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

As of July 15th, 2023, Coinfield's website stopped operating properly for Canadians. Also, their registration status of MSB has been ceased by FINTRAC. As a result, we would recommend avoiding this crypto exchange at the moment. Feel free to check alternatives e.g. Bitget or BitBuy. The review below is outdated, but we have retained it in the event that the crypto exchange resumes proper operations in Canada. More information here. The review below is outdated and kept for educational purposes.

CoinField is an EU-based cryptocurrency exchange that is Canada-friendly. Previously, it was one of the best crypto exchanges to trade in Canada. We signed up to see if CoinField really is worth using. 

CoinField Quick Summary

Previously owned by the founders of cryptocurrency Sologenic, CoinField was recently acquired by Global Fintech Trading LTD (GFT) for an onward sale to Tingo Mobile PLC. Tingo Mobile plans to preinstall the CoinField app on all new mobile phones provided to its subscribers in Africa. 

CoinField is a secure crypto exchange with a robust verification process. It is one of the best places to trade cryptocurrency in Canada. While it offers the usual digital currencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, it does not offer popular coins such Cardano, Solana, or Dogecoin. The full list of coins available are: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Stellar, EOS, TRON, Sologenic, BAT, Mimblewimble, USDT, USDC, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, DigiByte, Golem, OMG, Augur, 0x, Zilliqa, Civic, and Loom.

CoinField has recently announced that it will soon be launching its own crypto – CoinField coin, which will come with a number of benefits for its holders. 

When it comes to fees, CoinField has many. It charges a 2% deposit fee for Interac e-Transfers with a minimum deposit of $100. US dollar wire transfers are free. CoinField charges a 2.5% withdrawal fee using Interac and its maker/taker trading fees are 0.15%/0.25% if your trading volume is less than $50,000 over 30 days. 

CoinField Features

CoinField offers a wide range of cryptocurrency pairs, deposit methods, and it supports a good number of fiat currencies, not just Canadian dollars, which makes it one of the best places to trade cryptocurrency in Canada. It operates in 186 countries including Canada, but not the United States. Those in the EU can take advantage of free and fast SEPA deposits, while Canadians can use Interac e-Transfer.

CoinField is one of the best crypto exchanges. It has a lot of products including its franchise program, where you can buy your own CoinField franchise and operate it in your country. There is also the White Label program where you can purchase the right to use CoinField’s technology but incorporate your own branding. 

CoinField also has a referral program where users can earn Sologenic (SOLO) for referring friends. SOLO holders can also take advantage of cheaper trading fees. 

If you hold SOLO, you can take part in CoinField’s staking program where you can earn between 6-20% rewards per year paid in SOLO. Of course, with CoinField’s new owners and the imminent launch of the CoinField Coin, these rewards may change in the near future. 

CoinField also has an OTC Desk for people wishing to make large trades. You’ll get your own personal account manager and you’ll be able to agree upon the price of your trade beforehand. 

The exchange has a robust mobile app that is suitable for beginner traders and its desktop platform offers advanced trading features for more experienced traders. 

CoinField Registration & Verification Process

CoinField has a robust sign-up process similar to other Canadian exchanges due to regulations. 

What You Need to Open an Account:

• Must be 18+
• A government-issued ID
• Answer employment & financial questions
• A selfie
• Proof of address

A proof of address document can include a bank or credit card statement, mortgage statement, tax document, or a utility bill. No older than three months with the date visible on the document. 

Financial and employment questions include your employment status and industry. You’ll also need to enter your country of birth.

CoinField has a robust verification process but it is a good thing. CoinField is fully compliant with Canadian laws and regulations. During the signup process, you will be asked to enter your email and phone number, plus provide a photo of a government-issued ID, a selfie with a note with today’s date and “For CoinField”, as well as a proof of address document. Verification is necessary in order to trade on CoinField but verification is often instant. In cases where your details must be manually verified, CoinField’s compliance team can take several days to do this. 

CoinField Fees

• Free crypto deposits
• Variable crypto withdrawal fees
• 0.15%/0.25% trading fees
• 2% ($15 min) CAD deposit fee
• 2% ($15 min) CAD withdrawal fee
• 2.95% card processing fee

One of the downsides to CoinField is its fees. In an age where a lot of crypto exchanges are offering free deposits, CoinField does not. There are both deposit and withdrawal fees as well as trading fees. While the trading fees are not that high (0.15%/0.25%), there is a 2% deposit fee and a 2.5% withdrawal fee which can add up. You are also required to deposit a minimum of $100 each time. Still, CoinField does work out cheaper than some “no-fee” exchanges such as Wealthsimple or Shakepay which have much higher trading fees and spreads. 

