One of the newer contenders in the market, SideShift advertises themselves as the “no sign-up crypto exchange,” which sounds perfect for those looking lot quickly get in and out of a coin swap. SideShift’s coin selection is rather limited, but they do carry several major coins, including BTC, ETH, XMR, XLM, USDT, and BCH, among others. Fees are generally quite reasonable and start at around 2%.
The exchange layout is almost the exact same as Changelly’s, with the biggest difference being there is no actual login process. Instead, each user is issued an “Account Secret”, which is stored in your browser and serves as a username/password combination. If you plan on using SideShift more than once, it’s a good idea to store your Account Secret for later use. Your Account Secret can be found by
clicking on the “Account” menu option toward the top of the screen and then scrolling down to the “Human’s Account Secret” area. Press the “Show Account Secret” button to reveal it:
The SideShift terms of service state their website is “not intended for use” by citizens of the U.S., Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and a handful of other countries. This is a bit more lax verbiage than Changelly, but you’ll still want to visit using a VPN if you live in one of the aforementioned countries, to avoid any potential unpleasantries. SideShift doesn’t have a mobile app, but they do have a staking system where users can stake XAI – a token earned by referring others to SideShift.ai – to earn additional awards.
Reviews of SideShift have been generally favorable, and it is favored among users of Monero (XMR), which was delisted from several exchanges during 2020 and the first half of 2021. For those who want to trade Lightning (LN) or Liquid (L-BTC) Bitcoin, SideShift supports conversions in and out of those forms of BTC as well.
SideShift seems to have a bit more of a personal touch than bigger operations and appears to value the input of their customers. A few users have reported having problems with orders not going through, but complaints are almost always resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, and in general, the company runs a tight operation.
