7 Best Canadian Cryptocurrency Exchanges [Updated]

Heading into 2020, buying Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Canada can be a difficult process. Yes, there are a lot of options, but there are also a lot of factors to consider when choosing which platform

Heading into 2020, buying Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Canada can be a difficult process. Yes, there are a lot of options, but there are also a lot of factors to consider when choosing which platform is right for you. In this article, we break down what details to consider, and rate our top Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges available specifically to Canadians. If you are looking for international exchanges, check out our exchange review post or our comprehensive guide of how to buy Bitcoin worldwide. So let’s take a look at our top Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges!

Customer Service

If you are new to buying and selling digital currency, customer service will be important to you. It’s more likely than not you are going to have questions along the way. It’s a whole new world out there, and using a platform with first class customer support team will help you navigate.

Canadian Banking Relationships

If you know anything about the Canadian banking system, you know that regulations, KYC and compliance are the name of the game. International exchanges have had a tough time getting into the Canadian market because they can’t get bank accounts in Canada. Fortunately, there is a variety of homegrown Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges who have established banking relationships locally and have no problem accepting your Canadian dollar deposits.

Funding Methods

Speaking of Canadian dollars, unless you want to get burned on exchange rate fees, it’s always wise to fund your account with Canadian dollars. Nowadays, there are options to fund with cash, credit card, bank wire or Interac e-Transfer. Make sure the funding method you want to use is supported on your exchange, and beware of the fees associated with each method. Credit card transactions can be charged up to 10% fees! Most reputable Canadian platforms are registered with FINTRAC, and their Money Services Business license can be found on their website.

Trading Features

If you are just looking to buy a small amount of digital currency, advanced trading features may not be of much importance to you. If you are looking to sell, trade between currencies, or margin trade, you’ll want to research what features each exchange can provide. Exchanges are constantly upgrading their platforms, so make sure you have the latest information straight from the source. Most of this information is available on an exchange’s support page or FAQ section.

Pricing and Fees

There is a wide spectrum of fee structures and spot pricing on Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges, and there are many things to consider when comparing them. Some exchanges will charge a flat transaction fee, that can be as high as 6%, while others charge claim they charge zero fees but will add an additional spread on the price the customer pays. To compare fees, it’s best to check out information on each exchanges site. To compare pricing, CBIX.ca is a great tool that shows a number of Canadian options.

Based on our research, the 7 best Canadian Cryptocurrency Exchanges are:

Bitbuy – Best Overall Canadian Crypto Exchange Bitvo MyBtc Kraken Ndax Coinfield VirgoCX

7 Best Canadian Cryptocurrency Exchanges

1) Bitbuy

Bitbuy is our number one choice as the best place to buy and sell cryptocurrency online in Canada. The online platform was founded in 2013 as InstaBT, with a mission to provide safe, easy and quick access to Bitcoin. Rebranded as Bitbuy in 2016, the platform still makes good on its original mission all these years later and is one of the most popular platforms in Canada.

Bitbuy delivers on quick and comprehensive customer support and in addition to their comprehensive support guide and ticketing system, they provide a toll-free number for users to call into in order to speak directly to a customer support agent. The sign-up and verification process is also very easy and typically takes only a couple minutes to complete. Bitbuy follows Canadian KYC regulations, and has an automated verification system implemented. Just enter some basic information about yourself in order to be verified. The site has a sleek and easy to use design and is optimized for mobile browsers for easy trading on the go. They also have their own resources for beginners, including a comprehensive guide to buying Bitcoin in Canada.

The platform is not just for newbies, however, as experienced users will enjoy the fast turnaround times that Bitbuy provides. Experience traders can use Bitbuy ‘Pro Trade’ to make crypto to crypto trades, use limit orders, and see the live order book. Bitbuy also offers an OTC desk for customers looking to make large transactions at a great price. Turnaround times are lightning quick, as most cash deposits and withdrawals are processed within hours. Crypto hold times are minimal as well, as only the first crypto withdrawal is held for 1-2 days.

