What is Coinsquare?
Coinsquare is a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, that has quickly grown into one of Canada’s biggest players in the space. Focused on security, low fees, and customer service, Coinsquare provides Canadians a safe and easy way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies online. Coinsquare is a ‘fiat gateway’, meaning you can deposit Canadian dollars directly onto their website, to be exchanged for digital currency.
Pros
+ Clean interface and modern trading platform
+ Can support larger deposits/withdrawals and orders ($25,000+), with their ‘Coinsquare Wealth’ program
+ Safe to use, they’ve never lost a single dollar or digital currency coin
+ Easy-to-use mobile apps for iPhone and Android
Cons
– Fees are slightly higher than the competition (Quadriga/BitBuy)
– 7 day withholding period after your deposit
– Trading platform may be too basic for advanced traders
Supported Cryptocurrencies
Coinsquare supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dash (DASH), and Dogecoin (DOGE). The exchange allows trading in Canadian dollars, US dollars, and Euros.
Security
One of Coinsquare’s biggest strengths is the security of their exchange, which is built on the same technology as the New York Stock Exchange. They use a proprietary system that has been both stress tested and DDoS tested. They are SSL enabled, and have the option to enable two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your account. With a 95% cold storage policy on all digital currency and managing their ledger around 2,346 times per day, they have never lost a single coin. It is safe to say that Coinsquare is one of the most secure exchanges out there.
Trading Platform
Coinsquare’s web-based exchange platform has a very clean and modern interface, making it very straightforward to operate. For new traders, it is simple to execute your first trades using their ‘Quick Trade’ function. For more experienced traders, Coinsquare’s exchange might be a little too basic, only offering ‘Market’ and ‘Limit’ buys/sells in their ‘Advanced Trade’ section. The ‘Advanced Trade’ section also includes an order book, and a chart of the price movements of the cryptocurrencies available for trading, however, it is only included for informative purpose and there are no technical analysis or additional charting tools. On top of their web-based exchange platform, Coinsquare has a mobile app that is available for both iPhone and Android. The app has mixed reviews (3.3/5 on iPhone and 2.7/5 on Android), and only offers their ‘Quick Trade’ function. We found it did it’s job just fine if you we’re looking to make small trades or checking the market on the go. For larger sized trades or deposits/withdrawals, we recommend using the web-based exchange platform.
One of Coinsquare’s unique features is an exclusive service they run called ‘Coinsquare Wealth’. Targeting high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions, ‘Coinsquare Wealth’ offers lower fees, priority account support, and unrivalled security for their elite customers. There are 3 tiers of ‘Coinsquare Wealth’, the lowest for orders starting at $25,000 CAD, and highest for orders starting at $250,000 CAD. If you are a serious investor, ‘Coinsquare Wealth’ is definitely worth checking out.
Deposit/Withdrawal Options and Fees
Coinsquare has many options for depositing Canadian dollars onto their site. A popular way of moving money around for Canadians, Interac e-Transfer, is their recommended option for deposits, although they can take up to 5 days to be processed. They are also one of the few Canadian exchanges that allows deposits by credit cards, which are processed instantly but come with a hefty 10% deposit fee.One of our biggest gripes against Coinsquare is that all accounts are subject to a 7 day withholding period. Once your account gets credited you may trade immediately, however you must wait 7 days to withdraw (dollars and/or crypto) until the withholding period is over. A lot can change in 7 days in the crypto world, and Coinsquare users have vented their frustrations about the withholding period online on websites like Redditand Twitter. That being said, Coinsquare does inform you of the withholding period before you deposit, and it is removed after a minimum of 5 completed e-transfers and $3000 of cumulative volume.The withdrawal process on Coinsquare is fairly straightforward. Direct bank deposits are available for withdrawals between $100 and $10,000. For withdrawals greater than $10,000, wire transfers are available. Each option has a 2% withdrawal fee, and takes 1-9 days to process. Please note this is separate from their ‘Coinsquare Wealth’ which has lower fees and prioritized withdrawals.The majority of the deposit fees on Coinsquare start at 2.5%. The lowest fee you can find would be 0.5%, for a wire transfer, although that has a minimum deposit of $10,000. The highest fee you can find would be a 10%, for a credit card transaction, which we definitely don’t recommend.Coinsquare Deposit FeesOverall, the deposit and withdrawal fees on on Coinsquare are slightly higher than the other Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges. For example, they charge a 2.5% fee for Interac e-Transfers deposits, while Quadriga charges 1.5%, and BitBuy charges 2.0%. This may seem like a small amount, but it can definitely add up to a significant amount of money gained or lost over time.
The trading fees at Coinsquare follow the Maker/Taker pricing model for spot trading. The Maker fee is 0.1% while the Taker fee is 0.2%. These fees are in-line with other big cryptocurrency exchanges. Their ‘Quick Trade’ feature has slightly higher fees, which can go as high as 0.4%. depending on the cryptocurrency being traded.
Conclusion
Overall, Coinsquare is one of the most polished Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges out there. Where it really shines, is in it’s ease of use for new and inexperienced traders, and it’s personalized service for high net worth individuals using it’s ‘Coinsquare Wealth’ program. We definitely recommend it if you fall into one of those two categories. However, if you are an experienced trader who likes to manage his own cryptocurrency portfolio, another exchange with lower fees might be better suited for you.