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Binance vs. Newton: What Works Better For Canadians in 2024

Oleg Galeev

Last updated March 12, 2024

In this comprehensive comparison, we will be exploring two popular cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada: Binance and Newton. Binance offers a wide array of cryptocurrencies and features, while Newton, a Canadian exchange, prides itself on being the first “no-fee” platform in the country. As we delve into the details, we’ll examine key differences in their fee structures, security measures, mobile app performance, user experience, and more.

Binance has announced its exit from the Canadian market on 30 September 2023, citing regulatory uncertainties. As a result, we can't recommend Binance over Newton.

Description

Binance was founded in 2017 and is based in Malta. It averages $2 billion in daily volume and executes 1.4 million transactions per second. Canadians can purchase and trade hundreds of different coins with advanced order types. Binance stopped operating in Canada in July 2022.

Newton prides itself on being Canada’s first no-fee cryptocurrency exchange. They claim their exchange is 2-3x lower than most other exchanges.

Coins

400+ including BTC, ETH, XRP, DOGE, USDT

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, USDC, USDT, Chainlink, Aave, Uniswap, Polygon, Compound, SushiSwap, Curve, Synthetix, Dai, Polkadot

Fees

Low
0.1% to 0.02% buy fee depending on VIP level

  • 0% CAD funding
  • 0% CAD withdrawal
  • 0% crypto deposit/withdrawals (up to $5 network fee waived)
  • No commissions or trading fees
  • 0.40% to 0.72% spread

Pros

  • Good for Canadians looking to buy and trade altcoins
  • DEX/P2P trading
  • Advanced order types
  • Margin trading
  • Derivatives and futures trading
  • Stock token trading
  • 400+ coins
  • Low fees
  • Simple or advanced interface
  • No fees at all
  • Wide selection of coins available
  • You can export a T5 statement
  • Sleek interface
  • Newton Pro for advanced traders in Beta stage

Cons

  • No Interac e-Transfer
  • Not available in Ontario at the moment
  • Very high spreads
  • No live chat support
  • No credit card deposits. Debit must be pre-approved.

Account Limits

N/A

  • $10,000 max daily Interac e-Transfer deposit/withdrawal
  • $70,000 max weekly Interac e-Transfer deposit/withdrawal
  • $5,000 electronic funds transfer deposit
  • $50,000 electronic funds transfer withdrawal
  • $1M wire transfer deposit/withdrawal
  • $5M daily trading limit

Methods to buy

Credit/debit, SWIFT bank transfer with USD

  • Interac e-Transfer
  • Wire transfer
  • Connect bank account

Security

2FA, coins held in cold storage with multi-signature wallets, KYC verification process

  • Daily exchange backups
  • Third-party custody of assets, mostly offline
  • Direct bank intergration to reduce fraud

Mobile and Desktop Trading

Binance and Newton both provide mobile and desktop platforms for cryptocurrency trading. The Binance mobile application boasts a rating of 4.7 stars on the App Store and 4.4 stars on Google Play. Its users highly commend the extensive variety of features it offers, strong security protocols, and its smooth, intuitive user interface. Its desktop application is also praised for its advanced trading features, including spot trading and futures trading.
Newton, on the other hand, has a 4.6-star rating on the App Store. Newton's desktop platform provides a sleek and intuitive interface, making it a perfect fit for traders of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals. They are also developing Newton Pro, which will cater to more advanced trading needs.

Binance Canada

Binance has a rating of 4.6 stars on the Apple App Store with 22,000 ratings. On Google Play, it has 4.5 stars with 271,000 ratings.

Binance’s app allows its users to switch between the Lite and Pro interfaces making it suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.

Binance’s app interface also closely resembles its desktop counterpart, though, at first glance, it does not seem as user-friendly and intuitive as Coinbase. Binance offers its users multiple ways to purchase crypto depending on the type of trade you want. On its desktop platform, you can select “Convert” for a quick debit or credit purchase, or “Classic” or “Advanced” for more trading types.

Binance desktop platform (Convert)

Binance Convert

Binance desktop platform for advanced users

Binance Advanced

Binance Lite App for beginner users view

Binance Lite App for beginner users

Binance Advanced mobile view for Canadians

Binance App for advanced users

Newton

Newton has a user-friendly interface and a modern, clean look. It’s simple and easy to use.

