By Mike Szostech Last updated
For those in Canada: Trying to figure out how to buy bitcoin Canada? And frustrated with all of the dead-ends you’re finding that are for USA only people? Here are some ways that Canadians can buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Newton.co – Easiest way to buy bitcoin Canada
For the easiest to use system, we recommend Newton.co. Within as little as 30 minutes, you can have an account set up, verified, and be ready to start sending CAD to their system.
With the ease of e-transfer funding, we recommend Newton for people who are purchasing their first Bitcoin in Canada. Newton does require that the name on the sending account match the Newton account, likely to meet anti-money-laundering rules.
With the simplicity, of course, are some limitations. The biggest is that there is no exchange system for placing orders, you can only manually place a buy or sell at the current price and time. They do allow you to withdraw cryptocurrency to other wallets which makes Newton a better choice than PayPal.
Currently, Newton allows buying and selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Monero, and Bitcoin Cash.
To increase signups, they are currently offering $25 to both you and me if you sign up and buy or sell least $100 CAD worth of cryptocurrencies.
Shakepay – another Canadian way to buy bitcoin Canada!
Shakepay is a Canadian company based in Montreal, and they have both FINTRAC registration and a Revenu Quebec number, so they’re licensed to operate in all Canadian provinces and territories. They’re trying to do things the right way, and they label themselves as the “easiest way for Canadians to buy and sell bitcoin.”
With over 900,000 Canadians served, Shakepay is quickly becoming the top destination to buy bitcoin in Canada.
Shakepay is also working on a bitcoin rewards credit card which will allow you to earn cash back in Bitcoin.
If you sign up with this link, both you and I will earn a $30 bonus if you buy at least $100 CAD of cryptos.
Click here to sign up for Shakepay
Bittrex Global – hundreds of altcoins
Another option to buy bitcoin Canada is the Bittrex Global exchange. For more advanced users, or for buying and selling some of the more obscure altcoins, you’ll need an exchange like Bittrex Global that has hundreds of altcoins listed.
Although funding options are limited (wire transfer and credit card seems to only allow US dollars), if you buy BTC somewhere else like Netwon, than you can transfer it to Bittrex to exchange for the altcoins you want.
Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange
Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges still around – and we say still because there have been some that have been hacked, shut-down, and otherwise gone out of business (especially Canadian specific crypto-exchanges like ezBTC and QuadrigaCX).
Kraken allows Canadians to wire transfer funds and then buy bitcoin right on their exchange. While there is no official fee by Kraken listed for wire fund deposits, wire transfers typically cost $40-$50 to send, and there could be another $12.50 charge deducted by Kraken’s bank when it receives the funds.
Kraken has recently started funding with Interac e-Transfer. Amount of funds are limited by e-Transfer limits (which currently are $3000 per transfer, with $10,000 per day and $25,000 per week limits). There is a $30 deposit fee for each $3000 transfer (so 1% deposit fee).
Once the BTC is purchased, you can move it to cold storage or a different exchange as you see fit.
Kraken Staking also has over 8 of the top crypto assets that you can stake right on the platform. It’s simple one-click way to earn some extra income from your crypto holdings.
Coinbase – Canada friendly exchange
Coinbase has been around for a long time, and comes with a solid track record of fulfilling its promises and protecting your information.
Coinbase supports Canada (as well as more than 100 other countries). Currently, Canadians looking to buy bitcoin can create an account, and then using either a credit card to buy Bitcoin, or a PayPal account to sell, and convert cryptocurrencies.
Approximately 23 cryptocurrencies are currently supported by Coinbase for Canada, which means you can invest in a number of top blockchain products without having to sign up on more than one cryptocurrency exchange.
Coinbase is trying to stay ahead of all regulations to make sure that you don’t end up unable to access your Bitcoin. Starting April 4, 2022, Coinbase announced that sending crypto worth more than $1000 CAD triggers a legal requirement to provide details on the recipient.
Mind the fees
If you decide to pay with your credit card to buy bitcoin and you are in Canada, beware that your credit card company may charge you a cash advance fee – which can be $25 to $50.
Already a CoinBase member from Canada? Earn free crypto
If you already have a CoinBase account, you can earn up to $161 CDN just by watching some short videos and learning about cryptocurrencies. Click here to earn free XLM
Deposit Fiat into Binance with Silvergate
In March 2021, Binance announced Fiat deposits and withdrawals were now available for Canadian users. Although they only accept USD deposits, money can be sent to Binance using a SWIFT transfer.
USD are automatically converted to BUSD (Binance USD stablecoin) when received by Binance, and deposits are often completed on the same day if sent early in the day.
Currently, fees from Binance are 10 USD for deposits and 30 SUD for SWIFT withdrawals.
Click here to visit Binance.com
Buy Bitcoin with Paypal
In early 2021, Paypal started offering the ability to purchase and sell Bitcoin on the Paypal platform. Ethereum and some other major cryptocurrencies are also being added.
However, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can not be withdrawn – they can only be sold back to PayPal. PayPal is planning to allow more functionality in the near future.
CoinSquare could be another option
Although we don’t have any experience with CoinSquare, they’ve been around for at least 3 years as we came across them back in 2020. CoinSquare has recently become the first registered crypto Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC) marketplace in Canada.
IIROC is a self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers and trading activity in Canada’s debt and equity markets – notice the important ‘self regulated’. We aren’t quite sure what that means, but CoinSquare is also registered with Fintrac as a foreign exchange dealer dealing in virtual currencies.
All of this lends to the seriousness and careful ways that CoinSquare is conducting their business.
We haven’t used CoinSquare for buying bitcoin in Canada, but we would be willing to give it a try based on these registrations.