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

WonderFi and Bitbuy, its parent company, took over all Coinberry client accounts in 2023. This means Coinberry is now part of Bitbuy and isn't taking new sign-ups. If you're interested, sign up at Bitbuy instead. By using our referral link to sign up and depositing $250 in your account, you can receive a bonus of $50. Please note that the review content provided below is now outdated and is preserved solely for educational and historical reference.

Coinberry is a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that is becoming more popular. We created an account to see if it’s worth using. In 2023, Bitbuy bought Coinberry, so it’s basically the same platform now.

Here is our Coinberry review.

Coinberry Summary

Toronto-based Coinberry offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies. The exchange is dedicated to making crypto accessible to Canadians. With Coinberry, you can purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Kyber Network, yearn.finance, Compound, BAT, Aave, Chainlink, Uniswap, Balancer, Synthetix, Curve, Polkadot, and Dogecoin. There are free deposits and fiat withdrawals but the trading fees are on the high side (up to 2.5%). You can buy crypto with an Interac e-Transfer or bank transfer, but not credit or debit cards.

 

Coinberry Features

Coinberry offers Canadians a simple-to-use trading platform to purchase cryptocurrency. Simply send an Interac e-Transfer or a bank transfer and you can buy crypto in minutes. 

With Coinberry, you can set up autotrading where your desired order will execute automatically on the days and times you specify. This is helpful if you have a dollar cost average (DCA) strategy where you buy crypto at regular intervals e.g. weekly. 

Coinberry allows you to accept crypto payments and tips via Coinberry Pay. You’ll get a unique oay link and once the crypto is deposited it will automatically be converted to Canadian dollars.

Does Coinberry Offer Staking or Other Services?

Coinberry does not offer any additional features such as staking or Visa cards. 

Does Coinberry Have an OTC Desk?

Coinberry does not currently have an OTC Desk for larger trades for Canadians.

Coinberry Registration & Verification

What You Need to Open an Account:

• Must be 18+
• A government-issued ID
• Face captured video
• Answer questionnaire

The verification process at Coinberry is the same as other Canadian crypto exchanges. It is a straightforward process. You will need to provide a government-issued ID, a selfie, and proof of address in order to trade with Coinberry.

First, sign up with your email, phone and password. Then, you can upload one of your identity documents. If you’re using a desktop you’ll be prompted to scan a QR code with your phone which will open a secure web link. Then, take a picture of your ID document with your phone’s camera.

Once you’ve uploaded your document, you’ll be prompted to make a quick video of yourself performing the action requested e.g. looking over your right shoulder and saying some numbers. This type of verification is becoming more common and replacing the usual selfie required.

Once you’ve gone through these steps, you will need to answer eight questions related to your finances, employment and investment intentions. These questions can feel quite intrusive. Coinberry asks what percentage of your net liquid assets you intend to invest in crypto among other things.

These sorts of questions are supposedly to help put limits on your account to protect you, as well as comply with regulations, but Coinberry, as with any business, will also want to gather as much data about their customers as they can get away with.

We have signed up to numerous Canadian crypto exchanges and Coinberry asks the most questions related to employment, finances and investing.

 

Coinberry Fees

• 0% CAD funding
•  0% CAD withdrawal fees
• 0% to 2.5% Spread 
• 0.02 fixed fee for LTC withdrawal
• Crypto withdrawal fees to cover mining costs

Free deposits and withdrawals is great and you can easily transfer Canadian dollars without worrying about exchange fees. However, Coinberry has some of the highest fees we’ve seen of any crypto exchange in Canada. Up to 2.5% spread is very high. Typical trading fees are just 0.2%, so keep this in mind if you wish to trade with Coinberry. 

Coinberry 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. 

Coinberry describes itself as a trading platform rather than an exchange. When using Coinberry, you are buying and selling from them directly, rather than other individuals like yourself. Coinberry can therefore set the buy and ask price themselves and this is how they make money. 

Coinberry has a spread of between 0 to 2.5%, which is quite high. The spread can also be affected by the liquidity of an asset. The higher the liquidity and volume of a cryptocurrency, the smaller the spread. 

How Much Does it Really Cost To Trade With Coinberry?

We deposited $120 into our Coinberry account. Since deposits are free we received the full amount. 

We bought bitcoin with our money and Coinberry gave us a preview of our order before we submitted it. The total fees including the spread was $3.00 or 2.5%, which is high. Had we made this purchase at Newton we would have paid a total fee of just $1.08 or 0.90%.

Coinberry Currencies & Deposit methods

• Interac e-Transfer
• Wire transfer

You can make free deposits using Canadian dollars via Interac e-Transfer or bank transfer, but you cannot buy crypto with credit or debit cards. 

How Long Do Deposits Take?

Our deposit via Interac e-Transfer took five minutes to be deposited into our Coinberry account.

How Long Does it Take to Withdraw Coins?

Withdrawals depend on the network and to withdraw bitcoin to a private wallet takes only a few minutes but can take up to 10 minutes.

