average (DCA) into your crypto assets. DCA is a very effective investing strategy as it minimises the risk of market volatility and making a poorly timed trade at a high price.
Does Digital Surge have staking?
At this point in time, Digital Surge does not offer staking. Staking refers to locking up your coins in order to improve the security and verification of transactions on a blockchain network. Though this sounds quite technical, what it means is that you can earn rewards or interest on the coins you are holding in your digital wallet, giving you passive income.
This is one of the biggest downsides to the Digital Surge exchange as other exchanges ike Swyftx, Binance, Coinspot, Coinbase and Crypto.com all offer staking.
How to create an account with Digital Surge
The account creation process with Digital Surge is quick and easy. Simply follow the steps provided below.
Step 1: Sign up for an account
To create an account start by signing up via this link. Here, you’ll need to provide your full name, email address and create a secure password. You’ll be sent a verification email to activate your account.
Step 2: Verify contact details
Next, you’ll need to select ho you will be using Digital Surge from the following options:
- Personal
- Business
- SMSF
- Trust
After you’ve selected your account type, you’ll be required to provide your phone number and then enter the verification code sent via SMS.
Step 3: ID verification
Next you’ll need to verify your identification by uploading an image of your government issued ID. You can either choose from your drivers licence or your passport.
Step 4: Facial recognition
Lastly, you’ll need to grant permission for Digital Surge to access your camera either on your phone or your computer. This is to conduct a facial recognition check to ensure it matches the identification you submitted.
Digital Surge alternatives
Swyftx – Swyftx is the fastest growing Australian cryptocurrency exchange. It is based in Brisbane and lists 300+ cryptocurrencies. It also offers staking.
Coinspot – Coinspot is the biggest Australian-based crypto trading platform with over 2 million users nation-wide. Despite it’s higher trading fees, it has an easy to use platform with a number of advanced features.
Binance – Binance is considered to be the biggest exchange in the world by trading volume (not users). It’s low fees (0.01%) makes it the cheapest of any exchanges listed here and it also offers a wide range of advanced features like lending, borrowing, staking, margin trading and more.
Crypto.com – Crypto.com is a great international exchange that has gained widespread attention due to their highly publicised sporting sponsorships. The platform has interest earning features and users can also get a Visa card, allowing them to spend crypto on everyday purchases.