Newton Review: We Spent $100 To Fully Test Their Crypto Trading Platform

Newton is a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange so we signed up to try it out and see if it’s worth using and let’s see how is Newton compared to BitBuy which is the #1 crypto exchange in Canada. Here’s our Newton review.

Quick Summary

Named after Sir Issac Newton, Newton is Canada’s first “no-fee” cryptocurrency exchange. Usually, if an exchange offers free fiat deposits and withdrawals, they still charge for crypto withdrawals and trades to cover mining costs and network fees. With Newton, none of that exists. 

On Newton’s exchange, you can make deposits via Interac e-Transfer and you have a wide choice of coins to choose from. You can purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, USDC, Chainlink, Aave, Axie Infinity, Yearn.Finance, BAT, Pax Gold, Uniswap, Enjin Coin, QCAD, Polygon, Compound, SushiSwap, Curve, Synthetix, Dai, Maker Dao, Polkadot and more. They’ve added over 30 new coins in 2023 and they keep adding them in 2024.

Features

Newton has a clean, beginner-friendly interface. Its modern, yet professional look makes it appealing for first-time investors. The exchange offers slightly more advanced charting and orders than you might normally get for a beginner-friendly exchange. When clicking on the name of a cryptocurrency, you are presented with this screen which may seem a little daunting for those just getting started. 

Newton Pro is currently in beta mode. Newton Pro will feature all the advanced order types and charting that experienced investors look for. It will have some of the lowest spreads and maker and taker fees out there. Once this launches, Newton will become a true contender as one of the cheapest Canadian crypto exchanges. 

Newton’s main feature, however, is its no-fee stance. It’s rare to find a cryptocurrency exchange that doesn’t at least charge you the full cost of network fees, but Newton covers them up to $5.

Newton is only suitable for Canadian residents, but Canadians are able to access the trading platform outside of Canada. 

Registration & Verification

What You Need to Open an Account with Newton Crypto:

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

Registering on Newton is a simple process. First, enter your email address and a password. Confirm your email and then you’ll be asked to set up two-factor authentication. It’s good that Newton forces you to do this because it helps keep your account secure. Unfortunately, not enough people take advantage of 2FA. 

Next, you’ll need to fill out more personal details such as name and date of birth, then provide images of a government-issued ID. Next, you’ll need to move your head to have your face captured by their software. There’s no selfie needed. We were automatically verified and could start depositing funds to Newton right away. Usually, we would need to upload additional documents such as proof of address, so verifying on Newton was a breeze. 

Fees

Newton doesn’t charge for fiat deposits and withdrawals. There’s no commission or trading fees and they cover network fees up to $5 when making crypto withdrawals. When network fees are high you will have to pay the remainder. 

 

• 0% CAD funding
• 0% CAD withdrawal
• 0% crypto deposit/withdrawals (up to $5 network fee waived)
• No commissions or trading fees
• Medium to high spreads

How Does Newton Make Money?

Newton makes money on the spread. This is the difference between the buy and sell price, and Newton claims that because they buy and sell directly from users, it allows them to take advantage of the difference. Newton technically isn’t a crypto exchange, it’s a broker. With a crypto exchange, users buy and sell from each other, but with a broker such as Newton, it buys from its users and sells to them itself with a difference between the buy and sell price. This difference (the spread) is what makes Newton money. 

Newton proudly claims that their platform is 2-3x lower than other crypto exchanges available for Canadians. For comparison to other “no fee” Canadian exchanges, Shakepay’s spread is between 1.2% to 2.5% and Wealthsimple’s is 1.5% to 2%, which does make Newton the cheaper option. 

Spreads with Newton

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. 

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

Newton is transparent about its spreads, which are updated on their website. The higher the liquidity and volume of a cryptocurrency, the smaller the spread. For bitcoin, the total spread fluctuates around 0.90%. This spread is lower than CoinSmart’s at 2.1%, but much higher than Bitbuy’s at 0.20%. 

