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Popular crypto exchange offices in CroatiaPublished by Moj Kripto on July 26, 2021 Croatian version Overview of physical crypto exchange offices in Croatia
It has been exactly two years since the news was published that Croatian Post
(Hrvatska posta) in collaboration with the company Electrocoin launched a pilot project where customers can buy cryptocurrencies in selected branch offices.
I was one of the first to try out their service, and I posted my experience on the blog.
In the meantime, we are witnessing an increased interest in crypto from the growing number of standard crypto exchanges. Cryptocurrencies are increasingly mentioned in banking circles as they slowly penetrate all pores of society. News that a service or product is now available for cryptocurrencies no longer draws attention.
Below, you will find an overview of the physical exchange offices I visited these days in Zadar and Zagreb. These are the most significant domestic exchange companies that offer the purchase and sale of crypto for local currency – KUNA on their physical locations.
Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta)
I started at the same branch office where I sold crypto two years ago – in the Supernova shopping center in Zadar. After the pilot project – buying cryptocurrencies, the Croatian Post made this service a standard, so now it is possible to sell crypto at 55 locations nationwide.
It is also worth mentioning that Croatian Post recently issued its first crypto stamp.
Read more about crypto collectible stamps here.
As I knew from before that the post office buys crypto, I went just to check if I could sell crypto to them. The employee wasn’t sure at first but asked me to wait while she went to check on the phone with colleagues. After a few minutes of waiting, I received an affirmative answer; you can buy and sell crypto with Croatian Post!
This is excellent news, and I was pleasantly surprised. I did not expect this.
I bought DAI tokens from the post office
The employee asked me to step outside the line and wait until she gets a return phone call from someone who will guide her through the process. As she says, neither she nor colleagues from other branches in Zadar haven’t had that before. After a few minutes, she called me, and I asked about the limits. I learned that there is no lower limit, and I decided to buy USDT for 250 kn. It turned out that they do not support USDT, but they have USDC, DAI, ETH, BTC, and other larger cryptocurrencies. We agreed on USDC, but their system reported an error, so we tried DAI, and it worked. She asked for my ID card (KYC) and email address, and after a few minutes, she handed me the printed instructions.
I used a mobile phone to scan the OR code from the paper, which took me to the Bitcoin-mjenjacnica.hr webpage.
After manually entering the code from the email, the field for the crypto address to which I want to receive DAI appeared. I entered the address from my mobile Trust wallet, and in about 10 minutes, DAI arrived at my address. It took me 47 minutes from the first contact with their employee to the moment I got DAI in my crypto wallet.
Main post office in Zadar
In the main post office in Zadar, I tried another service – the sale of cryptocurrencies to the post office. The same as in their Supernova branch office, USDT is not supported here either, and neither is USDC. The employee checked for the USDC by phone, but everything went quickly, so I decided to sell Ether worth 250 kn. Again, I received printed instructions, scanned the QR code, and was pleasantly surprised when the amount was automatically entered and the address.
A few minutes later, Ether landed on their address, and I received an email notification confirming the transfer. After that, I walked up to the counter and to pick up my 250 kn.
I also decided to check how familiar they are with their new service – selling crypto, so I asked the employee about it, and she readily responded positively. When I asked her to quickly calculate how much Ether I would get for the same 250 kuna, I received a handwritten calculation. I would get 0.016331 ETH.
You will find a list of all branches with working hours on the website https://kripto.posta.hr
These days, the Croatian Post has introduced a new service – the sale of cryptocurrencies for kuna!
In Kapital
In Kapital, exchange offices operate at two locations in Zadar; at the Airport and the Supernova Mall. I visited both. The one at the airport was closed.
Although I was there during business hours on Monday, July 5th at 10:22 AM, it was closed.
I guess they only open it at the time of plane arrivals when there is more significant traffic.
Zadar Airport
In Kapital at Supernova Shopping Mall
With the Supernova branch office, I had more luck. Here I quickly and easily managed to convert the USDT for 250 kn, which is the minimum. The employee did this routinely and did not ask me for any documents. I got a paper with printed instructions – again from their partner – Bitcoin-mjenjacnica.hr.
I stepped aside and followed the instruction. I scanned the QR code with my Trust wallet, and as expected – the amount of Ether for payment and my address appeared in my wallet, so I didn’t have to type it manually.
I paid 41.48 USDT, and after a few minutes, I received an email confirmation that the payment was settled, so I went to the counter to withdraw money. The whole process went smoothly, and it took only a few minutes.
You will find a list of all branches with working hours on their website https://www.inkapital.hr/
Auro Domus
This chain operates at 6 locations in Zadar. The first place I tried was the Auro Domus branch in Zadar, located outside the Plodine shopping center.
Auro Domus, Plodine – Zadar
I asked if they could change the crypto for kuna, to which the employee told me that it is possible but that she hadn’t done it yet. She immediately called someone for help. After a few minutes of getting instructions, she tried to enter the system and informed me that USDT is not supported, but we can do it with USDC. When we tried USDC, I waited for another ten minutes while she tried to figure out how to do it – and finally, the lady told me that their cryptocurrency system had crashed in their entire network. She assured me that they were currently working to fix the problem and resolve it in about 10 minutes.