Pros:

Easy to use

Great customer service

Low fees

Good spot prices

Consistent feature upgrades

Strong banking relationships

Cons:

No advanced trading features yet

No margin trading

Only 5 tradeable coins

2) Bitvo

We have listed Bitvo (www.bitvo.com) second as it is the most feature-rich platform in the Canadian landscape. Established in 2018, Bitvo is a cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates buying, selling and trading cryptocurrencies through its best-in-class website and mobile applications. Bitvo offers seven different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum Classic and QCAD, Canada’s first stable coin designed for the mass market.

Bitvo differentiates itself by making transacting in cryptocurrencies easier than anyone else and offering proprietary features such as the Bitvo Same Day Guarantee, the Bitvo Cash Card and technical analysis tools. Traders new to the space can take advantage of Bitvo’s quick buys and sells at market rates. More experienced traders can utilize the Advance Trading screen, which provides access to a live order book and allows for more sophisticated order types such as limit and stop loss orders.

Bitvo also offers an OTC desk, putting you in touch with live traders to execute larger orders. The Bitvo Same Day Guarantee means instant account registration, deposits and withdrawals processed the same day as received and live customer support 24/7/365. Bitvo guarantees all of this or it offers to refund your fees. And speaking of fees, Bitvo offers some of the lowest in the industry with free deposits on every method, zero trade fees and a low 1% withdrawal fee. The Visa® Bitvo Cash Card allows customers to spend directly from their Bitvo account anywhere Visa® is accepted or to take out cash at over 2 million ATMs globally.

Additionally, Bitvo is managed and owned by a group of competent, transparent and qualified individuals comprised of seasoned financial markets and payment processing professionals (read more about the team here). Finally, Bitvo makes security a top priority. The company has never lost customer funds. Fiat funds are stored at major Canadian banks and CDIC insured. Cryptocurrencies are stored in cold storage that is located in an offsite, third party financial institution and only accessible via multiple signatures.

Pros:

Fast and reliable transactions

Great customer support through phone, online chat or email

Bitvo Cash Card – spend directly from your account

Web and mobile applications available

Lowest fees in the industry

Large inventory of 8 different coins

Cons:

No margin trading, yet

3) MyBTC.ca

MyBTC.ca is a simplified Canadian platform that comes in at number 3 on our list. It’s an easy to use site, and offers a variety of funding methods that include Interac e-Transfer, Interac Online, Flexepin, Bank Wire and Cash or Interac Debit card at Canada Post.

One great feature of the site is the ability for users to buy and send directly to a wallet address, without having to wait to withdraw it from an exchange and/or pay withdrawal fees. If you wish to execute your order, you will need to complete KYC to use the service. However, KYC is lightning quick on MyBTC.ca, with verifications typically being processed within an hour but the same day at the latest.

With two forms of KYC verification, you can choose between submitting your identity requirements to their verification team for internal review, or you can complete it in-person at Canada Post.

If you choose the In-house method, you will be prompted to submit a close-up of your government-issued photo ID and a selfie of yourself holding your ID via their secure and encrypted file upload tool.

For those of you that are more privacy-oriented, and don’t mind leaving your seat at home, you can request to complete KYC verification at any of the 6,000+ Canada Post locations nationwide. You will need to bring your government-issued photo ID, proof of residence document and display the unique barcode, emailed to you by MyBTC.ca, for the clerk to scan.

Tip: While you are at Canada Post you can also fund your MyBTC.ca account using the Cash or Debit option. For more information you checkout the funding option here.

If you need high-touch support you can communicate with them through email, phone call, text or Facebook messenger.

Users looking to sell their Bitcoin will need to look elsewhere, however, as it appears to be a buy only platform. Overall, MyBTC.ca is a basic yet reliable choice for users who may be looking for a simplified way to enter the market.

Pros:

An easy option for small purchases

Instant funding options available

Excellent customer support

Quick KYC & account funding

Cons:

No selling

Only BTC available for buying

Higher than average fees

4) Kraken

Kraken is a well established international cryptocurrency exchange, originally based out of San Francisco. Kraken allows users to fund their accounts in Canadian dollars and has several Canadian dollar trading pairs. Kraken operates a small office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that handles their Canadian operations and support.

Kraken has limited funding options compared to other Canadian exchanges. Currently, the only way to deposit Canadian dollars onto Kraken is by bank wire, meaning you will need to physically travel to your bank and process a wire transfer in order to use the service. Certainly not the most convenient funding method, but if you are willing to complete the process, Kraken is a good platform to use for advanced features.

