Coinbase Canada is one of the best crypto exchanges in Canada and 100+ other countries. It is reputed for its user-friendly interface, robust security, and wide selection of crypto assets, making it one of the best and easiest places to trade crypto.
The Coinbase exchange allows users to buy, sell, store, and manage 240+ cryptocurrencies. Coinbase also offers a wide selection of other crypto services, including NFT trading, crypto staking, crypto card, a self-hosted crypto wallet, access to web3 dApps, and more.
This Coinbase Canada review covers how Coinbase works, its top features, supported cryptocurrencies, Coinbase fees, Coinbase alternatives in Canada, and more.
How Does Coinbase Work
Coinbase works pretty much like other crypto exchanges. The platform is accessible via its web interfaces or the Coinbase mobile app.
To trade on the exchange, you’ll first need to create an account, verify your identity, and then deposit funds into your Coinbase Wallet.
Once you complete KYC verification, you can add funds to your Coinbase Canada account via Interac e-Transfer, debit card, or PayPal.
Interac e-transfer takes only about 5 minutes, while debit card crypto purchases are instant. With PayPal, it may take one business day.
Once you’ve money in your account, browse Coinbase crypto offerings and buy coins of your choice.
Coinbase Canada Crypto Assets
Coinbase offers a wide selection of about 245+ cryptocurrencies, and you’ll find both popular and less-known cryptocurrencies listed on the platform.
Top cryptocurrencies on Coinbase include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, The Graph, AMP, SHPING, NEAR, Ripple, DOGE, BNB, Tether, TRON, Polygon, and more. You can easily find the crypto coin you want to buy using the asset search bar at the top.
Coinbase Canada Fees
Coinbase Canada fees are some of the highest in the Canadian crypto space. Fees on the basic Coinbase platform, which is great for beginners, range from $0.99-$2.99 for orders of $10-$200.
Orders of $200 and above attract a percentage fee of 1.49%, and 3.99% when buying crypto with a debit card.
Coinbase applies a spread of 0.5% on buy/sell orders when using the basic “Buy/Sell” platform.
Coinbase Pro Fees
Fees on Coinbase Advanced Trade, which offers advanced charting, order types, APIs, and other powerful tools to experienced traders, are a bit lower.
Coinbase Advanced trading fees follow a maker-taker model and are determined based on your monthly trading volume.
Maker fees start at 0.4% and decrease to 0%, while taker fees start at 0.6% and decrease to 0.05% as your trading volume increases from $10K-$400M+
To put Coinbase’s simple trade and advanced trade fees into perspective, let’s buy $1,000 worth of Bitcoin from each platform.
Simple trade | Advance Trade | |
Purchase amount | $1,000 | $1,000 |
Rate | 1.49%+0.5% spread | 0.6% |
Fee paid | $14.9+ $5= $19.9 | $6 |
You can avoid the expensive simple trade fees by placing orders on the Advanced Trade platform. If you are a high-volume trader, you’ll even pay lower fees.
Coinbase Canada Top Features
Coinbase offers many amazing crypto trading features. The top ones include:
Offers Easy To Use Trading Platforms
Coinbase offers both simple and advanced trading platforms to accommodate both beginners and experienced trades. They include:
Coinbase Simple
This is an intuitive, beginner-friendly interface that allows newbies to quickly and easily search, buy, sell, and convert crypto with a single click. The downside is you’ll have to contend with the high fees charged on this basic platform.
Coinbase Advanced
Coinbance Advanced is built for seasoned crypto traders. It offers advanced charting, Tradingview tools, order book visibility, APIs, and multiple order types to allow pros to carry out in-depth market analysis and execute their trading strategies.
It also has low maker-taker fees levied based on your 30-day trading volume, making it great for high-volume traders.
Coinbase crypto app
Coinbase offers a highly-rated, user-friendly mobile app that mirrors the functionality of the web platform to allow you to buy, sell, trade, and monitor your wallet and market trends anytime, anywhere.
Coinbase Crypto Staking To Earn Rewards
Coinbase Earn is a crypto staking service that allows you to earn rewards of up to 10% or more and grow your crypto by holding idle assets.
Currently, there are about 64 staking assets listed on Coinbase, including Rune, SNX, ZIL, KAVA, USDC, ETH, SOL, ADA, ATOM, DOT, AVAX, XTZ, TRX, and more.
You’ll pay staking commissions of 25%-35% on your staking rewards.
Coinbase Crypto Card
Coinbase offers a Visa debit crypto card to allow you to spend your crypto on everyday purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. You can shop with 40M+ merchants worldwide and earn crypto rewards. You can also withdraw cash from ATMs.
Coinbase Wallet App
Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody crypto wallet separate from the custodial Coinbase crypto wallet, and you don’t need a Coinbase account to use it.