Coinberry Security and Safety

• Funds insured for $200m by Gemini Trust Company LLC™
• Up to 97% of coins held in cold storage

Is Coinberry safe for Canadians to use? Yes, definitely. Coinberry has a $200M insurance policy with Gemini Trust Company LLC™ and it states on its website that it is backed by a “financial insurance bond” which covers any unethical acts from Coinberry employees. Additionally, Coinberry is registered with FINTRAC and is PIPEDA-compliant. Coinberry implements military-grade encryption and keeps up to 97% of its coins in cold storage, which is one of the higher percentages we’ve seen. 

Coinberry Mobile and Desktop app

Coinberry’s iOS app has a 4.5-star rating with 5,000 reviews. Its Android app has a 3.1-star rating with 1,000 reviews. Some people have complained about Coinberry taking too long to withdraw funds, having a slow verification process and being unable to login to the app. 

The Coinberry platform is suitable for beginners with its simple and modern layout. It offers a pleasant trading experience. Simply click the buy button and you can use the funds in your fiat wallet to purchase crypto. View your portfolio, simple charting and your referrals in your dashboard. Coinberry does not have many features, which makes its platform suitable for beginner traders. 

To buy crypto, simply fund your account by clicking the “fund” button at the top of your dashboard. 

Choose your payment method and follow the steps. If choosing Interac, you will need to login to your online banking and send an e-transfer. Remember to include the reference number in the message box. 

Once your account is funded, hit the “buy” button. Next, choose your crypto from the list then enter the type of order you want and how much you want to buy. 

You can choose from a market order or a limit order.

Coinberry Customer support

Customers can message the Coinberry support team online or via email. It offers 24/7 support and a helpful FAQ section on the website. Coinberry has mixed reviews with some people praising their customer support and others saying they have had unresolved issues. However, we submitted a support ticket and received a helpful response within minutes.

Coinberry Consumer Ratings, Reports & Reviews on Other Platforms

Coinberry has an average 3.6-star rating on Trustpilot and 47% excellent reviews.

Many customers feel happy with Coinberry’s service and professional help from the support team.

However, there are some people who have had trouble withdrawing assets.

Does Coinberry Restrict or Freeze Accounts?

Some people have written reviews of Coinberry stating that their accounts have been blocked. As with a lot of exchanges, reasoning is mostly unknown, but usually it is due to suspicious activity or the user has not provided sufficient verification documents. In this situation, their compliance team will ask you to submit additional documents and manually review them. During this time you will be unable to use your account.

Any crypto exchange has the ability to freeze your account if they suspect suspicious behaviour such as trading larger amounts, or more frequently, than usual. 

If you are linked with criminal behaviour you may find your account frozen as well. 

Can Coinberry Track where you Receive and Send Crypto?

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

Before trading on a crypto exchange you must provide identity documents so Coinberry, canlink a wallet on the blockchain with someone’s identity. This information can easily be passed onto law enforcement if requested. 

This is how the Canadian government was able to freeze accounts of the protestors during the “Freedom Convoy” earlier this year. 

Coinberry Alternatives

There are many Canadian crypto exchanges to choose from. We recommend Bitbuy or NDAX as alternatives to Coinberry.

CoinSmart’s trading fees are just 0.2% and they offer the ability to trade crypto to crypto pairs without having to sell to Bitcoin or Ethereum first. 

NDAX also has low trading fees, staking, and a wide range of cryptocurrencies. 

	Coinberry	CoinSmart	NDAX
Trading fees	0 to 2.5%	0.2%	0.2%
Cryptocurrencies	20+	16+	35+
Additional features	None	OTC Desk, Invoicing in crypto	Staking, OTC Desk
Customer Support	Good	Good	Poor
Security	Good	Good	Good

Common Crypto Exchange Scams with Coinberry

Some common crypto exchange scams include phishing emails, fake websites and social media accounts, and fake airdrops. 

They will include the same logos and branding, same layout and text. It’s easy to fall victim to these types of scams because of how well they can resemble the look of the real exchange. 

In phishing emails, scammers might claim that there is a problem with your account and encourage you to send them sensitive information such as passwords.

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. 

An airdrop is free crypto sent directly to your wallet. Sometimes scammers will ask you to send them crypto first in exchange for more valuable crypto in return. This is a scam. Never send crypto to anyone you don’t know. 

Coinberry Liquidity

Coinberry does not list information about their liquidity but since they are a broker they have third-party liquidity providers. Should you make a large trade, Coinberry can source liquidity from one of their partners.

Conclusion

Is legit? Coinberry is a simple and easy-to-use platform that is suitable for beginner traders. With its free deposits and withdrawals and the fact that you can connect your Canadian bank account, it makes the process of buying crypto simple. It’s also fully compliant and has some of the best security we’ve seen. However, the trading fees are some of the highest out there. There are far cheaper alternatives that are also Canadian and beginner-friendly. While Coinberry offers popular cryptocurrencies, it is lacking in the features department as well. You can’t do much other than trade. For these reasons, we think you should give Coinberry a miss and perhaps check out other Canadian exchanges such as Bitbuy or Binance instead. Both of them offer lower fees, great security, and simple trading platforms with a host of features.