Is Coinsquare safe? Our 2026 review
Updated November 2026. Checked against the regulators' registers and each platform's own pages.
Who pays us: Coinsquare 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
Coinsquare homepage, cropped to logo and menu
What this proves: Coinsquare Trade quotes include a spread of 0.5% to 1.85%, which can rise by up to 2% more in thin markets.
3 more screenshots of its own pages in the review below
Coinsquare is run by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., an investment dealer and CIRO member, the same company behind Bitbuy. Interac deposits and withdrawals carry no fee, but its main trade screen builds its cost into a spread of 0.5% to 1.85%, per its legal fee schedule, and Interac withdrawals are capped at $2,000, one every 24 hours.
- Registered as
- Investment dealer, CIRO member
- Company
- Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd.
- Interac deposit
- No fee, $10 to $15,000
- Pro trade fee
- 0.50% maker and taker
- Crypto protected by CIPF
- No
Good
- Investment dealer and CIRO member
- No fee on Interac deposits or Interac withdrawals
- Client crypto held in trust with outside custodians, mostly in cold storage
- Doesn't lend out client crypto or offer margin
Watch out
- Coinsquare Trade includes a spread of 0.5% to 1.85%, up to 2% more in thin markets
- Bank and wire withdrawals cost 1.5%
- Interac withdrawals capped at $2,000, one every 24 hours
- 29 coins are trade-only and can't be sent to your own wallet
Opens the official Coinsquare site · Crypto is high risk and prices can fall to zero
Coinsquare has the joint 2nd lowest stated cost of 8 platforms that publish one
$5 on a $1,000 buy using Coinsquare Pro, 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- Netcoins0.5% fee plus a market spread of unpublished size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.
Coinsquare is one of the older Canadian crypto platforms. Its about page says it was founded in 2014. It runs under the same registered company as Bitbuy, and that company sits in the most tightly supervised group of crypto platforms in the country.
Is Coinsquare registered in Canada?
Yes. Coinsquare’s regulation page calls it “Canada’s first CIRO-regulated cryptocurrency marketplace” and says its dealer business is run by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. It’s also registered with FINTRAC, Canada’s anti-money-laundering agency.
The regulators’ register lists “Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., also carrying on business as Bitbuy” as an investment dealer, covering both dealer and marketplace, with its latest decision dated 11 October 2024.
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.
Coinsquare, Bitbuy and Robinhood
Coinsquare’s legal documents page says Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. “is the regulated CIRO dealer subsidiary of Coinsquare Ltd”. The site footer says Coinsquare is “A WonderFi Company”, and a banner on the homepage says “Coinsquare is now part of Robinhood.” Its relationship disclosure, last updated 14 September 2026, says “Coinsquare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets Inc”, the Nasdaq-listed US company, and lists Robinhood Crypto, Robinhood Financial and Bitstamp as affiliates.
Coinsquare’s own pages don’t mention Bitbuy at all. Bitbuy’s pages say Bitbuy is a trade name of Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., and the register lists both under that one company. So the same company, registration and custodians sit behind both brands. Each brand has its own website, fee page and iPhone app.
Robinhood’s own Canadian crypto app runs under the same registration, with a stated 0.95% fee per trade since 1 November 2026. See is Robinhood available in Canada.
How Coinsquare holds your crypto
Coinsquare’s client account agreement says client crypto is held in trust with Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC and BitGo Trust Company, Inc., in an omnibus “cold storage” custodial account. A small share may sit in a hot wallet licensed from Fireblocks Ltd. Its risk statement, last updated 26 August 2026, lists which coins each custodian holds.
The regulation page says client assets are kept apart from Coinsquare’s operating funds and are “never utilized for lending purposes.”
On insurance, the homepage says the two custodians carry “a combined $680M USD in insurance.” The regulation page adds that Coinsquare holds its own Vault Risk insurance on top of that. The risk statement warns that insurance “may not be sufficient to cover all of the potential losses.”
CIPF covers cash, not crypto. The notice at the foot of Coinsquare’s pages says property in client accounts “including cash balances but not crypto assets, is protected by CIPF within specified limits.” Coinsquare says cash in your account is covered up to $1 million per account. The risk statement says your crypto isn’t covered by CDIC either.
What it costs to buy crypto
Coinsquare’s fee page, last updated 22 July 2026, sets out two ways of paying for trades.
Coinsquare Trade has no separate trading fee. Coinsquare says it “generates trade quotes using a spread which allows us to eliminate trading fees.” The fees page doesn’t size the spread, but the company’s fee schedule, effective 1 October 2026, does: Coinsquare Trade quotes include a spread “ranging between 0.5% and 1.85%”, which can rise by up to an additional 2% when markets are rough or a coin is thinly traded. Quotes refresh every 10 seconds until you accept one.
Coinsquare Pro charges 0.50% for makers and 0.50% for takers.
The relationship disclosure says features “previously made available through Coinsquare Pro” may change or end, so check that Pro is still open to you before you plan around the lower stated fee.
Deposits and withdrawals
The same fee page lists these options for Canadian dollars. Interac carries no fee either way, but withdrawals are capped at $2,000 and you can make one every 24 hours.
| Method | Deposit | Withdrawal | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interac e-Transfer | No fee, in 0 to 30 minutes | No fee, within 24 hours | Deposits $10 to $15,000. Withdrawals $20 to $2,000, one every 24 hours |
| EFT (direct bank deposit) | Not covered | 1.5%, in 0 to 3 business days | Withdrawals $20 to $100,000 |
| Wire | No fee, in 0 to 2 business days | 1.5%, in 0 to 2 business days | From $10,000, both ways |
These fees and limits match Bitbuy’s fee page line for line, which fits with both brands running under one company.
