ByBit Review: Is It A Scam Or A Legit Crypto Exchange For Canadians?

ByBit is a global cryptocurrency exchange with headquarters in Dubai. We tested ByBit to see if it’s worth using for Canadians, so read on for our ByBit review. Personally, I find ByBit similar to Binance, but I still use it for some purposes. 

In a recent update, ByBit has announced its decision to exit the Canadian market by October 2023. As an excellent alternative, we highly recommend considering Bitget. With a user-friendly interface resembling ByBit, this reputable crypto exchange offers a seamless trading experience. Moreover, as a special promotion, they are generously providing a promo code that grants you 50 USDT upon a deposit of $500 USD or more if you sign up with our referral link.

ByBit Quick Summary

ByBit has over 100 cryptocurrencies to trade. Similar to Binance, the exchange offers futures and margin trading but the exchange got in trouble for this with the Ontario Securities Commission and as a result it does not operate in Ontario. 

ByBit has more than 10 million customers so it is a relatively large exchange operating globally. 

Unfortunately, CAD deposits are not available and the only way to buy crypto is by card payment, a third-party such as Banxa, or by using the peer-to-peer marketplace. I highly recommend to simply using a peer-to-peer marketplace and buying USDT via e-transfer. 

Verification is not necessary with ByBit, however, you’ll need to verify your account if you wish to increase your withdrawal limits. That’s probably the most popular reason why Canadians sign up with ByBit.

ByBit Features For Canadians

ByBit has a one-click-buy option which is suitable for beginners and anyone looking to buy or sell crypto quickly at market price. Unfortunately, you can only purchase with a debit card payment or with crypto. 

You can use the peer-to-peer marketplace if you want to use e-Transfer, but you’ll be limited to USDT or USDC. Alternatively, you can use a third-party such as Banxa to make an Interac e-Transfer, however this often comes with high fees. 

The advanced trading platform is suitable for more experienced traders and anyone wanting more advanced order types, charting, and order book data.

ByBit also has an NFT marketplace. You can browse collections from global artists and purchase NFTs with ETH or stablecoins.

There is a launchpad where new crypto projects can receive investments and ByBit users can receive new tokens and coins at a low price. This is good for people who like to catch new crypto projects early before they’re listed on exchanges. 

You can also create a trading bot to automatically make trades for you, or you can copy another user’s bot and make the same trades as them. 

Does ByBit Offer Staking or Other Services For Canadians?

ByBit has a couple of ways you can earn via crypto staking. First, there is the staking platform. You can up to 4.5% on bitcoin with a flexible lock-up period. Other assets you can stake include Ethereum, USDT, USDC, Cardano and more.

Bybit also offers yield farming. You can deposit two or more assets to liquidity pools and earn higher yields than if you were to simply stake one asset. For example, the BTC-USDT farm offers a 329% APY for a one-day duration. 

If you’d like to see trending coins, market gainers and losers, you can do that too. ByBit shows this information and more on its website, so you can see what’s being traded the most. 

Does ByBit Have an OTC Desk?

There is an OTC Desk for people who wish to place large buy and sell orders (over $50k). This feature is ByBit’s VIP Program where you’ll receive access to a dedicated VIP team, as well extra-low trading fees, and access to exclusive VIP events, and giveaways. 

Registration & Verification with ByBit for Canadians

To begin trading with ByBit you will need to open an account by entering your email and a password. Once you’ve verified your email, you’ll see your dashboard.

You can immediately begin trading, but you will have a peer-to-peer trading limit of $1000 per day and a withdrawal limit of 2 BTC per day. 

To increase your limits, you’ll need to verify your account to level one. This level gives you access to a $5,000 deposit limit, but since ByBit doesn’t offer deposits for Canadians, it is not worth it to verify your account, unless you want to increase your daily withdrawal limit. 

Level one allows you to withdraw 50 BTC per day. You’ll need to provide a government-issued ID and a selfie. For most people, they will not need to do this. 

Level two allows you to withdraw 100 BTC daily and this requires a proof of address.

ByBit Canada Fees

• Low trading fees 
• Approx 5% third party fees for e-Transfer
• Approx 3% card payment fees
• No P2P fees

ByBit has low fees for all of its trading. There are no fees added to peer-to-peer trades either, but you will find there are fees if you pay by card or a third-party. 

ByBit Spreads

A spread in trading is the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay (bid price) and the lowest price a seller is willing to sell (ask price). The spread goes to the exchange as a profit. 

ByBit has low spreads and low trading fees. This makes it a relatively cheap exchange to trade crypto. However, if you use a third-party such as Banxa to purchase crypto with an e-Transfer, Banxa will charge its own spread and this is often high. 

How Much Does it Really Cost To Trade with ByBit?

A third-party provider such as Banxa will charge a spread. For $100 worth of bitcoin you will pay approximately 5.31% in fees.

We used our debit card to buy $100 worth of bitcoin on ByBit and were charged $3.05 or 3.05%. When you first link your card you will be charged $3 but this will be refunded to you in 7 days. Note, that all of our Canadian credit cards failed to link. 

ByBit Liquidity

ByBit is a large crypto exchange and has sufficient liquidity. CoinMarketCap scores exchanges out of 1000 based on their liquidity. 

The site has given ByBit a score of 662 for its BTC market, which is good. In comparison the largest exchange in the world, Binance, has a score of 1000 for its BTC market. 

Currencies & Deposit Methods with ByBit for Canadians

ByBit does not accept CAD deposits at this time, but you can deposit crypto instead. Simply, go to your dashboard and select “deposit”.

Alternatively, you can use a credit card to purchase crypto, or a third-party provider such as Banxa to make a payment via Interac e-Transfer.