It’s free to use and supports hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrencies and NFTs so that you can have full control over your digital assets in one place.
You can also explore DeFi, dApps, NFTs, staking, and trading of different cryptocurrencies via decentralized exchanges right from your wallets.
Coinbase NFT Marketplace
Coinbase offers a Web 3 platform where you can explore, buy, and sell NFTs, or get NFT drops. The platform lists different kinds of NFTs, including art, music, sports, collectibles, fashion, photography, trading cards, and trending NFTs, and is a great place to find NFTs below $30 or $100.
Lots of Educational Content
Coinbase has a resourceful library of educational content. You’ll find well-researched articles and tutorials on various blockchain topics, including crypto basics, web 3, market trends, and more.
And the good part is that Coinbase ties its educational content to the Coinbase Earn program to help you earn free crypto.
All you need to do is learn about how certain cryptocurrencies work and take quizzes to test your knowledge. You then receive a small amount of that cryptocurrency to start investing.
Coinbase Crypto-backed Loans
Though Coinbase seems to have suspended its crypto loan services, they used to allow users to borrow crypto-backed loans up to $1M at 8.7% APR, using their BTC as collateral.
You could borrow up to 40% of the value of your BTC and have money deposited to your PayPal or bank account via ACH transfer.
Keep an eye on this service, as Coinbase may resume it in the future.
Access to Web3 dApps
You can access more than 1,200 web dApps on Coinbase using a crypto wallet or the Coinbase mobile app. You can interact with various decentralized applications, including social, Collect, Swap, Earn, and Play dApps.
Popular dApps listed on Coinbase include Sartgate, Galxe, Maverick Protocal, 0X Protocal, GoodDollar, Trader Joe, OpenSea, XY Finance, and more.
Get exclusive perks with Coinbase One
Coinbase One is a premium service that offers exclusive perks to eligible users. For $29.99/ month you enjoy zero trading fees on hundreds of assets, earn boosted staking rewards, and get priority customer support.
Other perks include pre-filled tax forms, sweepstakes with exclusive prices, and access to limited-time partner deals.
You can get in with a 30-day free trial.
Is Coinbase Canada Legit and Safe?
Yes, Coinbase Canada is a legit and safe crypto exchange. First, Coinbase has been operating in Canada as a FINTRAC-registered MSB. And in March 2023, Coinbase signed an enhanced Pre-Registration Undertaking(PRU) with the OSC, and it’s among the crypto exchanges that have satisfied the CSA registration criteria.
So, Coinbase is committed to working with Canadian regulators to chart a path to compliance and full registration. On August 14, Coinbase announced its official launch in Canada with multiple goodies for Canadians, including free Interac e-transfers, access to Coinbase One membership, and more.
Plus, Coinbase employs robust security measures to protect user funds, including 98% cold storage of assets, mandatory 2FA, withdrawal address whitelisting, maintaining crime insurance, and holding USD balances in custodial accounts at FDIC-insured US banks.
Based on the above information, one can say that Coinbase Canada is a safe and legit Crypto exchange.
Pros of Coinbase
- Offers a wide selection of 240+ cryptocurrencies
- Offers both simple and advanced trading interfaces
- Lots of educational content to learn and earn free crypto
- Coinbase app to trade and manage your wallet on the go
- Coinbase Card to spend your crypto and earn rewards
Cons of Coinbase
- Complex and expensive fee structure on the basic platform
- You need to be a high-volume trader to unlock lower fees on Coinbase Advanced
Coinbase Alternatives in Canada
If Coinbase Canada doesn’t meet your crypto trading needs, below are a few Coinbase alternatives that you can look into.
Platform | Coins Supported | Trading Fees |
CoinSmart (Bitbuy) | 45+ | 0.2%-2% |
Wealthsimple Crypto | 55+ | 1.5%-2% |
VirgoCX | 60+ | 0.5% -2.5% |
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is a volatile and speculative investment. If you decide to invest, we recommend you do your own research and only commit funds you can afford to lose.
Coinbase review
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Ease of use
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Trading fees
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Deposits and withdrawals
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Coin selection
Overall
Summary
Coinbase is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. and Canada. This Coinbase Canada review covers how it works, its fees, and whether it is legit.
Pros
- Regulated platform
- Good coin selection
- One of the largest crypto platforms
Cons
- Expensive trading fees
Coinbase has a unfair policies. I am living and working in Canada for years but since I am originally from Iran, they closed my account without any reason while I already sent them all documents they asked for. Please be careful before opening any account with them. This is their last email:
After careful review of your account, we regret to inform you that we can no longer provide you access to our services and we will need to close your account. Unfortunately we cannot provide any additional information at this time.