So what does this new-comer have over the other Canadian exchanges? Well, let’s find out. We’ll go over all the security aspects Coinsmart has to offer, trading fees, deposit and withdraw methods, and everything else you need to know to decide if Coinsmart is a worthy exchange for you to buy digital assets on.
How to use Coinsmart
Sign up
- Set up your account here.
- Once you have made an account, you will get prompted to do Know Your Customer(KYC). They have an instant method using Equifax’s system and you’d be set in a few minutes.
- Remember to set up 2 Factor Authentication as well to ensure hackers don’t get into your account.
- Now you’re ready to go!
Buy & sell crypto on Coinsmart.
- Deposit CAD into your account directly from your Bank account.
- If you want to deposit cryptocurrency, go into your wallet and grab your address to send your crypto into.
- Head over to the trading area and purchase/sell the cryptocurrencies you would like.
- If you need to withdraw, simply go to your account and click withdraw!
Is Coinsmart Safe?
When trading and investing in cryptocurrencies, safety is one of the biggest factors most Canadian investors would want to know. As exchanges are high priority targets for hackers, leaving our coins in a safe exchange will bring that peace of mind. So how does Coinsmart fare?
Coinsmart is a safe exchange. Here’s why…
Coinsmart is formally registered with FINTRAC – the Canadian government body responsible for financial regulation. And you don’t need to trust and verify our word for it as you can find Coinsmart’s Money Service Business(MSB) license number publicly.
As for storing their coins, like most other reputable exchanges, Coinsmart does store the majority in their cold wallets and only have a small portion in their hot wallets.
And because Coinsmart is licensed, they also perform Know Your Customer so no one is anonymous when using their exchange. To make it even safer, Coinsmart enlists the service of Chainalysis – an on-chain data analysis company who can track all the transactions and analyze it on-chain.
Coinsmart is also backed by Luminus Financial and DC Bank when storing any CAD as these banks are well established in Canada.
Coinsmart.com Review and Fees Breakdown
Fiat currencies accepted:
Coinsmart only accepts Canadian Dollars.
Cryptocurrencies accepted:
Coinsmart currently accepts ten cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Eos, Neo, Stellar and Cardano.
They may list more coins in the future.
Coinsmart’s fees
Coinsmart offers four methods of depositing CAD. Interac e-transfer, Bank wire, Bank Draft and Credit/Debit cards. Each method has its own minimum deposit amount and fee.
The most popular method is using Interac e-transfer and Coinsmart offers 0% deposit fees for any deposits above $2000. If you deposit less, then the fee is 1.5%.
Bank Wire and Bank Draft have no deposit fees but Bank Wire has a minimum deposit of $10,000 and Draft has a minimum of $500 deposit.
All of these methods will clear into your Coinsmart account within 1 business day.
Withdraw fees of CAD are 1% and will take 1-5 business days to process and clear into your bank account.
Cryptocurrency withdrawal fees depend on the cryptocurrency but bitcoin has a 0.0005 BTC fee – which equates to $11 as of this article.
Coinsmart’s trading fees have two categories – Single trade fees and Double trade fees.
What Single Trade fees mean is when you go from CAD to bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency trades involving bitcoin. So this type of trade will incur a 0.2% fee.
A Double Trade is when you trade between two different cryptocurrencies which neither one includes bitcoin. Then your trading fee is 0.4% fee.
Deposit and Withdrawal methods:
The four deposit methods is:
Interac e-transfer – Minimum deposit is $100
Bank Wire – Minimum deposit is $10,000
Bank Draft – Minimum deposit is $500
Credit/Debit Cards – Minimum deposit is $100
You can withdraw with Electronic Fund Transfer and Bank Wire.
Security features:
Coinsmart has a Know Your Customer process and they store the majority of their cryptocurrencies offline in a cold wallet so fewer funds are vulnerable.
They also have two-factor authentication (2FA) so hackers can’t easily impersonate you. In fact, Coinsmart really believes in the security of their users, they even have a Password Generator where you can randomly generate passwords of up to 28 characters long with all sorts of random symbols and capital letters to ensure a super secure passwork.
Coinsmart also has a “Smart Guarantee” for users to ensure your funds are always processed within 1 business day and account verifications are processes within the same day.
Regulation compliance:
Coinsmart is compliant with FINTRAC and their license number is M18755033.
Customer service:
Coinsmart’s customer support is excellent as they have all sorts of ways to reach them 24/7. You can reach them by phone at 855-390-2646 from 9 am to 6 pm.
And if you prefer emailing, you can also email their support email or they have a handy FAQ section where you may find answers to your problems.
Mobile functionality/mobile app:
Coinsmart currently does not have a mobile application.
History of Coinsmart
Coinsmart was founded in July 2018 and is based in Toronto by Justin Hartzman and Jeremy Kovan. Their mission is to make cryptocurrency investing as simple as possible for everyone.
The Verdict on Coinsmart
While Coinsmart is certainly newer than other Canadian exchanges, Coinsmart does do many things right. They are using the best practices in security and partnering up with credible Canadian banks to handle user funds. Coinsmart also has fair deposit and withdrawal fees compared to the other exchanges.
Their Smart Guarantee makes it attractive to deposit on Coinsmart because you are sure to have your funds within 1 business day – so you don’t miss out on your target investing prices.
However, in terms of trading fees, Coinsmart is definitely on the higher end of the spectrum as 0.2% is incurred with every trade. But what’s worse is 0.4% fees for trades that do not include bitcoin.
Overall Coinsmart is a safe and great exchange for Canadian investors to buy and sell bitcoin.