How Long Does it Take to Withdraw Coins With ByBit For Canadians?

ByBit will make you wait 24 hours before you can withdraw crypto that you just bought. 

ByBit’s Security and Safety

Is ByBit safe to use? Yes, but it’s lacking in information about its security. ByBit uses cold storage for assets but it’s not clear what percentage of funds are held in cold storage. 

For users that want to secure their account, they can set up two-factor authentication using Google Authenticator. Users will need to open this app and enter the code whenever they wish to withdraw from their ByBit account. 

This year the Ontario Securities commission (OSC) accused ByBit of selling unlicensed securities to residents of Ontario. ByBit paid a $2.5M fine and has since restricted new account sign-ups from residents of Ontario. 

ByBit’s Mobile and Desktop App Review

The advanced trading platform offers all the tools you need for making advanced trades and technical analysis. You can set indicators, view order history, and trading volume. 

All trading pairs are viewable on the left side and you can view your trading history at the bottom. 

ByBit has a mobile app for both iPhone and Android users. On iOS, the ByBit app has a 3.9-star rating from 689 reviews. On Google Play it has a 4.3-star rating from 76,000 reviews.

Many people like the user-friendly interface of the app, with one of the few complaints being that pinching and zooming on charts is difficult. 

The ByBit app has all of the features of the desktop platform but in a condensed and streamlined UI. There are also advanced charting and tools available as well as the one-click-buy option.

It is an impressive app that packs a punch, yet doesn’t feel overwhelming. 

ByBit’s Customer support

ByBit has a helpful support centre on its website with numerous guides about crypto and how to use the exchange. You can also create a ticket on the website if you need to contact support. The chat support helped me within an hour and I had an issue with the withdrawal of TONCOIN.

ByBit’s Consumer Ratings, Reports & Reviews on Other Platforms

The exchange has a poor 1.9-star rating on Trustpilot with many users claiming it is a fraud exchange. There are many users who cannot seem to withdraw, however, this may be due to their verification level and going over their withdrawal limit. 

However, I can not confirm that. I’ve been using ByBit since 2019 and never had issues with them. 

Does ByBit Restrict or Freeze Accounts?

Any crypto exchange has the ability to freeze your account if they suspect suspicious behaviour. If you are linked with criminal activities you may find your account frozen as well. 

Crypto exchanges usually freeze accounts to protect customers from fraud. If they see larger than usual trades or withdrawals, they may freeze your account for your protection in case someone else has gained access to your account. 

However, since ByBit sets trading and withdrawal limits there is no reason to freeze an account, at least not for the unverified users. 

Can ByBit Track where you Receive and Send Crypto?

ByBit and any crypto exchange can track where you have received and sent crypto since crypto trades are recorded on the blockchain and are public. 

If you go through the verification process on ByBit, then you will provide identity documents. Once you do that then it is easy to connect your identity to wallets and transfers on the blockchain since it is one large trail. 

However, if you do not provide identity documents, then ByBit will have a much harder time linking your activity to your identity. 

ByBit Alternatives For Canadians

We recommend Coinsmart, Binance or NDAX as alternatives to ByBit. Both are more convenient choices for Canadians as they accept CAD deposits.

They are also both Canadian exchanges, so all of their features are geared towards Canadians and CAD payments. 

	ByBit	Coinsmart	NDAX
Trading fees	0 to 0.1%	0% to 1.5%	0.2%
Cryptocurrencies	100+	23+	35+
Additional features	OTC Desk, NFT marketplace, futures trading, staking, yield farming	OTC Desk	Staking, OTC Desk
Customer Support	Poor	Good	Poor
Security	Average	Excellent	Good

Common Scams Related to ByBit

Some popular scams include phishing emails where scammers will send you an email with the same branding as the exchange in an attempt to deceive you. They will claim there is a problem with your account and will ask you to provide sensitive information or a payment in order to solve the problem. 

You should also beware of fake social media accounts pretending to be ByBit. They will often do a fake airdrop or giveaway and get you to connect your wallet to a scam website where they can drain your funds. Or they’ll ask you to send an amount of crypto in exchange for more, but you’ll never receive it. 

Always double check that emails you receive are from the official email address of the exchange before clicking any links. Real representatives, such as support staff from crypto exchanges, will never reach out to you first and will never ask you to send money or crypto. 

Conclusion

ByBit is a cheap crypto exchange with its low trading fees. However, it is not convenient for Canadians to use since CAD deposits are not accepted unless you use their P2P market place. Third party e-Transfers and card payments incur high fees, so we don’t recommend it to Canadians who want to buy crypto with fiat.

On the other hand if you deposit crypto via P2P you can trade easily and cheaply. I use P2P deposits without issues and never got scammed, just choose a seller with a good rating. ByBit offers a wide range of coins so it is a good choice for anybody who would like to trade altcoins and take advantage of staking or yield farming for high yields. This is exactly why I use it for. I buy rare and perspective coins e.g. TONCOIN or new tokens.

ByBit is not compliant in Ontario and its security features are unknown, so use ByBit with caution and withdraw your assets from the exchange to a private wallet for safekeeping. If you decide to sign up with ByBit, we will be glad if you our referral link. 

In a recent update, ByBit has announced its decision to exit the Canadian market by October 2023. As an excellent alternative, we highly recommend considering Bitget. With a user-friendly interface resembling ByBit, this reputable crypto exchange offers a seamless trading experience. Moreover, as a special promotion, they are generously providing a promo code that grants you 50 USDT upon a deposit of $500 USD or more if you sign up with our referral link.

If you’d prefer a fully compliant and convenient Canadian crypto exchange there are lots of alternatives, but most of them will not have as low trading fees as ByBit.