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CoinSmart vs Netcoins: What Works Better For Canadians?

Oleg Galeev

Last updated September 7, 2023

CoinSmart and Netcoins are two popular Canadian cryptocurrency exchange platforms. How do they fare for Canadians looking to buy crypto? The OCryptoCanada team did some extensive research to see how this two compare. Check our CoinSmart vs Netcoins below.

CoinSmart is now part of WonderFi and the platform is not accepting new signups. If you're looking for the best crypto experience in Canada, we recommend signing up to Bitbuy, another licensed Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform operated by the same parent company, WonderFi. With Bitbuy, you will get access to an improved experience on web and mobile, staking rewards, Private Wealth services, and an advanced trading interface. Sign up using our referral link and get free $50 when depositing $250 on your account!

Description

CoinSmart is a Toronto-based Canadian crypto exchange that offers same-day deposits in CAD, EUR and USD. CoinSmart offers crypto trading for both beginners and advanced users.

Netcoins is a Canadian crypto exchange owned by a publicly-traded company called Bigg Digital Assets. Netcoins was founded by Mitchell Demeter who created the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in 2013.

Coins

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, EOS, USDC, Cardano, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, Chainlink, Uniswap, Solana and more

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, EOS, USDC, Algorand, XRP, Avalanche, Ethereum Classic, SHIB, DOGE, MATIC, AXS, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot

Fees

Interac deposit fee of 1% for deposits between $100 - $1999
Free Interac deposits for deposits of $2000+
Free wire and bank draft deposits
Withdrawal fees are 1%
Various crypto withdrawal fees
Trading fees are 0.20% for a single trade or 0.30% for a double trade
Up to 6% fee for credit/debit card purchases

Free deposits
Free fiat withdrawals
0.5% trading fees

Pros

Low trading fees
Free deposits over $2000
Suitable for beginners
Advanced trading options
Interac e-Transfer available
$50 bonus
Trade crypto to crypto (no trading pairs needed)
Same-day verification
CAD, USD, EUR deposits

Free fiat and crypto deposits
Free fiat withdrawals
Interac e-Transfer available
Phone support
Instant verification
Licenced and regulated in Canada
Educational resources available
Great customer service

Cons

There is a 1% fee for Interac deposits less than $2000
1% withdrawal fee

Few cryptocurrencies available
No credit/debit card purchases
CAD only
High trading fees

Account Limits

$100 min to $10,000 max for Interac deposits
$100 min to $5,000 max for credit/debit card buys
$10,000 bank wire min to $5M max

$10 min for Interac e-Transfer
$500 min for wire transfer
$50 min for online bill payment

App

Methods to buy

Credit/debit cards
Interac e-Transfer
Bank wire
SEPA (for EUR)

Interac e-Transfer
Bank wire
Online bill payment

Security

CoinSmart is partnered with BitGo to keep customers’ crypto safe in cold storage. BitGo is insured by Lloyds of London for $100 million, so if something were to happen to CoinSmart, your funds might be insured.

CoinSmart offers two-factor authentication to help protect your account.

2FA available
Registered with FINTRAC

Mobile and Desktop Trading

CoinSmart has a fun look with bright colours and cartoons. It is enjoyable to use. The dashboard shows everything you need to trade including options to buy, sell, and trade. You can also view your wallets, activity and simple market information.

To use CoinSmart’s advanced features such as limit orders, you can use their advanced trading platform, which is accessible within your user dashboard.

CoinSmart’s iOS app has a 1.7-star rating with 131 reviews. Its Android app has a 2.6-star rating from 94 reviews. Users of the app say the app crashes, is slow and often freezes.

Netcoins’ trading platform is simple to use with a sidecar offering all you need including options to buy, sell and trade. Your dashboard has two big options to either deposit funds or deposit crypto.

Buying crypto with Netcoins is easy thanks to its simple trade feature.

The Netcoins app has a 4.8-star rating from 116 reviews on the Apple App Store. It has a 3.6-star rating on Google from 127 reviews.

The app is easy to use and beginner-friendly. It is almost an exact copy of the desktop platform but optimized for mobile.

Coinsmart

To use CoinSmart’s advanced features such as limit orders, you can use their advanced trading platform, which is accessible within your user dashboard.

CoinSmart’s iOS app has a 3.4-star rating with 309 reviews. Its Android app has a 2.6-star rating from 94 reviews. Users of the app say the app crashes, is slow, and often freezes. This is why we would recommend using their desktop version.

Coinsmart App

Coinsmart App trading screen

Coinsmart mobile app interface

Coinsmart mobile app interface while trading

Netcoins

Buying crypto with Netcoins is easy thanks to its simple trade feature.

The Netcoins app has a 4.1-star rating from 171 reviews on the Apple App Store. It has a 3.6-star rating on Google from 127 reviews.

The app is easy to use and beginner-friendly. It is almost an exact copy of the desktop platform but optimized for mobile.

Netcoins Desktop App (trading screen)

Netcoins Desktop App (funding account)

Netcoins Mobile App (balances)

Netcoins Mobile App (trading)

Security Compliance

Netcoins utilizes the services of Bitrank and QLUE to stay compliant by monitoring wallet addresses and transactions for fraud and connections to criminal enterprises.

Two-factor authentication is available to help keep your account secure.

CoinSmart offers two-factor authentication to help protect your account.

Netcoins also utilizes the services of Bitrank and QLUE to stay compliant by monitoring wallet addresses and transactions for fraud and connections to criminal enterprises.

Two-factor authentication is available to help keep your account secure.

Regulatory Compliance

Coinsmart is fully compliant in Canada. Not only the exchange is registered with FINTRAC but they are also granted status by Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

Netcoins is fully regulated in Canada. It is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with FINTRAC. Since Netcoins is also owned by Bigg Digital Assets, a publicly traded company, you can be sure that Netcoins is a safe exchange.

Customer support

CoinSmart states that it has a 97% customer satisfaction rate and this claim is backed up by the 70% excellent customer reviews on Trustpilot. CoinSmart offers 24/7 support via email and online ticketing.

Netcoins has excellent customer support with an impressive 85% excellent customer service reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.5-star rating. Netcoins offers email support, live chat and phone support, which is rare for crypto exchanges.

Similarly, Netcoins also has excellent customer support. Netcoins has an impressive 85% excellent customer service reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.5-star rating. Netcoins offers email support, live chat and phone support, which is rare for crypto exchanges.

It’s clear that both CoinSmart and Netcoins value good customer support.

Conclusion

Both CoinSmart and Netcoins are great options for Canadians looking to trade crypto. CoinSmart has a lot of fun features such as its learn and earn program, the ability to send crypto invoices, as well as the ability to trade altcoin to altcoin. Netcoins’ mobile app and customer support are some of the highest-rated we’ve come across and its trading platform is also easy to use. While we think both exchanges are good choices, we think CoinSmart comes out slightly ahead because it offers more altcoins, lower trading fees, and insurance for your crypto.

Author

Oleg Galeev

Cryptocurrency Specialist

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.