CoinSmart or CoinSquare: Two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada.
The short answer is that each investor needs to do their own research and decide for themselves. Make an educated choice based on individual investment needs, research, and the usability of the exchange interface.
This review of the two exchanges will help you to make a decision. Both exchanges have been around for a similar length of time and operate primarily in Canada.
In this comparative review, we consider the cryptocurrencies sold on the exchange, methods of payment, security, and propriety services.
CoinSmart
Smart Trade
SmartTrade is a proprietary service that allows direct trading between any cryptocurrency on the exchange, as well as CAD. This means that traders can trade between coins without the need to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum first. Limited traded pairs are a common practice on many exchanges. SmartTrade is much more flexible.
They also offer advanced trading options. These features include limit orders, stop loss and real-time charting. Users can also make customized orders with the order book function.
Smart Guarantee
The SmartGuarantee is one of the greatest perks that is CoinSmart offers, which is unique to them. SmartGuarantee is a service that users can adopt that ensure that:
- Deposits are credited to your account the same day they are received.
- Fiat withdrawal are processed within 5 business days.
- Same day account verification processing.
Security and Coin Storage
They also use cold storage for the vast majority of their holdings. Less than 5% of CoinSmart’s cryptocurrency is kept on the exchange. Instead, cryptocurrencies are stored offline. Additionally, CoinSmart is backed by two Canadian banks to assist in all cryptocurrency transactions. That means that CoinSmart does not move your money outside of Canada.
Keeping your cryptocurrency in Canada is very important, particularly for Canadian users. Another reason this is beneficial to traders is that Canada has relatively clear and progressive regulations around digital currency. This means that regulations are less likely to change abruptly. And, if you keep cryptocurrency on an exchange with less reliable laws and regulations, there is the chance that you will lose access to those funds.
CoinSmart accepts the following methods of funding:
- Bank draft
- Interac e-Transfer
- Interac Online
- Wire transfer
- Flexepin
- Credit cards
Fees
- Interac e-Transfer: 0% for transactions $2000 and over, 1.5% fee for $100-$1999.
- Bank Wire: 0%, with a $10,000 minimum.
- Bank Draft: 0%, with a $500 minimum.
- Credit/Debit Cards: 6%, with $100 minimum.
Trading Fees
- 20% for a single trade
- 40% for a double trade
Withdrawal Fees
- 1% for all methods offered
Cryptocurrencies Sold on CoinSmart:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Ripple
- Bitcoin Cash
- EOS
- NEO
- Stellar
- Cardano
CoinSquare
This Canadian based exchange follows the necessary Canadian anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) compliance, and they are registered with FINTRAC. And, users can fund their accounts with both CAD and USD.
CoinSquare accepts the following methods of funding:
- Bank draft
- Flexepin
- Interac e-Transfer
- Interac Online
- Money order
- Wire transfer
Withdrawal Fees: from 1-2% depending on your method.
Fees:
- Bit Markets: Maker 0.1% and Taker 0.2% (Maker Taker fees explained)
- QuickTrade:
o Single 0.2% -Single conversion is when one of the coins bought or sold is BTC.
o Double 0.4% -Double conversion is when neither of the coins is BTC..
As for security, CoinSquare uses 2FA Authentication, SSL encryption, and the vast majority of their funds, approximately 95%, are stored with cold storage. SSL certificates are a kind of encryption that uses a key pair; you need both a public and a private key. To access any information, both keys work together to create incredibly secure encryption. SSL is what online banks use. And cold storage means that CoinSquare stores its cryptocurrency offline so that it is nearly impossible to attack or suffer from theft.
Digital Currencies sold on CoinSquare
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash ABC
- Bitcoin SV
- Dash
- Dogecoin
- Ethereum
- Ethereum Classic
- Litecoin
- Ripple XRP
- Stellar Lumens
Which Exchange Will It Be?
CoinSmart and CoinSquare offer many similar products, that exceed most industry standards. CoinSmart keeps its money in Canada and has never had any kind of security breach. Although CoinSquare has never been attacked or a victim of theft. In 2020, CoinSquare reportedly suffered internal personal issues that lead to an information leak.
Where CoinSmart comes out on top is because overall:
- CoinSmart has lower fees. And while they appear marginal, 1% of $10 000 is $100, and 2% is $200.
- SmartGuarantee is available to all clients, which means that you do not have to be trading high volumes of cryptocurrency to access quality services. Most exchanges hold perks such as this for more lucrative traders.
This is a sponsored press release. The publication on this page should not be viewed as an endorsement by CoinGuides.org. CoinGuides is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused and we are not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the content on this page. We highly recommend all readers to conduct their own research before investing in the company, products or services mentioned in the above article.
