Quick verdict: Paradech (paradech.com) calls itself the real and secure place to buy and store crypto, with card payments, KYC checks and cold storage. New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority warned about Paradech, and the alert was shared on IOSCO’s I-SCAN on 20 August 2025.
Paradech: the 60 second check
- ✗ FMA New Zealand alert, shared on I-SCAN 20 August 2025.
- ✗ Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin by card or wire.
- ✗ Asks for your ID before you buy.
- ✗ Offers white label services to other platforms.
- ✗ Domain registered 8 November 2023.
Paradech lists every security buzzword it can: fraud detection, two factor login, encryption, cold storage, PCI DSS compliance. None of those words is a licence. A crypto exchange that serves the public needs to be registered as a financial service provider, and the FMA says this one is not.
White labels and a UK disclaimer
The site also sells white label services, which means other brands can run on the same system under a different name. It adds that it does not market to clients in the United Kingdom. That kind of line is often there to keep one regulator quiet while the site keeps working everywhere else.
Handing your passport to an unlicensed platform carries its own risk. If you uploaded documents, watch for accounts or loans opened in your name.
Safer ways to buy crypto
If you want to buy crypto, use an exchange that names its regulator and appears on that regulator’s public register in your country. In New Zealand that means checking the Financial Service Providers Register before you send anything. Never send ID documents or card details to a platform that cannot show you where it is licensed. Paradech promises cold storage and encryption, but without a licence there is no one you can complain to if your coins disappear.
Sources: FMA New Zealand warning on Paradech, shared on IOSCO I-SCAN 20 August 2025; paradech.com (checked 1 November 2026); RDAP record. General information only.
Bought crypto through Paradech?
Keep your card statements and the wallet addresses.