Maybe their best feature, Kraken allows users to margin trade, meaning users can borrow funds to buy digital assets. This is an advanced tactic that can be tricky, but it can profitable if you know what you are doing.

Kraken also offers discounts to high volume traders, something not many other exchanges offer. Although Kraken offers some of the best feature sets and a selection of many altcoins, it suffers from a lack of popularity in Canada. Some of the CAD pairings that they offer have low trading volume, meaning if you are planning on buying a large amount, you may encounter price slippage and pay a higher price that you would have hoped for your digital currency. Kraken benefits from being a top international exchange and has good support as well as constant upgrades.

Pros:

Low Fees

Margin trading

Advanced trading platform with many features

Cons:

Limited funding options

Low volume for Altcoin/CAD pairings

5) NDAX

NDAX, or the National Digital Asset Exchange, is a relatively new exchange based out of Calgary, Alberta. They come in at number 5 on our list as more of an up and comer, with hopes they will become one of Canada’s more used exchanges. Officially, the soft launch was in May 2018 and they have not been marketing aggressively in the marketplace.

The platform itself offers instant verifications, several CAD deposit methods, and some advanced order types. In addition to market and limit orders, they also offer the more advanced fill-or-kill, stop, stop-limit and trailing stop order types. These would certainly be of interest to advanced traders. The problem so far with NDAX is that not many people are using the exchange. At the time of writing, their 24-hour volume was just over 1 BTC, or $5,000 CAD. Until the NDAX volume picks up, traders will have difficulty fully taking advantage of the advanced features available.

Pros:

Advanced features

Modern design

Unique Altcoin/CAD pairs

Cons:

Low volume

Poor customer service

No margin trading

6) Coinfield

Coinfield is another relatively new exchange in the Canadian cryptocurrency space, having just launched in February 2018. In November 2018, Coinfield partnered with Ripple and began using XRP as its base currency with multiple XRP trading pairs. Coinfield recently added another 61 countries other than Canada, so their focus has switched to be more of an international XRP based option, rather than an exchange for Canadians.

For the most part, Coinfield has built a good reputation online but some users have complained that withdrawal fees are too high.

Coinfield has done a good job by bringing a platform to market that is worthy of professional traders. However, Coinfield doesn’t support volume discounts to frequent traders nor does it offer margin trading which are often features that many profession crypto traders are looking for.

Pros:

XRP trading pairs

Sleek interface

Low Fees

Cons:

No margin trading

Less of a focus on Canadian marketplace

No simple trading

7) VirgoCX

VirgoCX , a registered MSB, is founded in 2018 and a newly emerged popular fiat to crypto exchange based out of Toronto Canada. It has a few key features that makes it become one of our top recommendations. VirgoCX currently offers a Zero trading fee & Zero deposit fee and with a low 1% withdrawal fee. The fee schedule seems to be one of the lowest providers in the country.

VirgoCX also enables customers to purchase small to medium amounts of cryptocurrency at no price slippage. VirgoCX has most top coins trading pairs and all of them seem to have competitive pricing.

It has an automatic KYC verification process which only needs some basic information to be inputted. Users typically get verified fairly quickly. It has multiple payment methods such as E-Transfer and wire transfer, allowing customers to fund accounts or withdraw funds as quickly as within 30 mins. It has a strong banking relationship with a couple of reputable banking partners within Canada(CDIC insured) so users don’t have to worry about the delay in fiat processing.

With VirgoCX OTC desk, customers can trade all major coins with amounts more than 30K CAD. Traders get same-day settlement and large volumes can be filled with competitive pricing. OTC desk coverage is pretty extensive to accommodate weekday and weekend needs.

PROS:

Zero trading & deposit fee

Competitive coins pricing

Easy to use and quick to verify

Partnership with Ledger- insurance covered wallet technology

Fast deposits and withdrawals

24/7 customer support

CONS:

No margin trading

No Credit Card/Debit Card processing yet

Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges: Conclusion

Picking the ideal Canadian crypto exchange platform for your specific needs may be a difficult and time-consuming process. Remember to pay attention to the fees, reputation, security, verification processes. Remember that you are not limited to using only one cryptocurrency exchange. Hopefully, the information provided will assist you in deciding which exchange platform to use.

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