How Much Does it Really Cost To Trade Crypto with Newton?

We bought $100 worth of bitcoin. When making the trade we received $99.10 worth meaning we lost $0.90 or 0.90% to the spread. We know that Newton does not charge a commission or trading fees, so this amount was the spread alone. 

To withdraw our 0.00352 BTC that we received to a private wallet, Newton covered most of the network fee. This gesture is something we have not seen elsewhere and it meant we lost only $0.03 for withdrawing our crypto.

Newton Liquidity

Newton claims traders can access “millions of dollars in trading volume”, but there are no specific details about its liquidity. If you’re looking to make a large trade, then you could reach out to their support team first, to check if there is sufficient liquidity. 

Currencies And Deposit Methods

Newton only accepts fiat deposits in Canadian dollars. You can make deposits via Interac e-Transfer, pre-approved debit cards, wire transfer, and crypto. You can also directly link your bank account to make faster deposits and to reduce the risk of fraud. 

How Long Do Deposits Take on Newton?

Our deposit via Interac e-Transfer took about 35 minutes to arrive into our Newton account.

How Long Does it Take to Withdraw Coins with Newton?

Withdrawals depend on the network and to withdraw bitcoin to a private wallet takes only a few minutes. We received our bitcoin within five minutes.

Security and Safety

Is Newton safe for Canadians to use? Newton is compliant with FINTRAC regulations in Canada. They also perform daily site backups, have offline third-party storage for digital assets, and they allow their customers to directly connect their bank account to reduce fraud.

However, Newton doesn’t give any details about what percentage of the digital assets are kept in cold storage. This is something we would appreciate more transparency about. For example, Bitbuy clearly states these details, as a result, we would consider Bitbuy over Newton when it comes to security & safety. 

Newton has mandatory two-factor authentication. You must download the Authy app and enter the verification code every time you log in to your account. This is to protect its users and ensure that no one else is using your account.

Mobile and Desktop app

Newton’s app offers a beginner-friendly interface. Its iOS app has a rating of 4.4 stars with 5.6k reviews, and its Android app has a rating of 2.9 stars with 900 reviews. Some users of Newton’s Android app have complained of deposits taking too long to show up, slow customer service, and a frustrating login process. 

Design and Usability

Newton’s overall design is clean and modern. They also usual casual and friendly language. It doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, which is refreshing. At first glance, Newton seems user-friendly and fairly simple.

Once you’re logged in, there’s not much to see.

You can select to add or withdraw funds or click on the name of any of their coins to see charting information. 

Using the menu in the top-right corner, you can access support, account settings, your 2FA method, and connect your bank account. 

The app is almost exactly the same, the only difference being the layout is optimized for mobiles. 

To make a deposit using the desktop platform, use the right-hand sidebar and select “add funds”.

Then, you can select Interac, wire transfer or crypto as your preferred deposit method.

If using Interac, select it, then you will see a box to enter the amount you wish to deposit.

Enter the amount, make sure your email address displayed is correct and it “send fund request”.

You will then receive an email from Newton. Your bank’s logo should be displayed in the email. Click on it, and it will redirect you to your online banking where you can follow the steps to complete the transfer.

All necessary details will be automatically filled, so you only need to confirm the transfer. 

Once your funds have been deposited, you can begin trading. In your dashboard, select the crypto you wish to buy. Then, you’ll be redirected to the trading platform where you can submit a limit order.

If you want to buy using a market order, you can select the arrows icon in the sidebar.

Enter the amount you want to buy and hit review trade. 

Customer support

Newton has a knowledge base on its website that can answer common questions you might have. However, when clicking the “get help” button, a virtual assistant chat box pops up. This is rather frustrating if you are looking to directly contact Newton. 

To submit a support ticket, you have to go to the knowledge centre and then click the “submit a request” button at the top of the page. Their support team is available on weekdays and weekends. We reached out to see how quickly the support team would respond and they replied within an impressive four hours. 