There are also extremely high crypto withdrawal fees which vary depending on the asset. Most Canadian exchanges offer lower crypto withdrawal fees so this is disappointing. For bitcoin withdrawals there is a fixed 0.0015 BTC fee (a whopping $46) with a minimum withdrawal of 0.004 BTC.

These fees make CoinField expensive to use and there are cheaper alternatives for Canadians.

How Much Does it Really Cost To Trade with Coinfield?

We deposited $150 to our CoinField account and received $135, meaning we already lost $15 or 22.5%. The deposit fees are 2% with a minimum of $15, so we paid $15.

We then bought bitcoin and received 0.0043 BTC or $134.5 worth. This trade cost us $0.49 which included a 0.12% trading fee and the spread of roughly 0.6%.

Due to the high deposit fee, this makes CoinField the most expensive exchange we have used.

Coinfield 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. 

Crypto exchanges that have buy and sell fees will often have lower spreads or none at all than crypto exchanges that advertise no trading fees. 

CoinField makes money on the trading fees and deposit and withdrawal fees, but there is still a spread applied, which we discovered when making our trade. 

We paid roughly 0.6% for the spread which is cheaper than some other exchanges we have used. For example, Newton’s spread is 0.9% but they have free deposits and withdrawals. 

CoinField Liquidity

CoinField claims to have “deep liquidity” and since they have an OTC Desk, making large trades should not be an issue. However, CoinMarketCap gives CoinField a score of just 164 out of 1000 for its BTC/CAD pair, meaning the liquidity is low compared to other exchanges. Bitbuy’s in comparison is 367 for BTC/CAD. CoinField’s 24-hour trade volume is $26.3M.

CoinField Currencies & Deposit Methods

CoinField accepts six fiat currencies including CAD, USD, EUR, GBP, AED, and JPY. Users can deposit fiat into their account using Interac e-Transfer, credit/debit where accepted, and via bank transfer. Interac e-Transfers take between 2-24 hours to complete but is the easiest way for Canadians to deposit funds. 

How Long Do Deposits Take?

Our Interac deposit took 12 hours to appear into our CoinField account. This is considerably longer than other exchanges we have used.

How Long Does it Take to Withdraw Coins?

Crypto withdrawal times can vary depending on the network you use as well network congestion. For bitcoin withdrawals, it should take up to 10 minutes to receive bitcoin in your wallet. 

Many CoinField users have complained of withdrawals taking weeks, however, so withdraw from CoinField with caution. 

If you wish to withdraw fiat, note that CoinField places a 7-day hold on your funds before you’re able to withdraw.

CoinField Security and Safety

Is CoinField safe for Canadians to use? CoinField is one of the safest crypto exchanges in Canada. It has never been hacked. While CoinField may receive bad reviews for their slow customer service, CoinField is certainly a safe and compliant exchange. With CoinField you can have peace of mind knowing you are dealing with an exchange that prides itself on its security and privacy. The exchange utilizes cold storage, secret vaults, multisignature wallets, encryption and isolated servers. Users can enable two-factor authentication on their accounts for extra protection, and users must confirm all withdrawals via email. Signing in on a new device or with a new IP address also triggers a verification email. 

CoinField Mobile and Desktop App

On the Apple App Store, the CoinField app has a 4.4-star rating with almost 500 reviews. On Google Play it has a 3.8-star rating with over 1000 reviews. Some of the worst reviews are people lamenting the high fees and slow processing times. 

Despite this, the CoinField app is easy to use. It looks good, with a dark colour scheme. Its cryptocurrency trading platform offers simple charting, deposits and withdrawals, trading and much more. The mobile app is easier to use than the desktop platform and is better suited for beginners.

CoinField Design and Usability

CoinField’s mobile app is easy to navigate and user-friendly. It offers market information, your wallets and portfolio, the ability to make deposits and withdrawals, and upload documents for the verification process. Overall, it is a well-designed app that offers everything anyone would need to trade. 

On the desktop, you can view your wallets, order history, referrals, staking and more. The platform is well-designed and easy to navigate despite its first impression of being overwhelming for beginners. 

The desktop platform offers a “quick trade” for fast, market price orders, or an advanced trade for those who wish to set limits and stop orders. 

The Advanced Trade option can be daunting for beginners, but if you ignore the charting, it’s actually pretty easy to buy or sell. 

CoinField’s desktop app is slightly more advanced and can be confusing for beginners. However, the platform offers a “quick trade” for fast, market price orders, or an advanced trade for those who wish to set limits and stop orders. 

Simply select your trading pair from the drop-down menu. Then, choose your order type and enter the amount you want to buy.

The CoinField website and desktop platform are not at all as confusing as Binance, which has many drop-down menus and products. CoinField actually has a straight-forward interface and it’s easy to use. 

Quick Trade is simple to use. 

To make a purchase, simply select “quick Trade” from the left menu. Then select the crypto you want to buy. 

