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

How Do Wealthsimple Crypto 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 Wealthsimple Crypto And Beaver Bitcoin?

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

Neither accepts: credit card, paypal.

Crypto trades in CAD or USD; USD trades pay a 1.5% FX fee plus a corporate exchange fee unless you have a USD account. The 5 business day deposit hold before crypto withdrawal is the main timing trap. 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 Wealthsimple Crypto And Beaver Bitcoin?

Wealthsimple Crypto: Flat 0.5% fee per order. The high end adds the 1.00% spread used in Wealthsimple's own CAD 5,000 example (spread varies with market conditions) from the fee schedule dated 2026-09-24. Active Trader status (50 eligible trades in a calendar month) removes the spread. A CAD 1 surcharge applies to orders under CAD 100 (not counted here). 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 Wealthsimple Crypto And Beaver Bitcoin Offer Beyond Buying And Selling?

Wealthsimple Crypto Only

• Staking: ETH, SOL, ADA and DOT, advertised as up to 5% a year. Wealthsimple keeps 30% of rewards (15% for Generation) and validators take their own commission (ETH about 5%).
• Crypto swaps: Swap one eligible coin for another in one trade with one fee instead of two.
• Recurring buys and price-target orders: Schedule automatic purchases or set a price at which an order executes. Recurring orders do not count toward Active Trader status.
• DEX trading: On-chain token access with CAD 0 network fees, per Wealthsimple, through the Crypto Web3 Wallet.
• Active Trader status: Earned with 50 or more eligible trades in a calendar month, valid for that month and the next. Cuts the crypto fee to 0.5% to 0% with a 0% spread, plus priority phone and email support.

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 Wealthsimple Crypto Or Beaver Bitcoin Fails?

Wealthsimple Crypto: Wealthsimple Investments Inc. is a CIRO dealer member, so cash in the account is covered by CIPF, but crypto is explicitly not covered by CIPF, CDIC or any investor protection scheme. Wealthsimple says crypto is held in trust and would remain yours in an insolvency, and that custodial partners each carry over CAD 75M of insurance, but that cover is held by the partners and the custodians are not named on the product page. No proof of reserves is published. Hot wallet losses are the part covered by the Coincover recovery arrangement.

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 Wealthsimple Crypto And Beaver Bitcoin Treated For Tax In Canada?

Wealthsimple Crypto: Selling, swapping one coin for another and staking rewards are taxable; withdrawing crypto to your own wallet is not a disposition. Wealthsimple provides a Realized Gains and Losses report as PDF or CSV and a Crypto Transaction Summary CSV, and says there is no official tax slip for crypto.

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, Wealthsimple Crypto Or Beaver Bitcoin?

Choose Wealthsimple Crypto If

• You already hold stocks or cash at Wealthsimple and want crypto in the same app.
• You value a CIRO-regulated dealer and a simple flat fee over the lowest possible cost.
• You trade 50 or more times a month and can qualify for Active Trader pricing.

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 Wealthsimple Crypto Or Beaver Bitcoin Better For Canadians In 2026?

For one person with other Wealthsimple accounts, Wealthsimple Crypto. It is a CIRO dealer member, in one app, with 170+ coins plus BTC, ETH and SOL, and free Interac e-Transfer. For someone who wants bitcoin in a hardware wallet and nothing else, Beaver does the one job with fewer moving parts.

Wealthsimple sits at 8.4 on my list. Beaver is outside the top 10. My Wealthsimple Crypto review and Beaver Bitcoin review have the full detail.

Which Costs Less When You Actually Trade?

Wealthsimple charges a flat 0.5% fee per order plus a spread on market orders. Its own fee schedule example is a CAD 5,000 buy costing 1.50%, which is CAD 75. Beaver's flat 1.5% on CAD 5,000 is also CAD 75, with the network fee paid by Beaver.

So at that example the two are the same on paper, and the interesting bit is what moves the number. Wealthsimple's limit orders are never charged a spread, which leaves the 0.5% fee, or CAD 25 on CAD 5,000. A CAD 1 surcharge applies under CAD 100. Active Trader status can take the spread to zero. Beaver's fee never moves.

Do You Want Your Bitcoin Held Or Delivered?

This is the real divide. Wealthsimple is custodial: your coins sit in trust with regulated custodial partners, each said to carry over CAD 75M of insurance, with the custodians not named on the product page, and no proof of reserves published. Beaver delivers to your own address and holds nothing.

If you want the convenience of selling in the same app that holds your savings, held is easier. If you want to follow the old maxim of not leaving coins on an exchange, delivered is built for it. You have to have your own wallet before the first purchase.

Which Is Safer For Canadians?

Wealthsimple has more regulation behind it: CIRO membership, a CSA decision amended December 22, 2025, and a FINTRAC registration to March 2028. Beaver has a FINTRAC registration only, which is anti-money-laundering and not securities protection, and a track record since 2022.

But safer is a trade-off. Wealthsimple holds your crypto and carries custody risk. Beaver holds none, so a failure mostly affects an order in flight.

Who Should Choose Wealthsimple Crypto And Who Should Choose Beaver Bitcoin?

Choose Wealthsimple if you already invest there, want altcoins, or plan to place limit orders. Open the Wealthsimple sign-up page. Choose Beaver if you want bitcoin only, in your wallet, with a recurring buy. Beaver has no sign-up link from me, so use its own site. More options are in the best crypto exchanges in Canada.

What Do Wealthsimple's Staking And Limits Add?

Staking covers ETH, SOL, ADA and DOT at up to 5% a year as advertised. Wealthsimple keeps 30% of rewards, or 15% for Generation members, and validators take their own commission, about 5% on ETH. Instant Interac deposits reach CAD 50,000 for Core and CAD 250,000 for Premium and Generation, with free transfers up to CAD 10,000 each or the bank's cap.

None of that exists at Beaver, which is a Bitcoin-only buy. If staking matters, Beaver is not the choice.

What Is The Practical Difference For A Beaver Buyer?

Beaver has no app, only a mobile-friendly website, and you need your own wallet first. My best crypto wallets for Canadians list is a starting point. Instant Buy tops out at CAD 20,000 and Large Buy at CAD 100,000.

Wealthsimple is the opposite on every one of those: an app with 129,832 Canadian ratings at 4.62, no wallet needed to start, and a CAD 1 surcharge under CAD 100 as the only small-order penalty.