Newton Consumer Ratings, Reports & Reviews on Other Platforms

Newton has an impressive 4.1-star rating on Trustpilot and 59% excellent reviews. Users seem to applaud Newton’s fast and helpful customer support as well as their fast withdrawals.

When users leave a negative review, Newton is quick to respond, trying to resolve the issue.

Does Newton Offer Staking or Other Services?

Newton does not offer any notable features such as staking or Visa cards. It offers a referral program where you cand your friend can earn $25 each when they fund their account. 

Does Newton Have an OTC Desk?

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

Does Newton Restrict or Freeze Accounts?

It is not common for Newton users to have their accounts frozen. However, Newton has the power to do so if they suspect suspicious activity on 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. 

Crypto exchanges try to protect their customers, so if they suspect someone else is using your account, they may freeze it until you contact them to reactivate it. You may have to prove you were the one making the trades.

Can Newton Track where you Receive and Send Crypto?

Newton and any crypto exchange can track where you have received and sent crypto. Crypto trades are recorded on the blockchain for anyone to see. This information includes time and date, amount sent and both “to” and “from” wallet addresses.

Before trading on a crypto exchange you must provide identity documents. It is therefore not too difficult to link a wallet on the blockchain with someone’s identity. This is how the Canadian government was able to freeze accounts of the protestors during the “Freedom Convoy” earlier this year. 

Newton Alternatives

There are many Canadian crypto exchanges and if Newton isn’t for you we recommend CoinSmart or NDAX.

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. 

	Newton	BitBuy	NDAX
Trading fees	0 (high spread)	0%-0.2%	0.2%
Cryptocurrencies	70+	16+	35+
Additional features	None	OTC Desk, Invoicing in crypto	Staking, OTC Desk
Customer Support	Great	Amazing	Poor
Security	Questionable	Top notch	Good

Common Crypto Exchange Scams Related to Newton

When you leave your digital assets on a crypto exchange you are leaving them vulnerable to theft. Even some of the most popular crypto exchanges such as Binance and Crypto.com have fallen victim to hacks. It’s therefore best to move your crypto to a private wallet. For recommendations on the best wallets to use, see our detailed guide. 

Customers of crypto exchanges can also fall victim to common crypto scams such as phishing emails. These emails resemble real emails from crypto exchanges and it can be hard to tell apart the fake one from a real one. 

In these emails, scammers might claim that there is a problem with your account and encourage you to click a link that takes you to a scam website. The link may also download a virus to infect your computer which steals private keys and your passwords to crypto exchanges. 

Always double check the official website URL and email addresses of the crypto exchange before logging in and don’t click on any links from people you don’t recognize. 

Another common scam are fake social media accounts. There are several fake Newton accounts on Twitter and Facebook, so if you’re not careful you could fall victim to scams such as a fake airdrop. With these, a scammer encourages you to connect your wallet to receive free coins except they steal your crypto instead. 

Scam social media accounts also include fake support teams that encourage you to provide sensitive information to resolve your issue. With this information they may be able to access your exchange account.

Always double check the official social media account of the crypto exchange you are using. Newton has a blue check mark meaning it is verified. 

A fake Newton account does not have the blue check as seen below. 

Conclusion

Newton is a refreshing and modern cryptocurrency exchange for Canadians. The fact that it has no fees and tight spreads is a huge plus. Its sleek platform and mobile app make it a joy to use. We liked the efficient automatic verification process and Newton’s serious stance on security. 

While its Android app has let some users down, the iOS app and desktop platform are simple enough to use and soon Newton Pro will be available which will offer more advanced features. We were also hugely impressed by their swift response from their customer service team. 

Overall, Newton is an impressive Canadian crypto exchange and it is a must-try for any beginner looking to buy cryptocurrency in Canada. Get free $25 if you trade more than $100 CAD in volume by using our sign-up link.

If are looking for Newton alternatives, check out BitBuy review.

You can also check our video: