Coinsquare exchange review
Cryptocurrencies:
Fees:
Security system:
Deposit methods:
Cryptocurrencies
Coinsquare offers over 40 cryptos, including some of the biggest ones on the market such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Polygon.
| Bitcoin (BTC) | Available |
| Bitcoin Cash (BCH) | Available |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Available |
| Ripple (XRP) | Available |
| Solana (SOL) | Available |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | Available |
| Polkadot (DOT) | Available |
| Polygon (MATIC) | Available |
| Cardano (ADA) | Available |
| Litecoin (LTC) | Available |
| Tether (USDT) | Unavailable |
In contrast, Wirex has over 250 cryptos on its platform, while Bitstamp lists more than 80. However, compared to its competitors, Coinsquare offers a Wealth service with large liquidity pools and a personal account manager for high-volume traders.
Payment methods
You can deposit and withdraw in CAD. The Interac payment method has a $10,000 daily deposit limit and $2,000 daily withdrawal limit. Bank transfer has no deposit limits and a $100,000 daily withdrawal limit, while wire transfer has no limits.
Deposit limits
| Payment method | Limits |
|---|---|
| Interac daily limit (buying in FIAT) | $10,000 requires KYC verification, ID check and a selfie |
| Bank transfer daily limit (buying in FIAT) | No limits |
| Wire transfer daily limit (buying in FIAT) | No limits |
Withdrawal limits
| Payment method | Limits |
|---|---|
| Interac daily withdrawal limit | $2,000 requires KYC verification, ID check and a selfie |
| Bank transfer daily withdrawal limit | $100,000 requires KYC verification, ID check and a selfie |
| Wire transfer daily withdrawal limit | No limits |
Coinsmart requires KYC verification to buy, sell and trade cryptos and the company asks you for a selfie, proof of identity, which can be a drivers licence, government-issued ID or passport, as well as proof of address, which can be a utility bill, correspondence from a government department or bank account statement.
On the other hand, Bitstamp requires KYC checks to buy, sell and trade cryptos and the company asks you for a selfie, proof of identity, which can be a drivers license, government-issued ID or passport and proof of residential address, which can be a utility bill, correspondence from a government department or bank account statement. In addition, you need to provide information such as country of birth, tax residency as well as a Proof of Funds (POF) document such as an annual income statement.
CashtoCode eVoucher
You can’t fund your account with a CashtoCode eVoucher as this isn’t offered at Coinsquare.
Trading fees
There are no deposit fees but you need to pay trading fees that are based on a maker/taker price structure, a 1.5% withdrawal fee for bank transfer and wire transfer and differing rates of withdrawal fees for over 40 listed cryptos.
| Trading volume | Taker fee | Maker fee |
|---|---|---|
| Under $10,000 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| $10,000-$25,000 | 0.4% | 0.35% |
| $25,000-$50,000 | 0.35% | 0.35% |
| $50,000-$100,000 | 0.25% | 0.17% |
| $100,000-$250,000 | 0.25% | 0.15% |
| $250,000-$1,000,000 | 0.2% | 0.12% |
| $1,000,000-$5,000,000 | 0.17% | 0.1% |
| $5,000,000-$20,000,000 | 0.15% | 0.08% |
| $20,000,000+ | 0.14% | 0.05% |
Staking
Coinsquare doesn’t offer a staking program.
Is Coinsquare exchange safe?
As a regulated Over-the-Counter (OTC) exchange, Coinsquare has been in operation since 2014 and amassed over 500,000 users. The company has limited security measures in place that offer a relatively low level of security for users, from financial audits by an IIROC-approved accounting firm to holding 100% of customers' assets in external cold storage systems via Coinbase Custody and Tetra Trust.
A very low percentage of users (2%) rate Coinsquare with five stars on Trustpilot, which is a low indicator of safety. In addition, the company faced controversy in June 2020 for a phishing data breach incident that led to 5,000 customers' email addresses being leaked, as well as a data breach incident in November 2022 which saw an undisclosed number of email addresses, residential addresses and phone numbers hacked.
| Trustpilot | 1 star |
The most common issues raised are related to deposit, withdrawal and customer service concerns.
Security
Coinsquare has limited number of security measures in place such as adherence with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines, digital assets are insured against insolvency with the Canadian Investment Protection Fund, holding 100% of customers' assets in external cold storage systems via Coinbase Custody and Tetra Trust, registered with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada as an Investment Dealer and financial audits by an IIROC-approved accounting firm.
| Safe coins storage | 100% deposits are held in external cold storage systems via Coinbase Custody and Tetra Trust. |
| Two-factor authentication | Two-factor authentication via SMS verification is required at Coinsquare. |
| Information security | Unknown |
| Platform security | Unknown |
| Network security | Unknown |
In contrast, Gemini has advanced security measures in place such as annual third-party penetration tests, running a private bug bounty program, a coordinated disclosure program related to hacking research and a digital multi-signature scheme. The company is secured by PCI DSS, has SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications and is regulated by the NY Department of Financial Services, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In addition, Gemini maintains $100 million insurance coverage for the digital assets it holds on behalf of customers.
