Bitbuy Review (2024): Leading Crypto Platform?

The crypto experts at Libertas Bella continue to evaluate the highs and lows of the global crypto exchange landscape.

We signed up for Bitbuy several weeks ago and have been thoroughly researching and testing the user interface and functionality.

Bitbuy is a Web, Android and iOS centralized Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that offers a solid group of popular digital currencies, staking, corporate solutions and more. After a thorough review, our verdict for whether or not this is a leading crypto platform for Canada is Yes.

The Bitbuy exchange is the first exchange to be fully regulated in Canada, and also the first to obtain a staking license. Bitbuy is now part of the WonderFi investment group that is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Let’s dive into the benefits that Bitbuy presents for Canadian cryptocurrency traders and highlight a few areas along the way where it falls short.

Bitbuy Overview 

	Rating
Security And Safety	10
Necessary Requirements	10
Pricing And Fees	6
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods	5
Customer Support	8

Who Bitbuy Is Best For?

Bitbuy was created exclusively for Canadian users.

Bitbuy has the highest level of regulation and acceptance by financial authorities in Canada, making it the best option for traders seeking a safe and reliable trading platform that will be free from regulatory shutdown.  

Beginning users are welcomed to the Bitbuy.ca platform homepage with a clean presentation of cryptocurrency icons that show which digital assets are available.

“Express Trade” is a simple trading solution that was designed with beginners in mind who don’t want to enter an order-book environment.

A simple buy/sell interface lets beginning traders execute a transaction from Canadian dollars (CAD) to dozens of popular cryptocurrencies with just a few clicks.

Buying and selling is also made easier with the integration of Interac e-Transfer or bank account wire.

Bitbuy does offer a learning section, but we found this to be quite limited compared to most exchanges. Nevertheless, some major topics are covered, including the all-important crypto tax category for beginners:

• How to buy Bitcoin
• How to invest in Bitcoin
• Step-by-step guide to investing in other cryptocurrencies
• Crypto tax guide
• What is staking?
• Guide to the Bitcoin halving

A blog offers some additional guides and the latest news to keep beginners up to date.

Bitbuy is an acceptable platform for beginners, but we would also like to see the addition of a demo trading account that will incentivize users to graduate to the market trading area.

We also would like to see the integration of tax reporting tools to help make this aspect even easier for novice cryptocurrency investors.

Intermediate level traders are among those who likely will reap the most benefits from the Bitbuy platform.

Pro Trade

Unfortunately, the use of the term “Pro” might intimidate those who are just dipping their toes into a market order-book environment. We recommend a more inclusive renaming to avoid any misconceptions.

Nevertheless, the Pro Trade web application is again user-friendly with a clean interface that makes it easy to use the available functions:

• Available markets and trading pairs – most are CAD dominated with limited offerings in crypto-BTC.
• Market buy/sell – execute at best available price
• Limit buy/sell – set price and quantity
• Order book – shows the current scope of the Bitbuy market which defaults to BTC-CAD
• My orders – shows all open, filled and canceled orders

A decent selection of helpful trading and analysis tools for intermediate traders are within one click:

• Historical market data
• Chart patterns
• Support and resistance levels
• Trend lines
• Moving averages
• Volatility
• Candlestick representations, including timeframe options
• Depth chart

Staking

We are happy to see a small selection of staking assets that provide an introduction to some of the most popular staking rewards options to generate passive income.

While the list of digital assets is by no means robust, it is perfectly suitable for intermediate investors who want to take low to moderate risk.

Interest rates on the following assets posted below are based on annual percentage yield (APY).

• Ethereum (ETH) up to 2.89%
• Polkadot (DOT) 10.07%
• Cardano (ADA) 2.25%
• Solana (SOL) 5.04%
• Polygon (MATIC) 4.55%
• NEAR Protocol (NEAR) 5.15%
• Cosmos (ATOM) 11.23%
• Injective (INJ) 10.73%

Each of these assets contains a unique program that carries minimum amounts, payout period, bonding period, unbonding period and auto-compounded rewards. All traders should consult these parameters here prior to trading, as well as for any changes in APY.

High-net-worth and institutional investors are heavily catered to at Bitbuy and will find many more beneficial options than individual advanced traders.

Private Wealth – A minimum $25,000 CAD investment will gain access to this special Bitbuy program. These individuals can benefit in a variety of ways.

• Large trade execution in CAD or USD: minimum $50,000 for BTC and ETH, $20,000 on other coins. Settlement levels at $100M+.
• Access to over-the-counter (OTC) lower rates off-platform.
• Personal account manager.
• No deposit or withdrawal fees.
• Same-day fiat funding in USD or CAD.
• Live traders available for instant quotes 7 days per week.
• Zero slippage large volume limit orders.