Moving crypto to your own wallet
Sending crypto in costs nothing. Sending it out depends on the coin. Some, such as XRP and Litecoin, carry no fee, while Bitcoin and Ethereum, among others, carry a fee “set according to current network conditions and activity.” If you send crypto to the wrong address or network, a recovery service may be able to get it back, for the greater of $100 or 5% of what’s recovered.
Not every coin can move in or out. Coinsquare’s fee page lists 29 trade-only coins, including Sui and Toncoin, that “cannot be deposited to or withdrawn from your Coinsquare account.”
Coins and tools
The homepage says Coinsquare offers “60+ cryptocurrencies and over 3,000 trading pairs.” Alongside the main Coinsquare Trade screen there’s the separate Coinsquare Pro order book screen.
If you stake crypto, Coinsquare keeps a share of the rewards as commission. That’s 25% for Ethereum and up to 30% for some other coins.
The relationship disclosure says Coinsquare doesn’t extend margin and doesn’t lend cash or crypto to clients.
The app
Coinsquare’s iPhone app, Coinsquare: Buy Bitcoin Canada, is listed under Coinsquare Ltd. On 10 November 2026 it was rated 4.58 out of 5 from 5,371 ratings on Apple’s Canadian App Store. It takes up 70 MB, needs iOS 15.1 or later, and hadn’t been updated since December 2025 when we checked. The about page also links to an Android app. Our crypto apps comparison puts it next to every other registered platform’s app.
How to sign up
The Coinsquare pages we checked don’t set out its sign-up steps, so we haven’t listed any. As a registered platform, Coinsquare has to verify your identity under Canada’s anti-money-laundering rules.
The relationship disclosure says all accounts are cash accounts for order execution only, so Coinsquare doesn’t give advice. Coinsquare’s pages don’t say whether a Coinsquare login works on Bitbuy, or whether your account moves between them. Treat them as separate sign-ups unless support tells you otherwise.
Limits
The relationship disclosure says you may face yearly investment limits or loss limits, depending on your income, net worth and province. It doesn’t give the amounts.
Platforms like Coinsquare
Bitbuy runs under the same company, with the same Interac fees and limits. The fee schedule on its own legal pages gives a wider spread range, 0.5% to 3.85%. Read the Bitbuy review
NDAX charges a flat 0.20% on every trade with no spread, but Interac withdrawals cost $1.50. Read the NDAX review
Wealthsimple lists more than 170 coins and puts crypto in the same app as stocks, at 0.5% on limit orders. Read the Wealthsimple Crypto review
Verdict
Coinsquare runs under an investment dealer and CIRO member, and holds client crypto in trust with outside custodians, mostly in cold storage. Coinsquare Pro’s 0.50% is the cheaper way to trade if it’s still open to you. Watch the $2,000 daily Interac withdrawal cap and the 29 coins you can’t send out.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coinsquare legit?
Yes. Coinsquare is run by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., which is registered with Canada’s securities regulators as an investment dealer and is a member of CIRO. It’s also registered with FINTRAC.
Is Coinsquare safe?
It has the heaviest oversight a Canadian crypto platform can have, and client crypto is held in trust with outside custodians, mostly in cold storage. That lowers the risk of losing coins if the company fails. It doesn’t protect you from price drops.
Is my crypto covered by CIPF on Coinsquare?
No. CIPF covers cash in your account up to $1 million, but not crypto. Coinsquare says its custodians carry a combined US$680 million in insurance, which is a private arrangement with limits, not a government scheme.
How much does Coinsquare charge?
Coinsquare Trade has no separate fee, but its prices include a spread of 0.5% to 1.85%, or up to 2% more in thin markets. Pro charges 0.50% per trade. Interac deposits and withdrawals carry no fee, while bank and wire withdrawals cost 1.5%. Our comparison of registered exchanges shows how other platforms price their trades.
Sources
Checked 10 November 2026.
- Coinsquare, homepage: “Coinsquare is now part of Robinhood”, “60+ cryptocurrencies and over 3,000 trading pairs”, custodians with “a combined $680M USD in insurance”
- Coinsquare Capital Markets, fee schedule, effective 1 October 2026
- Coinsquare, fees: trade spread, Pro 0.50%, CAD deposit and withdrawal fees and limits, crypto withdrawal fees, staking commission, 29 trade-only coins, last updated 22 July 2026
- Coinsquare, regulation: CIRO investment dealer, run by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., cold storage, no lending, Vault Risk insurance, CIPF up to $1 million on cash
- Coinsquare, legal and regulatory documents: CCML is the dealer subsidiary of Coinsquare Ltd, “A WonderFi Company”
- Coinsquare, relationship disclosure: wholly-owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets Inc, no margin or lending, investment limits, last updated 14 September 2026
- Coinsquare, client account agreement: custodians, cold storage omnibus account, Fireblocks hot wallet
- Coinsquare, risk statement: custodian coin lists, insurance warning, no CDIC cover, last updated 26 August 2026
- Coinsquare, about: founded in 2014, Android and iOS apps
- Apple App Store (Canada), Coinsquare: Buy Bitcoin Canada: 4.58 from 5,371 ratings on 10 November 2026
- Bitbuy, legal and regulatory documents: Bitbuy is a trade name of Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd.
- New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Commission, registered crypto asset trading platforms
Update history
- Reorganised into our standard review layout, with a deposits and withdrawals table. No facts changed.
- Coinsquare's legal fee schedule gives a Coinsquare Trade spread of 0.5% to 1.85% (up to 2% more in thin markets). Updated the fee section, which had said the spread wasn't published, and added a screenshot.
- First published.
- First published.
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