Coinfloor Crypto Exchange Review: What Happened and Why It’s Gone

Coinfloor was once the UK’s biggest Bitcoin exchange - now it doesn’t exist

If you’re looking for a reliable place to buy Bitcoin in the UK, you might come across old forum posts or YouTube videos praising Coinfloor. Back in 2018, it was the go-to exchange for British crypto buyers. Simple interface. No credit card fees. All funds stored offline. And it was the first exchange in the world to let users verify its Bitcoin reserves on the blockchain - a move that earned serious trust from early adopters.

But here’s the catch: Coinfloor stopped operating on October 4, 2021. Not because it got hacked. Not because it went bankrupt. But because it lost the race to stay relevant.

Today, if you type “Coinfloor” into your browser, you’ll be redirected to CoinCorner. That’s not a coincidence - Coinfloor was absorbed into CoinCorner, and all customer accounts were moved over. There’s no more Coinfloor. No trading. No deposits. No support. Just a quiet exit after eight years of being a pioneer.

Why Coinfloor mattered in the early days

Coinfloor launched in 2013, right when Bitcoin was still a fringe experiment. Most people didn’t know what a wallet was. Exchanges were sketchy. Some vanished overnight. Coinfloor stood out because it played by the rules.

It was registered as a Bureau de Change with HMRC - not the FCA, but enough to signal legitimacy in the UK’s gray-area crypto landscape. It didn’t promise high returns. Didn’t list 100 coins. Just Bitcoin and later Bitcoin Cash. And it kept 100% of customer funds in cold storage. No hot wallets. No risky bets. That simplicity was its strength.

Its proof-of-solvency system was revolutionary. Customers could check the exchange’s Bitcoin balance on-chain, in real time. If Coinfloor claimed it held 1,000 BTC, you could verify it yourself. No third-party auditor needed. No guesswork. That transparency was rare in 2015 and still is today.

For UK users, it was the easiest way to buy Bitcoin with GBP. Bank transfers only. No credit cards. No PayPal. No crypto-to-crypto trading. Just buy BTC with pounds. Sell BTC for pounds. Done.

What you could and couldn’t do on Coinfloor

Let’s be clear: Coinfloor wasn’t a full-service exchange. It didn’t try to be.

• Supported coins: Only Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). No Ethereum. No Solana. No Dogecoin. Not even Litecoin.
• Trading pairs: GBP/BTC and GBP/BCH only. No USD, EUR, or crypto pairs.
• Deposits/withdrawals: Bank transfers only. No card payments, no Apple Pay, no Revolut. You had to use a UK bank account.
• Fees: 0.30% per trade. Higher than Coinbase (0.25%) and Kraken (0.16% at the time). Withdrawal fee was 0.0005 BTC - cheaper than most.
• Minimum deposit: Around £50-£100, depending on account type. Higher than competitors.
• Platform: Basic web interface. No mobile app until late in its life. No charting tools. No limit orders. No margin trading. No API for bots.

If you were a beginner who just wanted to buy Bitcoin and hold it, Coinfloor was fine. If you wanted to day trade, use leverage, or switch between altcoins - you were out of luck.

Why users loved it - and why they left

Positive feedback came from people who valued safety over speed.

• Security: “I’ve used Coinfloor since 2016. Never had an issue. I sleep better knowing my BTC is in cold storage.” - G2.com user, 2023
• Transparency: “The proof-of-solvency feature made me trust them more than any other exchange.” - Reddit user, r/BitcoinUK, 2019
• GBP integration: “Finally, an exchange that doesn’t make me pay 5% in conversion fees.” - UK-based investor, 2020

But the complaints piled up too.

• Customer support: Only email and ticket system. No live chat. No phone. Responses took days. Polish and English only.
• Outdated features: “I asked for a mobile app in 2018. Got it in 2020. By then, everyone else had had one for years.” - Trustpilot review, 2020
• Low coin selection: “Why am I still stuck with BTC and BCH in 2021? Coinbase has 50+ coins. Why can’t Coinfloor just add Ethereum?” - Reddit thread, 2020
• Trustpilot rating: 2.2/5 based on 164 reviews. Most complaints were about slow support and lack of innovation.

The mismatch was clear: Coinfloor built a fortress for cautious users, but the rest of the market was building a theme park. People wanted more coins, faster apps, lower fees, and better tools. Coinfloor didn’t adapt.

The fatal mistake: refusing to evolve

Between 2017 and 2020, the crypto market exploded. New exchanges popped up daily. Kraken added 20+ new coins. Coinbase launched its own wallet, debit card, and staking. Binance became a global giant.

Coinfloor? It stayed the same.

It had the chance to expand. It had the capital. It had the reputation. But it chose to stay small. To stay simple. To stay focused on Bitcoin and GBP users.

That strategy worked in 2015. By 2020, it was a liability.

Deloitte’s 2020 Blockchain Survey found that exchanges with fewer than 10 supported assets lost market share at twice the rate of those with 20+. Coinfloor had two. It wasn’t just behind - it was invisible to new traders.

Even its regulatory edge faded. The UK’s FCA finally started regulating crypto exchanges under the Fifth Money Laundering Directive in 2020. Coinfloor was never licensed by them. It relied on its HMRC status - which wasn’t enough to compete with FCA-regulated rivals.

What happened on October 4, 2021

On that day, Coinfloor sent an email to every user:

“Coinfloor and CoinCorner have agreed to have Coinfloor’s customers migrate to the CoinCorner platform... We are working closely with the CoinCorner team to ensure a smooth transition for you.”

No drama. No panic. Just a quiet shutdown.

Users didn’t have to do anything. Their balances were automatically moved. Their trading history was preserved. Their GBP accounts were transferred. CoinCorner promised to honor existing fees.

It wasn’t a failure. It was a strategic exit. Coinfloor’s founders knew they couldn’t compete anymore. So they sold the customer base to CoinCorner - a smaller, similarly focused exchange that also only traded Bitcoin and BCH.

Today, CoinCorner still operates. It has a mobile app. It’s slightly more modern. But it’s still the same kind of exchange: simple, Bitcoin-only, UK-focused.

Is CoinCorner the same thing? Should you use it?

If you’re still looking for a Bitcoin-only exchange in the UK, CoinCorner is the closest thing to Coinfloor’s legacy.

• Pros: Still supports GBP bank transfers. Still uses cold storage. Still simple interface. Still no credit cards.
• Cons: Still only two coins. Still no advanced trading. Still no live support. Still no altcoins.

It’s not a bad choice if you just want to buy Bitcoin and hold it. But if you want to trade Ethereum, use a mobile app with charts, or get help in 10 minutes - look elsewhere.

For most people today, exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Binance offer far more value. Lower fees. More coins. Better apps. Faster support. Even if you’re in the UK.

Final verdict: A relic of crypto’s early days

Coinfloor wasn’t a scam. It wasn’t a flop. It was a pioneer that got left behind.

It proved you could run a secure, transparent crypto exchange in the UK. It showed that simplicity could build trust. But in a market that moved faster than ever, standing still meant disappearing.

Its story isn’t about loss. It’s about evolution. The crypto industry doesn’t reward loyalty to the past. It rewards those who adapt.

If you’re reading this in 2025 and you’re still using Coinfloor - you can’t. It’s gone. And if you’re looking for a similar experience, CoinCorner is your only option. But be honest with yourself: Do you really want to be stuck with two coins and no app in 2025? Or is it time to move on?

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