Robinhood Vs Beaver Bitcoin: Which Is Better For Canadians In 2026?

How Do Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin 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 Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin?

How Do You Fund And Cash Out Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin In Canada?

Neither accepts: credit card, paypal.

Fees, minimums and maximums are shown only inside the app. Bank limits apply. Your bank's own Interac and wire limits also apply. Spending limits per account were not published beyond the tier caps.

What Does It Actually Cost To Buy On Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin?

Robinhood: 0.50% per order through Oct 31, 2026, 0.95% from Nov 1, 2026 (CCML fee schedule effective 2026-10-01); Robinhood says it keeps no spread. Slippage within 1% on buys and 5% on sells passes to the client. Beaver Bitcoin: Flat 1.5% on Bitcoin purchases, network fee paid by Beaver (beaverbitcoin.com, 2026-10-03). Sell fee Not published. Ranges reflect each platform’s published band, not a single quote. Bank and network fees are not included.

What Do Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin Offer Beyond Buying And Selling?

Robinhood Only

• Staking (announced): ETH and SOL staking from about CAD 1, listed as coming soon; CCML's schedule shows a staking fee of up to 30% of rewards on the former Coinsquare platform.
• OTC desk: USD deposits and large trades go through the OTC desk at launch, with a quoted spread of 0.5% to 1.85%.
• Coinsquare Trade: Request-for-quote product on the Coinsquare platform with a disclosed spread of 0.5% to 1.85%.

Beaver Bitcoin Only

• Instant, Large and Recurring Buy: Instant Buy by e-Transfer up to CAD 20,000, Large Buy by bill payment or wire up to CAD 100,000, Recurring Buy by pre-authorized debit.
• Beaver Plaid: Personal service for purchases above CAD 100,000 by bill payment or wire.
• Sell Bitcoin: Sell BTC for CAD; terms are in the help centre.

What Happens To Your Money If Robinhood Or Beaver Bitcoin Fails?

Robinhood: Robinhood Canada runs on Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., a CIRO investment dealer, so it is under dealer rules and CIRO supervision. CIPF covers CAD balances within limits but never crypto. Customer crypto stays in CCML's custody arrangement with crime insurance of an unpublished amount, and no proof of reserves was found. If the firm failed or was hacked, uninsured crypto would be an unsecured claim. The platform is in a migration, so features such as limit orders and swaps are still missing.

Beaver Bitcoin: Beaver is a FINTRAC-registered money services business, which covers anti-money-laundering reporting, not investor protection: it is not on the CSA list and CIPF does not apply. Because it holds no customer bitcoin, a hack or failure of Beaver would mostly hit money in transit or a pending order, not your stored coins. The residual risks are a failed or delayed purchase, an unpublished sell process, and the shorter operating history since 2022. Its FINTRAC number changed in 2026 after the old registration expired.

How Are Robinhood And Beaver Bitcoin Treated For Tax In Canada?

Robinhood: Buying with CAD is not a disposition. Selling for CAD is, and so is any later swap or spend. Robinhood gives statements and annual tax documents for past Bitbuy and Coinsquare activity; CSV and CRA-ready exports were not verified.

Beaver Bitcoin: Buying bitcoin with CAD is not a disposition. Selling for CAD, or spending bitcoin, is a disposition you report to the CRA. Beaver publishes no tax export that we could verify, so keep your own records.

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, Robinhood Or Beaver Bitcoin?

Choose Robinhood If

• You want one flat percentage fee and no Robinhood spread (0.50% to Oct 31, 2026, then 0.95%)
• You are a former Bitbuy or Coinsquare customer moving to the new app
• You are fine with market orders only for now

Choose Beaver Bitcoin If

• You want bitcoin delivered straight to your own wallet with no account balance
• You want a simple recurring buy by pre-authorized debit
• You accept a flat 1.5% fee and a FINTRAC-only registration

Is Robinhood Or Beaver Bitcoin Better For Canadians In 2026?

Robinhood for cost and range, Beaver for custody. Robinhood runs on a CIRO investment dealer with 50+ coins and free Interac e-Transfer. Beaver is a FINTRAC-registered Bitcoin-only service that delivers to your wallet. Neither is in my top 10, so neither carries a score.

If you are a former Bitbuy or Coinsquare customer, the choice is partly made for you, since you are being moved into Robinhood. See my Robinhood review and Beaver Bitcoin review.

Which Costs Less When You Actually Trade?

On CAD 1,000 Robinhood charges CAD 5.00 through October 31, 2026, then CAD 9.50. Beaver charges CAD 15.00. On CAD 5,000 the figures are CAD 25.00 now, CAD 47.50 later and CAD 75.00 at Beaver.

The Robinhood schedule adds a small caveat: slippage within 1% on buys and 5% on sells passes to the client, so the stated fee is not guaranteed to be your whole cost in a fast market. Beaver's 1.5% is a fixed quote with the network fee covered.

Does The Gap Justify Paying For Delivery To Your Own Wallet?

Beaver's extra cost, CAD 5.50 to CAD 10 per CAD 1,000 over Robinhood, buys you something real: the bitcoin arrives at an address you control and Beaver keeps none of it. Robinhood does let you send crypto out, with no Robinhood fee, but your coins sit in custody until you do.

If you buy once a month and withdraw each time, paying Beaver to skip the extra step is reasonable. If you hold on an exchange, the saving at Robinhood is the point and the risk is custody.

Which Is Safer For Canadians?

Robinhood is under CIRO dealer rules, with CAD held at a Canadian bank and covered by CIPF within limits. Crypto is not covered, crime insurance is of an unpublished amount, and I found no proof of reserves. The platform is also mid-migration, so some features are missing.

Beaver is a FINTRAC-registered money services business. That is anti-money-laundering supervision, not investor protection, and there is no CIPF. Because it holds no customer bitcoin, a failure mostly affects an order in flight.

Who Should Choose Robinhood And Who Should Choose Beaver Bitcoin?

Choose Robinhood for the lowest published fee, 50+ coins and a dealer account. Choose Beaver for bitcoin delivered to your wallet, a recurring buy by pre-authorized debit and no balance to leave on an exchange. I have no sign-up links for either, so use their own sites. For another Canadian bitcoin option see Bull Bitcoin, and the best crypto exchanges in Canada.

What Are Robinhood's Purchase Limits?

Net purchase limits on restricted coins over a rolling 12 months are CAD 5,000 for a Basic investor, CAD 30,000 for Retail and CAD 100,000 for Eligible, with none for Retail and Eligible in BC, AB, MB and QC. BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, SOL and USDC are exempt.

Beaver's limits are by route: CAD 20,000 on Instant Buy and CAD 100,000 on Large Buy. For bitcoin only, neither limit is likely to be your problem.

What Is The Tax Picture For Each?

Buying with CAD is not a disposition at either. Selling for CAD, swapping coins or spending is. Robinhood gives statements and annual tax documents for past Bitbuy and Coinsquare activity, but I could not verify a CSV or CRA-ready export. Beaver publishes no tax export I could verify.

Either way, keep your own record of what you paid, with the date, so the cost basis is never a guess.

What Should A Former Bitbuy Customer Do?

Nothing urgent. The account moves to Robinhood in phases, and the fee after November 1 is still below Beaver's 1.5%. If you want your bitcoin in your own wallet, you can withdraw on-chain from Robinhood and pay only the network fee, or buy fresh through Beaver.

Whichever you choose, check which of your old coins carried over, since a few did not at launch.