Liquidity providers and market makers – Trusted partners can access Bitbuy Crypto API. Individuals, crypto-focused businesses, ATMs and algorithmic traders can receive unlimited access to CAD-to-crypto pairs and crypto-to-crypto pairs with API keys.

Corporate accounts – Real estate corporations, law firms, accounting firms, professional medical corporations, family trusts and other Canadian corporations can easily add cryptocurrency to their corporate balance sheet. Bitbuy offers a seamless process for those that qualify:

• Onboarding, funding, trade execution and custody
• Dedicated account manager
• OTC liquidity access and pricing
• Account controls and personalized reporting
• Connection to crypto accounting and tax advisory specialists

Influencers

Bitbuy has a potentially lucrative affiliate program that is tiered to reward blog owners, website owners and those who have large social media and YouTube followings.

Affiliates are selected based on application approval and receive their own dashboard to track analytics.

Preferred applicants should have experience working with affiliate programs, crypto or finance web business with at least 5,000 monthly visitors, and at least 5,000 followers on social media.

Bitbuy touts high conversion rates and timely payouts for up to $200 per new referral.

Who Bitbuy Is Not For?

Bitbuy is prohibited in all jurisdictions outside of Canada, making it not suitable for the rest of the world.

The Bitbuy exchange is not the best choice for Canadian traders who place the highest value anonymity and privacy. The Bitbuy KYC verification process is comprehensive and intrusive.

Advanced traders

Bitbuy labels one of its products “Pro Trade,” but options are limited to the intermediate level in our estimation with only futures trading hinting at advanced trading functionality.

Advanced traders will not find derivatives trading, margin and leveraged trading, etc.

A high number of crypto assets, including DeFi, NFTs and more are also not available for advanced users who typically want the largest selection possible.

Trading and analysis tools are similarly basic and do not cater to the highest-level crypto assets trader.

Bitbuy Features Explained

Security and Safety

Bitbuy was the first registered Canadian crypto marketplace following its approval by the Ontario Securities Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Bitbuy is also registered as a legitimate money services business in Canada with FINTRAC, giving added peace of mind that the exchange is fully compliant with all anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC guidelines.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is in place as a frontline defense for account sign-in as well as for execution of trades.

Bitbuy does not specify exactly where it utilizes encryption, but it is highlighted as part of their privacy policy under “safeguards.”

The Bitbuy network itself is kept secure by distributing its servers in multiple locations around the world for disaster recovery. Providers are compliant with FIPS, SOC, ISO and 140-2 in order to maintain top-level cybersecurity practices.

Bitbuy keeps its codebase closed source, sometimes considered a disadvantage in terms of development, but it will protect key intellectual property.

All platform digital assets are secured by an insurance policy that is provided by BitGo, including proof of solvency, ensuring that traders are protected from liquidity failures.

Private keys are generated offline and are not ever exposed to the online environment.

Cold wallets are secured with multi-signature technology in order to reduce a single point of failure.

Further steps are taken to protect the validator environment. Bitbuy states that

Our validators are operated by Figment, known for their institutional grade infrastructure and best in class DevOps and Engineering teams.

Regular third-party financial and security audits are conducted monthly, with daily and weekly suspicious activity reviews.

Perhaps most importantly, all digital assets held in accounts, as well as staked assets are held 1:1 and 97.59% in cold storage by BitGo as a qualified custodian.

A transparent proof of reserves is third-party verified and is made transparent on site. This transparency is essential for traders to know that the funds they are trading with – especially on a centralized exchange are available to be converted to Canadian dollars at any time.

Bitbuy was the first exchange to publicly issue a proof of reserves in 2019.

The 2023 proof of reserves can be found here and details assets and cold storage percentages.

Lastly, a full due diligence report is available for download from the Blockchain Intelligence Group, further bolstering trust in the Bitbuy platform and its administration.

Opening An Account With Bitbuy

Signing up at Bitbuy is free, but there is a thorough KYC verification process right from the beginning.

After entering and verifying a valid email address, users will be prompted to enter an active North American phone number for further verification.

The KYC verification process begins by providing photo ID and selfie through a third-party identity check service for Express Verification.

After identity is verified, a full questionnaire is issued under Canadian regulations to determine if users are even “suitable” for investing in cryptocurrencies.

• Risk tolerance
• Investment objectives
• Investment knowledge
• Time horizon
• Current financial situation (resulting in potential purchase limits)

If a user fails Express Verification, however, it will also be necessary to provide either a utility bill or a financial statement from the previous 3 months to open a Bitbuy account.

Business accounts are required to provide:

• Business disclosure form
• Proof of address
• Articles of incorporation

Pricing & Fees

Maker Vs Taker Fees / Trading Fees

Bitbuy offers a tiered pricing structure for maker and taker fees based on 90-day trading volume.

