Shapeshift is a cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency exchange service started in 2014. The Swiss company has been at the forefront of providing fast exchange services across dozens of cryptocurrency pairs.

It also has remained true to the intended purpose of the blockchain – to support decentralized, anonymous peer-to-peer transactions. But everything is changing at ShapeShift with the shifting regulatory winds.

We have conducted an in-depth review of fees, features, and pros and cons to assess whether ShapeShift will remain popular as it adopts traditional exchange rules. As the ‘accountless’ ShapeShift starts adding membership and ID requirements, some loyalists may abandon the formerly anonymous and frictionless exchange.

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What is Shapeshift?

ShapeShift was like the Swiss Army knife of cryptocurrency exchange when it was added to the JAXX wallet in 2016. It provided multi-functionality to the boring Bitcoin wallet, although ShapeShift did not support real-time Bitcoin trading, until recently.

All of a sudden the JAXX wallet could near-instantly exchange, send and receive cryptocurrencies as new cryptos started to join Bitcoin in virtual money wallets. Everyone signed up for a JAXX wallet. ShapeShift, which still considers itself a provider of the “tools…to navigate the crypto frontier,” is now readying to provide trading. Real-time crypto trading is coming to the service, and so are other big changes.

As part of these these changes, to meet customer demand for account transaction data, provide loyalty programs and operate in new jurisdictions, ShapeShift is requiring customers to register ID proof.

It’s a big philosophical shift for ShapeShift that may irk some users, but investors are still enthusiastic. They include Earlybird, FundersClub, Blockchain Capital, Access Venture Partners, LakeStar, Pantera, and the Digital Currency Group.

How does the Shapeshift exchange work?

ShapeShift provides a crypto swapping service. You cannot buy cryptocurrency with fiat on Shapeshift. Using its API, wallets like JAXX are able to integrate crypto-to-cyrpto exchange into their services.

ShapeShift now operates its own platform and is adding real-time trading, making it a future competitor of exchanges like Gemini and Poloniex. The New ShapeShift provides a complete crypto management system – crypto asset swapping, real-time trading and hardware wallet digital asset storage on KeepKey.

The ShapeShift beta platform provides a complete crypto swap and security solution. It includes a web-based interface to manage ShapeShift swaps, and a cold crypto wallet. ShapeShift’s new KeepKey hardware wallet seamlessly integrates cold storage asset management into the system. Cryptocurrencies can also be swapped in ShapeShift from the hardware interface.