Crypto trading has become more mainstream these days amongst Canadians. Digital Assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and more have been making explosive gains in the market, getting a lot of spotlight in the news.
To get started in this crypto investing game, the best way is through one of the centralized crypto exchanges in Canada.
Why?
These centralized Canadian crypto exchanges are regulated, so they are the safest way for you to purchase cryptocurrency directly with your hard-earned fiat currency. To protect investors like you and me from shady business practices, they have to abide by rules and regulations set out by their local governing bodies or trade commissions.
However, these rules and regulations vary by country. Thus, making certain crypto exchanges difficult to use or inaccessible for Canadian Crypto Investors.
That’s why for Canadian investors, it is important to find the best cryptocurrency exchange that specifically caters to them.
How?
To find the best crypto exchange that suits your needs, first, you have to make make sure it’s available in Canada.
Then sign up for an account, verify your identity with proof of your Canadian residence, and add your preferred payment method, then you can make crypto purchases directly.
Although the volatility of the price actions seems scary for new traders, crypto is here to stay and the market is strong as ever. These cryptocurrency exchanges are helping everyone to get involved.
Finding the right crypto exchange will make investing in the market easier than ever.
However, there are quite a few options for Canadians out there when they want to trade crypto, and finding the right exchange requires a lot of research.
Lucky for you we did most of the grunt work and made you this list of The Best Crypto Exchanges in Canada telling you what each exchange is about as well as outlining their pros and cons.
BitBuy – Best Overall Crypto Exchange in Canada for 2022
Established in 2016, BitBuy is a cryptocurrency exchange exclusively available to Canadian crypto traders.
Bitbuy is a registered marketplace as well as an investment dealer, this means your orders are directly fulfilled by Bitbuy and will never be outsourced to a third-party financial institution. This will provide the crypto with deeper liquidity, which leads to better prices.
In contrast with some other exchanges in Canada that have to enforce trading caps of $30,000 on certain coins by law, Bitbuy doesn’t have an annual trading cap on altcoins.
It offers both a beginner-friendly Express trade platform and a more advanced Pro platform for experienced crypto investors.
On BitBuy’s Pro platform, the advanced interface allows you to perform in-depth technical analysis on price action charts provided by TradingView and enter trades by specific order types.
Bitbuy offers nine of the large-cap cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar Lumens, AaVE, Chainlink, and Litecoin and they have recently added Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, Dogecoin, Uniswap, Sushiswap, and Polygon.
Customer Support
Although Bitbuy doesn’t have telephone support at the moment, their team does quickly reply to support tickets and emails. Their replies are fast and extremely helpful. They also have a support page on their website which provides guides and answers to many frequently asked questions.
Security Measures
Bitbuy is a reputable Canadian exchange and it maintains 95% of its cryptocurrencies in cold storage. The crypto traders on this exchange are also covered by a value-matched insurance policy from BitGo.
It is also approved by the Ontario Securities Commission and is registered with FINTRAC as a Money Service Business (MSB).
Trading Fees
- Deposit and withdrawal fees: 0.5% via Bank Transfer and 1.5% via Interac e-Transfer
- Buy/sell fee: 0.2%
- Commission: 0.1% Maker Fees and 0.2% Taker Fees
- Spread: 0.79%
- Free crypto deposits
Pros of BitBuy
- One of the best crypto exchanges in Canada
- Fully regulated
- 24/7 customer service support
- Separate trade platforms for both beginner and advanced traders
- 95% of assets are held in cold storage with a 1:1 insurance policy
- OTC Desk for large trades available
- Interac e-Transfer available
Cons of BitBuy
- Only 25 cryptocurrencies are available
- $20,000 minimum for deposits and withdraws by bank transfers
Do We Recommend BitBuy?
- Absolutely!
- Bitbuy is a top-tiered Canadian crypto exchange that caters to customers that want to trade large-cap coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, etc.