Bitbuy has a range of security measures in place such as servers secured across multiple cloud providers that are all ISO, SOC and FIPS 140-2 compliant, monthly network audits, holding 97% of customers' assets offline in geographically distributed cold storage systems, end-to-end data encryption, all customer funds are backed 1:1 in custody, registrations with Ontario Securities Commission and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a Money Service Business (MSB). In addition, Bitbuy maintains third-party insurance coverage for the digital assets it holds on behalf of customers.
How to start trading at Coinsquare exchange?
Registration
You need to create an account in order to register with Coinsquare this can be done by:
- Visiting the homepage and inputting your full name, email address and country of residence so you can create a password and start the process.
- You then need to verify your email address.
- After verifying your email address, you need to confirm that you’ve read the Privacy Policy.
- You then have to enter your phone number to receive an SMS verification text message.
- After verifying your phone number, you have to complete KYC verification.
- Upon successful registration and passing verification, access to all functions of the site including higher limits are available to you.
KYC
After filling in your account details, you need to go through multi-step KYC verification. This process is required for anyone who wants to buy, sell or exchange cryptos on the platform. Passing KYC checks also unlocks functionalities such as more order types via the advanced trade feature or the ability to access large liquidity pools through the Coinsquare Wealth service.
You must provide a clear and visible picture of the front and back side of your documents such as proof of address and passport. In addition, you need to submit a selfie.
Customer support
Coinsquare offers a Help Center displaying FAQs, 24/7 live chat, email address but no phone support.
| Live chat | Available |
| Phone support | Unavailable |
| support@coinsquare.com | |
| FAQs | Available |
Unlike most other crypto exchanges, Coinsquare doesn’t use a ticketing system where users can fill in an online form with a subject, description and optional attachment in order to contact the company. For users who are dealing with emergency account issues, there’s no direct way to speak with customer service via the phone.
Conclusion
Coinsquare is recommended to users who are looking for an IIROC-registered exchange that’s insured against insolvency with the Canadian Investment Protection Fund and also offers a Wealth service with large liquidity pools and a personal account manager. However, there are a low number of cryptos available to trade, no staking program, limited security measures that resulted in two large-scale hacks, no phone support and only three payment method options that don’t include credit or debit cards.
But if you don’t mind this, Coinsquare can still be a great option if you’re looking for an advanced trade feature with free charting tools, live market prices and multiple order types like market, limit, stop limit and auction modes, which is a major differentiating factor and unique selling point (USP) for the platform. The platform could improve its service by introducing phone support or increasing the available range of payment methods and cryptos that can be traded.
Alternatives of Coinsquare
- Low trading fees
- Staking program
- Tradeview feature
- Top-rated mobile app
- Phone support available
- Modern interface
- Low number of cryptos
- Limited number of payment methods
- VISA debit card with spending rewards in crypto
- Staking program available for 22 different cryptos
- Online Crypto.com University with educational resources for traders
- Trading fee discounts
- Top-rated mobile app
- High fees unless you use CRO in trades
- Limited payment method options
- No customer phone support
- Low trading fees
- Staking program
- NDAX Wealth Desk feature
- Live chat and phone support
- Advanced security measures
- No deposit or withdrawal limits
- Learn Centre with free educational resources for traders
- Low number of cryptos available to trade
- Only five cryptos in the staking program
- Credit or debit cards not accepted
Bitstamp has advanced security measures in place such as holding 95% of crypto in securely stored offline in bank-grade Class III vaults, a Bitstamp Board Risk and Audit Committee and 50 licences globally, including a Money Service Business (MSB) licence from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and a MSB licence from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The company maintains third-party insurance coverage for the digital assets it holds on behalf of customers via Bitgo and offers a Tradeview feature with price charts and technical indicators such as Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs).
Gemini has advanced security measures in place such as annual third-party penetration tests, running a private bug bounty program, a coordinated disclosure program related to hacking research and a digital multi-signature scheme. The company is secured by PCI DSS, has SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001 certifications and maintains $100 million insurance coverage for the digital assets it holds on behalf of customers. In addition, Gemini offers an ActiveTrader feature where you can find charting tools, crypto derivatives contracts and multiple order types.
NDAX has advanced security measures in place such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallet technology, data servers that are monitored 24/7 with video cameras, registrations with Revenue Quebec and FINTRAC as a Money Service Business, adherence with Canada’s Terrorist Financing Act and a highly coveted SOC II certification. The company maintains $13 million insurance coverage for the digital assets it holds on behalf of customers and also offers a Wealth Desk feature with large liquidity pools for high-volume traders.
FAQs
Yes, because Coinsquare has been in operation since 2014, amassing over 500,000 users and has processed over $8 billion trades to date.
Unlike most other crypto exchanges, Coinsquare doesn’t accept credit or debit cards for deposits or withdrawals.
Coinsquare offers an email address and 24/7 live chat but no phone support.
Yes, all digital assets are insured against insolvency with the Canadian Investment Protection Fund (CIPF).
The Canadian Investor Protection Fund is an insurance program established by provincial regulators across Canada. Coinsquare accounts are covered for up to $1 million in the event of insolvency.
To be eligible, you must have traded at least $50,000 within a 12 month period.
Specification: Coinsquare exchange review
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