Is Wealthsimple Crypto safe? Our 2026 review
Updated November 2026. Checked against the regulators' registers and each platform's own pages.
Who pays us: Wealthsimple doesn't pay us. We have no affiliate or referral deals in place yet, so the link below earns us nothing. How we make money
Wealthsimple homepage, cropped to logo and menu
What this proves: Wealthsimple's crypto page states a flat fee of 0.5% plus spread on trades.
2 more screenshots of its own pages in the review below
Wealthsimple Crypto is run by an investment dealer and CIRO member, the heaviest level of oversight for a Canadian crypto platform. It charges a flat 0.5% fee plus a spread it doesn't publish, and some of its coins can't be sent out to your own wallet.
- Registered as
- Investment dealer, CIRO member
- Company
- Wealthsimple Investments Inc.
- Trading fee
- 0.5% plus spread
- Orders under $100
- $1 surcharge
- Crypto protected by CIPF
- No
Good
- Investment dealer and CIRO member
- Most client crypto held in cold storage by regulated custodians
- Limit orders carry no spread
- Crypto sits in the same app as your other Wealthsimple accounts
Watch out
- Market orders include a spread Wealthsimple doesn't publish
- $1 surcharge on every order under $100
- Some listed coins can't be deposited or withdrawn
Opens the official Wealthsimple site · Crypto is high risk and prices can fall to zero
Wealthsimple has the joint 2nd lowest stated cost of 8 platforms that publish one
$5 on a $1,000 buy using Limit order, by its own fee page.
See every platform
- NDAX$2
- Bitbuy$5
- Wealthsimple$5
- Coinsquare$5
- Kraken$8
- Robinhood$9.50
- Webull$10
- Newtonup to $11.50
- ShakepaySpread, size not published
- CoinbaseSpread on simple buys; Advanced rate shown only after sign-in
- Crypto.comSpread on app buys; Advanced base rate not published
- Netcoins0.5% fee plus a market spread of unpublished size
From each platform's own Canadian fee pages. Full table: crypto fees compared.
Wealthsimple is best known for investing and banking, and it also lets you buy and sell crypto in the same app. On the regulatory side, its crypto business sits with one of the most tightly supervised types of firm in the country.
Is Wealthsimple registered in Canada?
Yes. Wealthsimple’s crypto page says Wealthsimple Crypto is offered by Wealthsimple Investments Inc., “a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO).” Its crypto risk disclosure adds that the company is registered as an investment dealer and an investment fund manager. It’s also registered as a money services business.
The regulators’ register lists Wealthsimple Investments Inc. as an investment dealer, with its latest decision dated 22 December 2025. Its crypto business used to run through a separate company, Wealthsimple Digital Assets Inc. The register shows that registration expired on 1 January 2024, the day Wealthsimple Investments Inc. took over.
Investment dealer status is the higher of the two types of registration for crypto platforms in Canada. You can compare it with the other platforms on our registered list.
How Wealthsimple holds your crypto
Wealthsimple’s risk disclosure names three custodians: Tetra Trust Company in Calgary, Coinbase Custody Trust Company in New York and BitGo Trust Company in South Dakota. It says crypto held by custodians is kept in cold storage, offline, and that each custodian carries insurance for losses of crypto.
Wealthsimple may keep up to 20% of client crypto, by value, in its own hot wallets. Its crypto page says those coins are covered through a partnership with Coincover in case of a hack.
Crypto isn’t covered by CIPF. The risk disclosure says crypto held by Wealthsimple “do not qualify for CIPF coverage”, and the crypto page says the same of CDIC and other protection schemes.
What it costs to buy crypto
Wealthsimple’s pricing help article, updated 8 November 2026, sets out what you pay:
- A flat 0.5% fee on each trade.
- A spread on market orders, which Wealthsimple doesn’t publish. You see the final price before you confirm.
- No spread on limit orders or stop orders.
- A $1 surcharge on any order under $100.
Clients with Active Trader status pay no spread, and their fee falls from 0.5% to as low as 0% as their 30-day trading volume rises (0.35% from $10,000, 0.25% from $100,000). Wealthsimple’s Active Trader article says you get the status by “completing 50 or more eligible trades in a single calendar month”, and automated or recurring orders don’t count. Trading in US dollars from a Canadian dollar account adds a currency exchange fee.
Deposits and withdrawals
To add money, Wealthsimple’s Interac e-Transfer help article, updated 10 November 2026, says it “doesn’t charge fees for processing an e-Transfer”, though your own bank may. You can send up to $10,000 per e-Transfer, or your bank’s sending limit if that’s lower, and the money is available to trade right away. E-Transfers have to come from a bank account in your own name.
