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

VirgoCX is a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2018. VirgoCX is based in Ontario, and offers Canadians an easy way to trade crypto. We tested VirgoCX to see if it’s worth using in 2024, so read on for our VirgoCX review. 

VirgoCX Quick Summary

VirgoCX offers Canadians the ability to trade over 50 cryptocurrencies. Free Interac e-Transfer and wire deposits and withdrawals from Canadian and US banks are accepted. Processing times for Interac deposits and withdrawals are instant while wire deposits and withdrawals take up to 24 hours. 

As a fully regulated Canadian exchange, VirgoCX is also secure. It has insurance and conducts regular audits of its reserves. 

VirgoCX has an NFT marketplace, OTC services to trade large amounts of crypto, and a foreign currency exchange should you wish to convert your fiat. 

Features

VirgoCX offers a Quick Trade option which is suitable for beginners and anyone looking to buy or sell crypto quickly at market price. The advanced trading platform is suitable for more experienced traders and anyone wanting more advanced order types.

There is also an OTC Desk for people who wish to place large buy and sell orders (over $30k). This feature is called VirgoCX Wealth. It is especially useful for those wanting a personalized trading experience when making large trades. You’ll get your own personal account manager when using this service.

Another feature of VirgoCX is its NFT marketplace. Users can browse, buy, sell and mint NFTs. The NFTs can be bought with Ethereum. 

Finally, VirgoCX has a fiat currency converter for anybody wanting to trade CAD for USD, or another fiat currency. 

For those new to crypto, VirgoCX offers a helpful learning centre full of educational articles and guides. 

Registration & Verification Process

Registering on VirgoCX is a fairly simple process. First, you need to enter your email address and password and verify your email.

To trade on VirgoCX you will need to verify your account, which is a much longer process.

You will need to enter quite a lot of personal details including your name, address, phone number, salary and employment information and source of funds. 

After completing these fields, you’ll need to provide images of your government-issued ID.

Once you have completed these steps, a member of the compliance team will manually check your documents. You will receive an email when your account has been verified. 

Fees

• Free CAD deposits and withdrawals
• Free crypto deposits

While VirgoCX has free fiat deposits and withdrawals, the trading fees can potentially be higher than other crypto exchanges. Similar to Wealthsimple Crypto and Shakepay, VirgoCX acts as a broker, so when you buy, sell and trade crypto you are not trading with other users, rather VirgoCX itself. VirgoCX, therefore buys crypto and sells it to its users at a slightly higher price than the market rate. This price difference is called the spread and it is how VirgoCX makes money. 

The spread can be seen before you confirm trades on the VirgoCX platform. It varies depending on the price of the asset at the time you make the trade.

Currencies & deposit methods

VirgoCX offers free CAD Interac e-Transfer and wire deposits. You can also deposit US dollars from US banks using wire transfer. Fat withdrawals are also free. Credit and debit cards are not accepted. 

Security and safety

Is VirgoCX safe to use? Yes, we think so. VirgoCX offers $1 Million in crime insurance coverage with Coinbase Custody. Should the exchange be compromised, VirgoCX could potentially refund any customers’ stolen coins. 

VirgoCX’s crypto assets are held in cold storage with Coinbase Custody and only a small amount are kept on the platform for trading. All fiat assets are held with their Canadian banking partner, though it is not mentioned who the partner is. However, we always recommend trasnferring all teh fund your own Canadian crypto wallet. Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins.

You can trade with peace of mind with VirgoCX because the exchange is registered with FINTRAC and PIPEDA. Therefore, it is fully compliant in Canada. VirgoCX also has regular audits which prove that its reserves exist. Suspicious activities are also monitored. You will have to enter a verification code sent to your email every time you login to your VirgoCX account. You can also set up Two-Factor Authentication such as Google Authenticator to make your account more secure, as well as a password that must be entered before every trade.

Mobile and Desktop App

Conveniently, VirgoCX offers a Quick Trade feature for when you want to buy crypto quickly at market price. The Quick Trade option is on the homepage of the website, so you can’t miss it. 

The advanced trading platform is accessible when you click the Trade button at the top of the website. Here, more experienced users can find advanced charting tools and more order types including limit orders. 

Trading pairs for both CAD and USD are viewable in the top-left corner. 

When logged in to your account, you can access the platform’s dashboard. 

Here, you can view your portfolio, transaction history, fund your account and export your data. 

You can also buy and sell crypto easily with the Quick Trade feature. 

VirgoCX has a mobile app for both iPhone and Android users. On iOS, the VirgoCX app has a 3.8-star rating from 48 reviews. On Google Play it does not currently have a rating but has many positive reviews. Some reviewers say the verification process takes a long time, but others say the app is easy to use and reliable. 

The mobile is simple to use and intuitive. It features market information, the ability to use the platform’s Quick Trade and Advanced Trade options, plus you can fund your account with either CAD or USD within the app. 

On the homepage of the app, your portfolio is shown so you can see exactly how much crypto you have. VirgoCX’s mobile app is one of the simplest we have used.

Customer support

If you need help, you can contact VirgoCX’s support team via email or live chat 24/7. They also offer multi-language support. Not many exchanges offer live chat.

Conclusion

VirgoCX is a beginner-friendly Canadian crypto exchange. The trading platform and app are well-designed and simple to use. The advanced features makes VirgoCX good for experienced investors and the OTC Desk is perfect for those wanting to make large trades.

While the NFT marketplace is a nice feature, there are not many NFT collections there. Additionally, the NFTs are listed in Ethereum (ETH), meaning you will pay high gas fees for purchasing these NFTs. 

VirgoCX is a secure and compliant crypto exchange so it can be used with peace of mind. Free deposits and withdrawals make VirgoCX appealing, but watch out for potentially high spreads. We think VirgoCX is definitely a good exchange for Canadians who want simplicity and a large number of cryptocurrencies. However, there are certainly other Canadian crypto exchanges that are just as simple to use that have lower spreads. For example, Bitbuy offers fewer coins but lower spreads which will save you a lot.