- They provide investors with secure coin storage, an easy onboard process, excellent customer service, a slick mobile app, and extremely low trading fees.
Crypto.com – Best Crypto Exchange for Trading Alt-coins in Canada for 2022
Crypto.com (CRO) is an all-in-one trading platform best for buying, trading, storing, and earning interest on your digital currencies. This Canadian exchange allows you to buy crypto across 250+ markets and gives you access to one of the best crypto wallets in Canada.
Crypto.com offers a wide range of crypto assets, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge, XRP, Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, and more. Also, this crypto exchange allows you to trade CRO tokens, the digital currency backed by Crypto.com.
Crypto.com also boasts its own blockchain, CRO Chain, which is crypto.com’s equivalent of the Ethereum blockchain. It allows lots of developers to create decentralized applications for advanced traders to interact with.
Besides making crypto trades, this exchange supports its own credit card and an NFT marketplace.
Customer support
Crypto.com have a comprehensive customer support system. They offer a help page, email, and live chat to help you with your problems. However, their agents cannot be reached by phone.
Security measures
Crypto.com is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) through the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and it is allowed to operate legally in Ontario.
This crypto exchange also stores the majority of its cryptocurrency in a cold storage environment, so it is extremely safe. They have a $250,000 FDIC insurance policy on U.S. dollar balances as well as a 750 million USD of cold storage insurance.
Trading fees
- Debit card and credit card deposits: 2.99% per transaction
- Commission: 0.04% to 0.4% maker fees and 0.1% to 0.4% taker fees
- Bitcoin trading fees: Maximum of 0.4% per slide
- Withdrawal fees: 0.0001 BTC to withdraw Bitcoin
- Minimum deposit: $20
Pros of Crypto.com
- Having a CRO card will unlock additional rewards
- Stake your crypto and earn an attractive APR
- Relatively low trading fees
- Popular and safe exchange to trade crypto
- Trade the top digital currencies
- Lots of benefits if you hold CRO
Cons of Crypto.com
- Higher transaction fees if you don’t have significant amounts of CRO
- Trading fees can be difficult to understand
- Poor customer service
Do We Recommend Crypto.com?
Definitely!
If you are looking for one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges that gives you a wide range of crypto trading assets, Crypto.com is a terrific choice. It is suited for a first-time investor who wants to get into the Canadian crypto market and buy Bitcoin directly with their fiat currencies.
The only real issues this exchange have is its complicated fee structure and lack of phone customer support.
CoinSmart – Most Trust Worthy Crypto Exchange in Canada for 2022
Founded in 2018, CoinSmart is one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most trusted crypto trading platforms. They are also the only publicly-traded cryptocurrency exchange company in Canada so they are subjected to high levels of financial scrutiny and rigorous regulation.
Over the years, they have built up a lot of trust amongst its users and ensured them that it’s an extremely secure company to invest with.
CoinSmart also offers its crypto trading platform on a mobile app. It has several key features including SmartTrade, which makes trading extremely simple.
The app also has advanced security features like fingerprint login and 2-factor authentication to keep the user’s crypto assets protected at all times.
Customer Support
CoinSmart offers excellent 24/7 customer service via phone, live chat and email. Their customer service reps are very helpful and responsive. Their website also includes a “Frequently Asked Questions” page.
Security Measures
CoinSmart is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) by FINTRAC and regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). It is also backed by Luminus Financial, a registered Canadian bank.
This cryptocurrency exchange is a publicly-traded company, it has to go through a financial audit at least once per year.
It maintains 95% of its cryptocurrencies in cold storage that’s offline with BitGo, their wallets are insured for $100 million. CoinSmart is almost completely risk-free.
Trading Fees
- Deposit fee: 0% via Bank Transfer, 6% via Credit Cards, 1.5% via Interact e-Transfer under $2000 and 0% over $2000
- Withdrawal fee: 1% INTERAC e-Transfer ($15 minimum)
- Commission: 0.2% between fiat and crypto, 0.3% between crypto and crypto
- Spread: 0.3%
- Crypto deposit fee: Free
Pros of CoinSmart
- Only publicly-traded crypto exchange in Canada
- Very low trading fees and narrow spreads
- Low commission for trading between two altcoins
- Excellent 24/7 Customer support by phone, live chat, and email
- Advanced trading platform for experienced traders
- Easy to use web platform and CoinSmart app
- Accepts credit & debit card deposits
Cons of CoinSmart
- Only 16 cryptocurrencies are available
- 1.5% for INTERAC e-transfer deposits if less than $2,000
- Crypto withdrawals cost around $0.50 – $10
- Credit & debit card deposits cost up to 6%
- Only accepts Canadian dollars as fiat deposit
Do we recommend CoinSmart?
Highly recommended! Although other exchanges in Canada usually have a few more coins than CoinSmart, it is still considered one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.
As a publicly-traded company, CoinSmart generates a tremendous amount of confidence among its traders. It has excellent customer support, easy to use crypto trading platform, and charges extremely low fees.
Kraken – Best Crypto Exchange for Margin Trading in Canada for 2022
Founded in 2011, Kraken is a crypto exchange and bank based in San Francisco with offices around the world. Kraken caters to both retail and institutional traders with competitive cryptocurrency fees.
Kraken is one very widely supported crypto exchange in the world, its service is available in every country except for Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.
The crypto exchange also provides digital asset price information to the Bloomberg Terminal on Wallstreet, New York.
As one of its stand-out features, Canadian investors are allowed to trade leveraged crypto products. Kraken offers margin accounts with a leverage of up to 1:5 in the cryptos spot market and leverage of up to 1:50 in the cryptos future derivative market.
For example, a $50 stake on Bitcoin with a 1:5 leverage would be amplified to a $250 position and with a 1:50 leverage would be amplified to a $2500 position.
The crypto platform on Kraken is simple and user-friendly. It’s catered to the new traders in the cryptocurrency market and offers them a simplified and approachable trading interface.
Kraken also offers a Pro version of its services that comes with an advanced interface and lower fees.
Customer Service
Kraken offers global customer support to almost every country including Canada. Besides its website, customer service agents can be reached by email, phone, support center, and 24/7 live chat. It also has a strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Security Measures
Although Kraken stated that it keeps 95% of all its crypto deposits in an offline in air-gapped cold storage, it is not covered by any insurance policies.
The exchange is legal to use in Canada, but users are subjected to some restrictions. Canadian crypto users cannot trade Ethereum tokens that have been staked for Ethereum 2.0, and crypto futures trades are banned in Ontario.
Trading Fee:
- Deposit Fee: 0.5% via Online Banking, 3.75% + $0.25 via Debit/Credit Cards
- Withdrawal Fee: $4 – 35
- Commission: 0 – 0.16% Maker fees and 0.1 – 0.26% Taker fees
- Spread: 1.5% for cryptocurrencies and 0.9% for stable coins
- Crypto Deposit Fee: 3.75% + $0.25
Pros of Kraken
- Margin accounts allow users to trade with up to 1:50 leverage
- More than 90 coins supported
- Simple user interface
- Excellent customer service
- Very low fees
Cons of Kraken
- Higher transaction fees when not using Kraken Pro
- Some users report losses due to hacks
- Storage losses are not covered by insurance
- Canadian investors need to comply with the strict regulations of the IRS instead of CRA. Creating an account requires several layers of ID verification.
Do we recommend Kraken?
Sure!
Kraken is a well-established global company and one of the best crypto exchanges that’s available in Canada. It’s an excellent choice if you are willing to overlook some of its security drawbacks.
Krakens interface is friendly to new users and experienced traders also have access to advanced features like margin and futures trading. The margin trading accounts give users the option to trade up to 1:50 leverage for some explosive gains
Just make sure you manage your risk accordingly to avoid a blown trading account.