Wealthsimple doesn’t publish an Interac withdrawal fee for crypto accounts, and we haven’t covered its other ways of moving cash.
| Method | Deposit | Withdrawal | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interac e-Transfer | No Wealthsimple fee, though your bank may charge one. Available to trade right away | Not published | Up to $10,000 per e-Transfer, or your bank’s sending limit if lower |
| EFT / bank transfer | Not covered | Not covered | Not covered |
| Wire | Not covered | Not covered | Not covered |
Moving crypto to your own wallet
Sending crypto to an outside wallet costs the network fee, which Wealthsimple says it doesn’t set. It shows you the estimate before you send.
Not every coin can move in or out, though. Wealthsimple’s list of available crypto marks about 40 coins, including BNB and Sui, as not available to withdraw, so you can only buy and sell those inside Wealthsimple.
Coins and tools
Wealthsimple lists Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and more than 170 other coins. As well as market orders, you can place limit and stop orders. There’s no separate order book screen.
Staking is available on some coins, including Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and Polkadot. Wealthsimple keeps a percentage of the rewards as its fee.
The app
Crypto sits in the main Wealthsimple app, which also covers stocks, savings and tax. On Apple’s Canadian App Store, as of 10 November 2026, Wealthsimple is rated 4.6 from 130,053 ratings, the most of any registered platform’s app. It takes up 259 MB and needs iOS 16.4 or later. Our crypto apps comparison puts it next to every other registered platform’s app.
How to sign up
The Wealthsimple pages we checked don’t set out its sign-up steps for crypto, so we haven’t listed any. As a registered platform, Wealthsimple has to verify your identity under Canada’s anti-money-laundering rules. When you fund the account, e-Transfers have to come from a bank account in your own name.
Platforms like Wealthsimple
NDAX charges a flat 0.20% on every trade with no spread on any order type, though it has no stocks. Read the NDAX review
Coinsquare charges 0.50% on its Pro screen with no spread, and publishes no-fee Interac withdrawals, capped at $2,000 a day. Read the Coinsquare review
Webull also puts crypto in the same app as stocks, at 1% built into the price, but you can’t move coins off it. Read the Webull Crypto review
Verdict
Wealthsimple Crypto is run by an investment dealer and CIRO member, and holds most client crypto in cold storage with regulated custodians. Use limit orders to avoid the spread, and keep orders above $100 to avoid the $1 surcharge. Check the coin list before you buy if you plan to move coins to your own wallet.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wealthsimple Crypto legit?
Yes. Wealthsimple Crypto is offered by Wealthsimple Investments Inc., which is registered with Canada’s securities regulators as an investment dealer and is a CIRO member.
Is my crypto insured on Wealthsimple?
Wealthsimple says its custodians carry insurance for losses of crypto, and coins in its own hot wallets are covered through Coincover in case of a hack. Those are private arrangements, not a government scheme. Your crypto isn’t covered by CIPF or CDIC, and its price can still fall.
How much does Wealthsimple charge for crypto?
A flat 0.5% per trade plus a spread on market orders, and $1 more on orders under $100. Limit orders skip the spread. Our comparison of registered exchanges shows how other platforms price their trades.
How much does a $1,000 crypto buy cost on Wealthsimple?
Without Active Trader status, Wealthsimple charges a flat 0.5%, so $5 on $1,000. A market order also includes a spread Wealthsimple doesn’t publish. A limit order costs the same 0.5% with no spread. Orders under $100 carry an extra $1. Our crypto fees comparison puts that next to every other registered platform.
Sources
Checked 8 November 2026. App Store figures checked 10 November 2026.
- Wealthsimple, crypto
- Wealthsimple, crypto product risk disclosure
- Wealthsimple Help, what crypto buy and sell prices include
- Wealthsimple Help, earn Active Trader benefits
- Wealthsimple Help, fund your account with Interac e-Transfer
- Wealthsimple Help, available crypto
- Wealthsimple Help, withdraw crypto to an external wallet
- Wealthsimple Help, stake your crypto assets
- New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Commission, registered crypto asset trading platforms
Update history
- Added how Active Trader status is earned and its fee tiers, from Wealthsimple's help centre.
- Added an answer on what a $1,000 buy costs.
- Reorganised into our standard review layout, with a deposits and withdrawals table. No facts changed.
- Added Interac e-Transfer funding: no Wealthsimple fee, up to $10,000 per transfer, with a screenshot of its help article.
- First published.
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