Newton’s overall design is clean and modern. They also usual casual and friendly language. It doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, which is refreshing. At first glance, Newton seems user-friendly and fairly simple.

Its iOS app has a rating of 4.4 stars with 5.6k reviews, and its Android app has a rating of 2.8 stars with 800 reviews.

Newton desktop interface

Newton desktop interface

Market order with Newton

Market order with Newton

Newton mobile app #1 (welcome screenshot)

Newton app interface

Newton mobile app #2 (cryptocurrencies available)

Newton app interface while trading

Security Compliance

Binance offers world-class security meaning your coins are in relatively safe hands. It offers two-factor authentication, so you can prevent unauthorized access to your account.

Keep in mind, Binance has been hacked before. Back in 2019, hackers stole 7,000 Bitcoin along with customers’ 2FA codes and API tokens. The hackers used phishing and viruses to gain access to the exchange. However, because Binance holds most of its digital assets in cold storage, the hackers only got away with what was in the hot wallet – about 2% of Binance’s Bitcoin holdings at the time.

As long as you take precautions, and transfer your crypto off the exchange to an external cryptocurrency wallet, you should be safe.

Newton does daily backups to minimize risk and states on its website that customer data is stored in Canada. They also perform daily site backups, have offline third-party storage for digital assets, and they allow their customers to directly connect their bank account to reduce fraud.

Binance employs a multi-layered system structure and a Secure Assets Fund for Users (SAFU), offering an added layer of protection for its clientele.On the other hand, Newton complies with FINTRAC regulations and provides mandatory two-factor authentication for all users, using the Authy app. However, Newton does not provide explicit details about the percentage of digital assets kept in cold storage.

Regulatory Compliance

Binance has no restrictions for Canadians, except for Ontario residents. You can use it at full capacity whether it’s a simple buy order at market price or a more advanced order type. 

Newton is fully compliant with FINTRAC regulations in Canada

Binance has had to stop its operations in Ontario due to regulatory issues with the Ontario Securities Commission. As of now, it does not have any specific compliance or registration with Canadian federal organizations.

As a Canadian exchange, Newton adheres to local laws and is recognized by the FINTRAC. It adheres to all relevant Canadian laws pertaining to financial transactions.

Customer support

Binance offers 24/7 support and a live chat option. In addition, Binance also has helpful FAQs and online ticketing service for their customers. Binance replied to our concern within a day.

Newton has FAQs and a knowledge center on the website. Customers can message the support teams either online via their support pages or through email. Newton does not have a phone and live support.

Binance provides round-the-clock customer support, featuring live chat capabilities and an extensive knowledge base in their help center. Newton, on the other hand, provides a knowledge base on its website to answer common questions. It also features an automated chatbot for immediate assistance and a ticketing system for more complex queries. Their support team is available on both weekdays and weekends.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while both Binance and Newton offer commendable services and user experiences, Binance emerges as the victor in this comparison. Its superior security measures, wider range of available cryptocurrencies, more advanced features, and its international reputation for reliability all contribute to its edge. Despite being an international platform, Binance's commitment to compliance and user security makes it a standout choice for crypto enthusiasts, regardless of their geographical location.

Initially, we recommended choosing Binance over Newton for your cryptocurrency trading needs. However, Binance has announced its exit from the Canadian market on 30 September 2023, citing regulatory uncertainties. As a result, we can't recommend Binance over Newton.

If you find that neither Binance nor Newton meets your requirements, we encourage you to explore our monthly-updated list of the best exchanges for Canadians to trade crypto. This list provides a range of alternative options that may better suit your specific needs and preferences.

Author

Oleg is a Canadian citizen & crypto expert who has been trading since 2016. He started out with Coinbase, Kraken and Peer-to-Peer exchanges. After some time, centralized exchanges started charging crazy fees to their users.

He decided to review different crypto exchanges that operate in Canada and start a Youtube channel in order to educate Canadians on what kinds of things are going inside each one while giving them unbiased advice. On top of that, Oleg also has experience with NFT, airdrops, and crypto staking and he is constantly checking on new crypto assets.

His writing has been featured in popular Canadian media sources such as Toronto Sun and Ottawa Citizen.