Instead of waiting there, I decided to visit their second branch in the broader city center, hoping they will fix the problem by the time of my arrival.
In the second Auro Domus branch office, the employee again had to ask for assistance from someone over the phone. After ten minutes of consulting and even attempting to get it done, the kind employee apologized and explained that the system did not work.
So I left with unfinished business.
Auro Domus – Third time lucky
The next day I visited the third branch of Auro Domus in the Zadar city center – on the peninsula. I intended to sell USDC for kuna. I found out that the lower limit to exchange cryptocurrency with them is 350 kn, so I asked for 350 kn in exchange for my USDC.
The minimum for Bitcoin is 500 kn and for ETH 900 kn.
The employee had not yet encountered the crypto, so she first sought help in the manual and then called someone for help. I waited patiently and tried to be as helpful as possible to speed up the whole process. The whole process dragged on forever. At first, their system did not accept the requested amount, so instead of 350 kn, I agreed to 355 kn, but even that did not pass, so in the end, we finally managed to proceed with 360 kn.
It also took a few minutes until we found out who was sending what to whom and where. Every step on our way took quite a while, but it all ended with a success. Seventy-two minutes later, I left the branch office after I sold 62.25 USDC to receive 360 kn.
It took 72 minutes from entering the branch to the end of the crypto sale!
I believe this was a valuable experience for their employee who showed interest and willingness to learn something new.
You will find a list of all branches with working hours on the website https://aurodomus.hr/
Bitcoin Store
Bitcoin Store exchange offices operate in three locations; two in Zagreb and one in Split.
I visited a Zagreb location within the City Center East shopping center.
This branch stands out from the rest. Thanks to the large inscriptions, it is visible from afar, and there is no mistake it works with cryptos.
Bitcoin Store Zagreb
I arrived on Friday afternoon, and there was only one person before me.
I asked an employee to sell me a USDT for 250 kn, to which she told me that the lower limit for USDT is 300 kn, while for ADA, or ETH the lowest lower limit is 250 kn.
She immediately warned me that if I buy USDT through the Ethereum network, I will be charged a transaction fee of $10, but if my wallet supports USDT on the Tron network, then the fee is much lower – only 1 TRX ($ 0.06). Since I have the BINANCE application installed on my mobile phone and supports the Tron network, I decided to go ahead with USDT via Tron.
The employee asked me if I wanted to send my address via email or scan it myself, so I decided to scan. There is a scanner and a computer screen right on the counter, so after I handed her 300 kn, she entered the data, and an input field appeared on the screen.
I scanned my Binance’s mobile app with a handheld scanner, and I did it.
The lady told me that in 15 minutes, they would deposit the tokens at my address.
I thanked her and left. It was over an hour before the USDT arrived.
The lady at the Bitcoin store in Zagreb was very knowledgeable, and everything went routinely and smoothly. For my 300 kn, I got 43.84 USDT.
Bitcoin Store Zagreb
It is important to note that Bitcoin Store has a referral program. When you open a user account with them, you will receive your referral code and your referral link.
Whenever someone enters your code while using their services in Bitcoin Store branches – you will be rewarded with a percentage of sales. The same applies to all online purchases via your referral link. In Bitcoin Store branches, you can also buy two of the most popular crypto hardware wallets – Trezor and Ledger. The Bitcoin Store recently launched its mobile app.
Other exchange offices
Two more exchange offices work with crypto. Both are in Zagreb.
The first one is Malega within the SuperKonzum in Dubec, and the other is exchange office Lira in Praska street in the city center. Both operate in cooperation with the company Electrocoin, and their conditions are the same as at In Kapital exchange offices.
Commissions
The table below shows that In Kapital offers the lowest commission, and Auro Domus has the highest commission.
I should note that the Bitcoin Store charges $10 for transactions on the Ethereum network, which at the time of writing this blog is multiple times higher than the actual fees in the Ethereum network.
Also, the Bitcoin Store is the only one offering cheap transactions over the Tron network.
The Bitcoin Store commission calculation in the table below would have been higher had I used the Ethereum network for a $10 fee.
How I Calculated The Commissions
Since I worked with stablecoins, I rounded their value to the US dollar price at the average exchange rate on the day of the transaction. I divided the kuna by the amount of stablecoin for each exchange office. I entered that value in the percentage calculator together with the dollar exchange rate, and I got the difference expressed as a percentage.
I rounded the difference to one decimal place, and I listed it in the table as a commission.
Conclusion
Two years after the pilot project to purchase cryptocurrencies in Croatian Post offices, this service has become the standard offer in the postal offices throughout the country.
In the meantime, the Post Office introduced a new service – the sale of cryptocurrencies for kuna.
It is noticeable that the company Electrocoin with a network of partners, currently offers the most favorable conditions for buying and selling. At the same time, Bitcoin Store leads in terms of supply and user experience.
Exchanges that are new to crypto will need some time to get used to it, but it’s nice to see how the brick-and-mortar crypto exchanges matured over the years.
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