CoinSmart Vs VirgoCX: Which Is Better For Canadians In 2026?

How Do CoinSmart And VirgoCX Compare, Fact By Fact?

Every row below comes from each company’s own pages and the Canadian registries, checked October 2026. Where a row has no fair winner, it says so.

What Are The Key Differences Between CoinSmart And VirgoCX?

How Do You Fund And Cash Out CoinSmart And VirgoCX In Canada?

All funding ended. Accounts moved to Bitbuy. VirgoCX is no longer a registered dealer in Canada; do not treat these methods as current.

What Do CoinSmart And VirgoCX Offer Beyond Buying And Selling?

What Happens To Your Money If CoinSmart Or VirgoCX Fails?

CoinSmart: This was a merger, not a collapse. CoinSmart's accounts went to Bitbuy, which has since moved to Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. and then Robinhood. Log in through Bitbuy with your old CoinSmart email, and never send crypto to an old CoinSmart deposit address, because the addresses changed. If you prefer not to follow the move to Robinhood, withdraw to your own wallet.

VirgoCX: The OSC lists VirgoCX's restricted dealer registration as suspended since November 24, 2025, and the CSA list shows terms requiring a wind-down of its registrable business. It stopped holding customer crypto in 2025, so the remaining service is non-custodial and sits outside securities-law investor protections. A FINTRAC MSB registration covers anti-money-laundering rules only. CIPF never covered crypto. Use this platform only if you accept those gaps, or move to a registered dealer.

How Are CoinSmart And VirgoCX Treated For Tax In Canada?

CoinSmart: Trades on CoinSmart were dispositions for CRA purposes. Pull your CoinSmart history from your migrated Bitbuy account. Export formats: Not published.

VirgoCX: Past activity on VirgoCX followed the usual rules: selling, swapping or spending crypto are dispositions reportable to the CRA. Check your old statements for cost basis; export tools are Not published.

Selling, swapping or spending crypto is a disposition for the CRA on any platform. This is not tax advice: see my guide to crypto taxes in Canada.

Which Should You Choose, CoinSmart Or VirgoCX?

Choose CoinSmart If

• You want a registered platform that serves Canadians today: Coinbase is our number one replacement, with free Interac e-Transfer funding and a Canadian restricted dealer registration.

Choose VirgoCX If

• You already hold a VirgoCX history and need to check records
• You are looking only for registered Canadian dealers: pick another platform

What Happened To CoinSmart?

CoinSmart stopped operating separately after WonderFi moved all its client accounts to Bitbuy, announced in September 2023.

WonderFi announced on September 8, 2023 that Bitbuy would take over all CoinSmart client accounts. The operating company was Simply Digital Technologies Inc., its FINTRAC registration ceased on September 10, 2024, and its CSA decisions (October 21 and December 21, 2021) are listed as expired.

As of October 2, 2026, coinsmart.com serves the Bitbuy site with a banner saying Bitbuy is now part of Robinhood.

Former CoinSmart users now sit with Bitbuy and, through it, Robinhood. Use Bitbuy's migration support article to find your account. For new accounts I send people to registered platforms such as NDAX instead.

What Happened To VirgoCX?

VirgoCX is on the CSA list but under terms requiring wind-down of its registrable business: it stopped holding crypto for customers in 2025 and now offers only a non-custodial buy-and-sell service that it says is not offered under its securities dealer registration.

VirgoCX went non-custodial on April 4, 2025, after an amended CSA decision on January 30, 2025. Assets still on the platform after the June 16, 2025 deadline were force-sold, and customers must now hold crypto in their own wallets. The CSA list describes it as subject to terms and conditions requiring wind-down of registrable business.

Its FINTRAC registrations for VirgoCX Inc. run to October 21, 2027 and VirgoCX Direct Inc. to November 22, 2026. I could not verify its fees or coin count, because the official fee page sits behind a bot check. I leave out the third-party figures that circulate.

Anyone who used VirgoCX has to manage their own wallet now. Bitcoin Well, a Canadian company that delivers bitcoin to your own wallet, is the closest match to the model VirgoCX now uses.

What Should CoinSmart And VirgoCX Users Use Instead?

Neither platform is an option, so here are the registered alternatives I point people to, with what I can verify about each.

NDAX: Low flat fees and cheap cash-outs to your bank. It is a registered Canadian platform with CAD funding, a fit for the people this platform used to serve.

Bitcoin Well: Bitcoin with cash, ATM and voucher options. It is a Canadian company that delivers bitcoin to your own wallet, the same non-custodial model.

How Do CoinSmart And VirgoCX Compare On Fees, Funding, And Coins?

CoinSmart, in the past tense: CoinSmart was a Canadian platform that has been merged, so I do not publish old fee or coin numbers.

VirgoCX, in the past tense: VirgoCX used to hold customers' crypto. That stopped in 2025, and the non-custodial service that remains has no confirmed securities-law investor protection.

Which Is Safer?

CoinSmart. There is no separate CoinSmart to assess. The platform that took its accounts is itself being folded into Robinhood.

VirgoCX. No securities-law investor protections are confirmed for VirgoCX's non-custodial service, and the CSA entry carries wind-down terms.

Who Should Choose CoinSmart, And Who Should Choose VirgoCX?

Nobody opening a new account in Canada should choose CoinSmart. Status: merged into bitbuy. Existing customers should follow the withdrawal guidance above.

Nobody opening a new account in Canada should choose VirgoCX. Status: custodial service wound down in 2025. Existing customers should follow the withdrawal guidance above.