KuCoin – Best Canadian Crypto Exchange for Day Trading in 2022
Since its inception in 2017, KuCoin has grown to be one of the largest and best Canadian crypto exchanges by trading volume. With over 10 million users, it has established a presence in more than 200 countries. The head office of this crypto exchange is based in Seychelles.
KuCoin offers a whopping 600+ cryptocurrencies spanning many different markets for Canadian investors to spot trade, stake and peer-to-peer (P2P) trade.
The high liquidity with very low trading fees makes this exchange perfect for day traders to buy and sell short-term positions.
This crypto exchange also provides traders with the option of Futures and Margin Trading so users to take up positions with up to 100x leverage. Canadian traders can also stake their digital assets through Pool-X, a KuCoin-backed company, the KuCoin Earn service will pay you interest on your crypto coins.
Users on this crypto exchange have the option of accessing their accounts through an online portal or mobile app, available for both Android and iOS.
However, the interface on the trading platform offers an abundance of features and tools which may cause beginner crypto traders to be overwhelmed.
As one of the industry-standard security features, KuCoin offers “Know Your Customer” (KYC) verifications for its users. Verified users have access to higher withdrawal and trading limits.
Unverified users are also allowed to trade anonymously on this exchange. The only drawback is unverified users have a daily withdrawal limit of 1 BTC or 400 CAD. For the majority of retail traders, this is not a big issue.
Customer Service
KuCoin does not have customer service agents that can be reached by phone, it does have 24/7 customer support available by email. Its website has a helpful FAQ section. Users can also engage in a live chat to get answers to basic questions or submit a request for further assistance.
However, this exchange has poor customer service reviews saying responses are very slow and unhelpful. Users felt as if they are chatting with a bot, not a live agent.
Security Measures
KuCoin is partnered with Onchain Custodian to safeguard the majority of its crypto assets in cold storage. In event of a platform breach like they had in 2020, the losses are covered by insurance policies.
This exchange is legal to use in Canada, although not licensed in Ontario, the services are still accessible to me. Users cannot buy crypto on KuCoin directly with Canadian dollars, it must be done through third-party companies.
KuCoin also uses many security measures, including micro-withdrawal wallets, and industry-level multilayer encryption. dynamic multifactor authentication.
There are also dedicated internal risk control departments which ensure its data operations follow security standards.
Trading Fees:
- Deposit Fee: Free
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.1%
- Commission: 0.0125 – 0.10% Maker fees and 0.03 – 0.10% Taker fees
- Spread: KuCoin does not charge spreads
- Crypto Deposit Fee: Free
Pros of KuCoin
- Best crypto exchange for day trading
- Earn interest on crypto
- Over 600 cryptocurrencies
- Lowest fees on this list
- Unverified Canadian traders can anonymously
Cons of KuCoin
- Poor customer service
- Unlicensed in Ontario so future operations are uncertain
Do we recommend KuCoin?
Yes!
KuCoin is a premier global exchange that has established a strong customer base.
As long as it remains operational in Ontario, it will be the top choice for many experienced Canadian investors who are already invested in the market.
Its extremely high market liquidity and one of the lowest fees on this list, making it one of the best Canadian crypto exchanges for day traders.
So which one of these crypto exchanges should you choose?
There is no definitive answer. Each exchange comes with its own advantages and drawbacks. All investors who come into the crypto market have different levels of experience, backgrounds and trading styles. They also want to achieve different financial goals.
So, it’s natural that certain crypto exchanges in Canada will be appealing to one group of traders while other crypto exchanges will attract others.
Most experienced crypto investors we know usually have their funds diversified into a combination of different centralized, decentralized crypto exchanges as well as cold and hot wallets.
The best advice we can give you is to invest in the market first, explore around and do plenty of due diligence. Eventually, you will find out which investment style suits you the most.
Just make sure to manage your risks and enjoy the process!