	90-day Trading Volume	Maker Fee	Taker Fee
Tier 1	<$250,000	2%	2%
Tier 2	$250,000 – $1,000,000	0.50%	0.75%
Tier 3	$1,000,000 – $5,000,000	0.15%	0.25%
Tier 4	$5,000,000+	0%	0.10%

Express trades carry a flat 2% buyer and seller fee per trade.

Deposit/Withdrawal Fees

• Apple Pay 2.95% / not available
• Debit card 1.95% / not available
• Credit card 2.95% / not available
• Interac e-Transfer 0% / 1.5%
• Wire Transfer 0% / 1.5%
• Cryptocurrency 0% / fee schedule

Staking Fees

The staking rewards highlighted earlier are net after staking commissions of 25%-28% are deducted.

Disclaimer: It is always best to consult the fees page of any exchange prior to trading.

Deposit Methods

Funding your account can be done easily with any of the supported cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Fiat currency options in Canadian Dollars (CAD), minimum/maximum daily limits and processing times are as follows:

• Debit card — $50, $10,000, near instant
• Credit card — $50, $10,000, near instant
• Apple Pay — $50, $10,000, near instant
• Interac e-Transfer — $50, $10,000, up to 30 minutes
• Wire transfer — $10,000, unlimited, 1 to 5 days

Withdrawal Methods

All cryptos can be withdrawn to supported addresses on-chain or to other exchanges.

Fiat withdrawals match the deposit methods noted above with the following exceptions:

• Withdrawals via credit card and debit card are not permitted.
• Interac e-Transfer withdrawals have a $5,000 daily limit.
• Wire transfers are normally processed in 1-2 days.

Switching Between Currencies and Blockchains

Moving between supported assets is easy and quick with the Express Trade feature to buy or sell cryptocurrencies in real-time at market prices.

The order book is active with a moderate user pool and reliable liquidity, resulting in fast transaction times under most conditions.

One of Bitbuy’s weaknesses is actually a strength in this area: it has a limited number of trading pairs and only focuses on the most common:

• Bitcoin (BTC)/CAD
• Ethereum (ETH)/CAD
• Aave (AAVE)/CAD
• Chainlink (LINK)/CAD
• Litecoin (LTC)/CAD
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)/CAD
• Ripple (XRP)/CAD
• Stellar (XLM)/CAD
• EOS/CAD
• XRP/BTC
• LTC/BTC
• ETH/BTC
• EOS/BTC
• BCH/BTC
• XLM/BTC

Bitbuy is among the top of the pack in Canada for speed and reliability.

History Of Downtime

Bitbuy has never been hacked in its 8-year history.

We are pleased to see that the Bitbuy exchange has a transparent and detailed status page that offers segmented reporting about all aspects of exchange functionality.

90-day historical uptime is also tracked and comes in at 100%.

A list of ongoing issues and resolutions is also made available to alert traders to any potential disruptions, and traders can subscribe to receive updates.

Customer Support

Sitewide search functionality, FAQ section, 24/7/365 in-app/browser live support, ticket submission for help desk, email. 

NOTE: As shown in the graphic above, Bitbuy is admitting to degraded customer support performance as of March 4. Their statement reads:

With the recent market volatility our Customer Support team is experiencing extremely high volumes and response times are longer than usual. We appreciate your patience.

Alternatives

Bitbuy vs. Alternatives

	BITBUY	GEMINI	KRAKEN
Founded	2016	2014	2011
Users	450,000+	13.5 million	10 million
Cryptos	46	70	215+
Spot Fees	0% – 2%	0% – 0.4%	0% – 0.4%
KYC	yes	yes	yes
Mobile App	yes	yes	yes
Countries	All but Canada	120+	Only internationally embargoed
Security Rating (CER)	AAA	BB	AAA
Best For	intermediate, corporate clients	advanced, NFTs	individual traders, all levels
Overall Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Signup	Bitbuy	Gemini	Kraken

Conclusion

Bitbuy is indeed one of the best crypto platforms for Canadian traders who are accustomed to heavy regulatory requirements and oversight while trading crypto.

While we like the option of a flat fee for beginners, the 2% fee is quite high for Express Trade and Tier 1 trading in comparison to the reasonable maker and taker fees found on the higher-volume “Pro” side.

We also aren’t thrilled with the 90-day trading volume calculations; most exchanges calculate based on a 30-day timeframe.

Staking options are available but limited, yet do offer a good way for intermediate traders to begin exploring the benefits of creating passive income with this method.

Bitbuy seems to have been tailor made for both the average individual trader as well as high-net-worth individuals and corporations that can take advantage of its outstanding security measures, top compliance reputation and reputable custody framework.

Its suite of corporate services offers particularly sound solutions to help institutional investors diversify into the cryptocurrency space, while providing the appropriate legal and accounting services to aid in these management requirements.

Lastly, a solid affiliate program is available to generate additional passive income for influencers or business owners who already have a sizable following.

Frequently Asked Questions