Gate.io Review: Is It A Scam Or A Legit Crypto Exchange For Canadians?

Launched in 2013, Gate.io is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world with $12 billion+ daily trading volume. No surprise, Gate.io has tons of altcoins and fees are extremely low. The interface is not beginner-friendly and this is the most common reason why many people give up on Gate.io. But if you figure out how to use it (it’s quite easy though), you will get access to 1000+ of crypto altcoins.  I constantly use them just only for this purpose. We created an account to see if it’s worth using for Canadians in 2024.

Just to save your time, Canada is on the list of disallowed countries under Gate.io terms same as the US and many other counties. Because of this, they can randomly block your account at any time so we WOULD NOT recommend using it. If you are looking for a similar exchange, we would recommend using Bitget or Kucoin instead or checking our list of the best crypto exchanges in Canada. 

If you are still interested in using them, here is our Gate.io review.

Gate.io Summary

Gate.io offers many trading features including spot trading, futures trading, loans and crypto staking. It also offers its own chain – Gatechain, with its own native token – GateToken (GT). With low maker/taker trading fees of 0.2%/0.2%, you can get even lower fees if you hold GateToken. The more you hold, the cheaper your fees.

To buy crypto with Gate.io, you can deposit crypto for free, use a credit card using a third-party provider such as Coinify, or connect your USD bank account to the OTC desk. With OTC, the trading fee is 3.5% plus a $30 wire fee for trades of up to $2,000. The more you trade the cheaper your fees. You can purchase BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, EOS, ETC, USDT, TUSD, PAX and USDC with the OTC desk. You can trade these for 1000+ of altcoins on the Gate.io exchange. 

Gate.io Features

Gate.io has many features similar to other large exchanges such as Bitget. You can do spot trading, leverage trading, trade futures contracts, lend crypto, and more. Keep in mind that not all of these services are available to Canadians due to regulations. However, Canadians still use them since there is no way to block them unless Gate.io disables them.

There is a “big data” market tracker where you can see the market fear and greed index as well as other data such as liquidations and contract positions. If you’ve never seen data about crypto markets before, this information can be quite eye opening. You can see how people feel about the crypto market at any given time. For example, if more people think it will dip or crash, there will be more short positions open. 

To swap crypto instantly, you can use the Flash Swap option. It allows you to trade one crypto for another in just one click. 

To earn interest on your crypto you can provide liquidity to the liquidity pools. For example, providing liquidity for the NFTb/ETH pool will get you 2199% APR. 

Gate.io also has its own NFT marketplace where you can buy, sell, and mint NFTs.

There is also a new feature called copy trading where you can copy the trading strategies of Gate.io’s top earning traders. 

Gate.io also has a referral program where you can earn 40% commissions on your friends’ trades. If you decide to try them, we will highly appreciate it if you use our referral link to sign up 😉 

Gate.io Registration & Verification For Canadians

In order to use all of the features on Gate.io you will need to verify your account. First, sign up to Gate.io with a username, email and password. Once you’ve verified your email you can navigate to the verification page in your dashboard. Here, you can select to verify yourself either as an individual or as a business. 

Next, upload the front and back of your government-issued ID.

Then, upload a selfie with you holding a note your name and date and your ID. Many people feel cautious about this step but it’s a common practice for big crypto exchanges.

To verify your business, you will need to provide the same documentation as an individual in addition to your business license. 

Gate.io Fees

Fees on Gate.io vary depending on what type of trade you are making, how much your 30-day volume is, and whether or not you hold GateToken. It’s one of the lowest in the industry.

• Free crypto deposits 
• Some free crypto withdrawals minus network fees
• Other various crypto withdrawal fees
• 0.2%/0.2% maker/taker fees
• 0.15%/1.5% maker/taker fees when paid in GT
• Lower trading fees when holding 100+ GT or 0.05+ BTC
• $30 + 3.5% bank transfer for up to $2,000 (USD only)
• Various third-party fees for card payments

Gate.io Currencies & Deposit Methods

• Credit/debit card using third-party service
• USD bank transfer to OTC desk
• Crypto deposits

While Gate.io has many great features and thousands of altcoins to trade, it’s not so easy for Canadians to deposit fiat currency. If you’re an individual not a business, you are only allowed to connect a bank account that supports USD. Even business accounts on Gate.io do not support Canadian dollars. 

You can use a credit/debit card (where accepted) on any of the third party services mentioned on Gate.io. These include Coinify, Banxa and Simplex. Keep in mind that your Canadian bank may or may not allow the transaction. We had no problem depositing fiat though but there is a better way to avoid third-party fees.

The simplest (and cheapest) way to trade on Gate.io is to purchase crypto on a Canadian-friendly crypto exchange and then send your crypto to Gate.io to trade for the altcoin of your choice. I use Bitget for such a purpose, it’s probably the fastest and cheapest crypto exchange in Canada and extremely easy to transfer to Gate.io account. Gate.io is very similar to Bitget in this sense. It’s perfect for trading your crypto for another crypto, but not so great for buying crypto directly unless you are okay with potentially high card fees.

Gate.io Security and safety

Is Gate.io safe for Canadians to use? Yes, Gate.io is quite a reputable exchange. Forbes Advisor gave it a 4.5-star rating and named it one of the best crypto exchanges of 2021. Gate.io utilizes hot and cold storage to keep customer funds safe. On its website, Gate.io says it is the first exchange to invest millions in security and law funds. They also claim to be fully compliant and certain features such as futures trading is not available to Canadians because of regulations. They can block your account at any time.

To secure your account, you can enable two-factor authentication. 

We would also recommend just transferring all your crypto assets to your personal crypto wallet. In this case, your assets will be as safe as possible. Not your keys, not your coins.

Gate.io Mobile and Desktop app

Gate.io’s iOS app has a 2.5-star rating from 700 reviews and a 2.5-star rating from 10,000 reviews on Google Play. It is quite low, we would recommend using a desktop app.

Many reviewers have said that they cannot log in, that the 2FA does not work, you are often sent to blank pages and overall a bad user interface. We never had such issues though. 

The UI is the same as the desktop trading platform, but simply fits into a phone-sized screen. Features are not simplified much, so there is no difference in ease of use when using either desktop or mobile. 

The desktop version is just as complicated and therefore not really suitable for beginners. It offers many advanced charts and trading features. 

However, if you’re looking to simply trade one crypto to another as fast and as easy as possible, then you can use the flash swap option. Flash swap is perfect for beginners.

Gate.io Customer support

There is a helpful help centre and blog on the Gate.io website which teaches you how to use their many features. They also have a live chat function and you can submit a support request when you’re logged in. Unfortunately, Gate.io has many bad reviews on Trustpilot with people complaining that they are unable to withdraw or that customer service is slow or does not respond. 

Conclusion

Is Gate.io legit? Yes, it is. While it’s not so easy or cheap for Canadians to purchase crypto directly, you can deposit crypto for free. Gate.io is one of the better exchanges for trading altcoins because there are 1000+ cryptocurrencies available. However, Canada is on the list of disallowed countries under their terms so we would recommend not to use it. If you are looking for a similar exchange, we’d recommend Bitget or Kucoin. If you are a beginner, then we would recommend skipping on both and using Bitbuy, which is designed specifically for Canadians and extremely easy to use. 

Indeed, Gate.io has many great tools and trading options, although not all of them are available to Canadians. Still, it’s fun to browse the NFT marketplace and the copy trading and big data tools are interesting features. 

It’s not the best for Canadians due to the many limitations we mentioned in this Gate.io review. If you decide to use Gate.io we will highly appreciate if you use our referral link to sign up.