The Advanced Trade option can definitely be daunting for beginners, but if you ignore the charting, it’s actually pretty easy to buy or sell. 

The CoinField website and desktop platform are not at all as confusing as Binance, which has many drop-down menus and products. CoinField actually has a straight-forward interface and it’s easy to use. 

On the left of the screen are the menus where you can view your wallets, order history, referrals, staking and portfolio.

CoinField Customer Support

CoinField allows users to submit support tickets either online or via email. It does not offer phone support. Customer support is available on weekdays and weekends, but CoinField does not have the fastest customer support – in some cases it can take days for an answer. You can, however, also get in touch via Twitter if you need urgent support. 

Unfortunately, CoinField has a poor 2.2-star rating on Trustpilot with 62% bad reviews. 

A lot of customers say that they have been waiting weeks to receive their crypto withdrawals.

Does CoinField Offer Staking or Other Services?

CoinField offers staking for CFC holders. If you hold CFC you can receive between 5% to 15% per year in rewards depending on your lock-up period. There is a minimum of 100 CF to participate. CoinField does not offer staking for other cryptocurrencies. 

If you hold CFC you can also receive discounts on trading fees.

Does CoinField Have an OTC Desk?

CoinField has an OTC Desk for people wishing to make large trades. You’ll get your own personal account manager and you’ll be able to agree upon the price of your trade beforehand. 

Does CoinField Restrict or Freeze Accounts?

If CoinField detects anything suspicious on your account then they may freeze or restrict it. It is easy to link wallets with accounts on exchanges since all crypto transactions are recorded on the blockchain. 

If your wallet is connected with criminal activit.y then they can freeze your account. They may also freeze it if you start to trade more frequently or trade unusually large amounts in an effort to protect you in case your account was compromised. 

CoinField does place a 7-day hold on fiat withdrawals to protect you from fraud. This can be frustrating so keep this in mind before selling crypto with CoinField. 

CoinField Alternatives

There are several alternatives to CoinField such as Bitbuy, Coinsmart or NDAX that have more expensive trading fees but cheaper deposits and withdrawals. 

Bitbuy, Coinsmart and NDAX also offer more popular cryptocurrencies, something which CoinField is severely lacking. 

Bitbuy is a regulated Canadian exchange with a solid reputation and excellent security. Fees are based on your trading volume and vary between 0 to 1.5%. 

	CoinField	Bitbuy	NDAX
Trading fees	0.15% / 0.25%	0 to 1.5%	0.2%
Cryptocurrencies	10+	16+	35+
Additional features	OTC Desk, NFT marketplace (soon), CFC staking, franchise, white label	OTC Desk	Staking, OTC Desk
Customer Support	Poor	Good	Poor
Security	Great	Excellent	Good

Common Crypto Exchange Scams Related to Coinfield

Popular crypto scams include copycat websites, fake social media accounts, and phishing emails. These emails, social media accounts and websites look identical to the real thing and the scammers will try to get sensitive information from you such as your passwords or private keys by claiming there is something wrong with your account, asking you to click links, or claiming to offer a free crypto airdrop. 

Always check the email address, social media account and website URL of the exchange you use and make sure you are interacting with the official one. 

Crypto exchange support teams will never reach out to you first, so if someone emails or calls you claiming to be from CoinField or another exchange it is likely a scam.

Never give remote access to your computer to anyone. You will be giving them full access to all your files and sensitive data including passwords. 

Conclusion

CoinField is a strong cryptocurrency exchange and is one of the best places to buy cryptocurrency in Canada. It is one of the safest crypto exchanges, fully compliant, offers a beginner-friendly app and a more advanced desktop platform, but it’s not too overwhelming either. It has staking rewards, a decent referral program, and it will soon launch its own coin. CoinField is a good choice for Canadians because you can deposit and withdraw using Interac e-Transfer, and unlike most Canadian crypto exchanges, CoinField also supports other fiat currencies and deposit methods. 

While its customer service can be slow and you can’t avoid its deposit and withdrawal fees, the fact that CoinField was recently acquired by a company that wishes to preinstall its app on over a million mobile phones is something to boast about. Its founders will now concentrate on the Sologenic project, so it will be interesting to see how CoinField develops with its new owners. 

One of the biggest let-downs of CoinField is the lack of popular cryptocurrencies available. It does not offer Cardano, Solana, Dogecoin, or many others in the top twenty. If it can offer more coins and become available to US residents, then there is nothing stopping CoinField from becoming one of the most popular exchanges in the world. 

As of July 15th, 2023, Coinfield's website stopped operating properly for Canadians. Also, their registration status of MSB has been ceased by FINTRAC. As a result, we would recommend avoiding this crypto exchange at the moment. Feel free to check alternatives e.g. Bitget or BitBuy.