Highlights
What Are The Best Altcoin Exchanges?
We've curated our list using a mix of centralized and decentralized exchanges with the most up-to-date information. We are based in Canada ourselves and have tested over 50 platforms over the years.
Our Top Picks | Altcoins | Trading Fee | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
 1. Kraken | 240+ | 0.25% / 0.40% | |
 2. Bitget | 600+ | 0.10% | |
 3. BYDFi | 500+ | 0.10% to 0.30% | |
 3. Crypto.com Exchange | 250+ | 0.15% / 0.30% | |
 4. Newton | 70+ | 0% (Spread) | |
 5. 1Inch | 10,000+ | 0% | |
 6. Uniswap | 10,000+ | 0.30% |
#1
1. Kraken
260+
Coins
0.25% / 0.40%
Trading Fee
2011
Founded
Kraken Pro is Canada's best altcoin exchange, as it supports e-transfers and Canadian dollars. You can easily deposit money from your bank account, like RBC or TD, and trade 260+ altcoins.
They also have significantly lower fees compared to similar Canadian platforms, like Crypto.com and Coinbase for example, which didn't even make our list.
Kraken will offer great security, as its fully regulated and they improved their UX a lot over the years. Beginner and advanced traders can take advantage of it.
2. Bitget
600+
Coins
0.10%
Trading Fee
2018
Founded
Bitget is one of the best altcoins exchanges because it has 600+ coins as well as margin and futures trading and more. The fees are low and it has substantial trading volume, at billions per day.
Canadians need to sign up, provide KYC, and will surprisingly get accepted. While it doesn't support $CAD trading pairs, it's well worth it for the low fees and variety of trading features.
You'll just have to deposit crypto from either a crypto wallet or a fiat on-ramp.
3. BYDFi
500+
Coins
0.10%-0.30%
Trading Fee
2019
Founded
BYDFi is the best exchange that doesn't require KYC or a VPN to sign up. In seconds, you can register an account and then deposit crypto and start trading.
They offer 500+ coins, crypto futures with up to 200x leverage, and pretty low fees. The mobile app and UX is also good.
BYDFi is a smaller platform with about 500K users, but still has good trading volume according to CoinMarketCap and they've never had any hacks or incidents. If you want a solid exchange that's super easy to register, BYDFi is the fastest platform to set up.
4. Crypto.com Exchange
250+
Coins
0.075%
Trading Fee
2016
Founded
Crypto.com Exchange, not to be confused with the Crypto.com App, is their advanced platform with much lower fees and 250+ coins.
It has a professional UX with advanced order types and only 0.075% trading fees, which is lower than most CEXs on the market.
Most trading pairs are in USDT, and it doesn't support CAD trading pairs, so you'll need to deposit crypto. However, I don't recommend buying anything on the Crypto.com App, as it's one of Canada's most expensive platforms. If you want to save money, use Kraken or find the cheapest CEXs here.
#5
5. Newton
70+
Coins
0% (Spread)
Trading Fee
2018
Founded
Newton is another Canadian-based platform you may want to consider. It has free deposits and withdrawals from your bank account, cheap crypto withdrawals, and 75+ altcoins supported.
It's also a very easy platform to use, but the downside is high fees which are in the spread.
If you're looking for the cheapest altcoin platforms, consider the other options. However, if you want a great UX with easy deposits and withdrawals from your bank account, Newton is an awesome pick.
6. 1Inch
10,000+
Coins
0.00%
Trading Fee
2019
Founded
1Inch Exchange is one of the best DEXs because it's an aggregator, meaning it scans prices across 500+ decentralized exchanges and liquidity sources to help you find the lowest market price.
It's also very popular with over 12 million wallets and $400B in total volume!
It requires a crypto wallet to use, such as MetaMask, and you can trade thousands upon thousands of tokens across 10+ blockchains like Ethereum, Base, and BNB Chain.
7. Uniswap
10,000+
Coins
0.30%
Trading Fee
2018
Founded
Uniswap is the world's most popular and trusted decentralized exchange. It lets you swap thousands of altcoins across 9 blockchains like Ethereum, Base and Blast.
In total, Uniswap has done an amazing $1.8 Trillion in trade volume and over 230 million trades.
It has a simple UX, but you will need to know how to operate a crypto wallet to use it. However, unlike CEXs, there is no KYC when using Uniswap. DEXs are completely permissionless.
Why Aren't There More Canadian CEXs?
Canada has many crypto exchanges, but most of them offer only 50 to 70 coins and high fees compared to their global competitors. That's why most of the exchanges on this list are not headquartered in Canada. The good news is Canadians can still use these platforms.
How Many Altcoins Exchanges Do I Need?
It's common to have multiple CEXs and DEXs, but it all depends what coins you want to buy. CoinMarketCap reports the existence of over 2 million altcoins. However, our research at RankFi reveals that the average number of coins listed on Canadian CEXs stands at just 193.
For that reason, crypto investors usually have multiple accounts. The most important is a fiat on-ramp, which is an exchange you can easily deposit and withdraw from your bank account (eg. Kraken or NDAX). Then, you'll have any number of exchanges and wallets where you can transfer crypto to, as they give you more features than Canadian platforms do.
If you want access to the entire crypto market, you will need to set up a crypto wallet, learn how to find DEXs, and create accounts on multiple CEXs.
Best Way To Fund An Altcoin Exchange
If the altcoin exchange you selected doesn't support Canadian dollars, which is common, you'll have to deposit crypto from a Canadian CEX or crypto wallet.
- Choose a Fiat On-Ramp in Canada (eg. Kraken)
- Deposit Canadian Dollars
- Buy any crypto (ETH or USDC are popular choices)
- Now transfer it to your altcoin exchange (eg. Bitget)
- When you want to cash out, withdraw it back to your fiat on-ramp
If you want to save money, check the crypto withdrawal fees for each coin before doing step three. Some coins are much cheaper to send versus others.
Wrapping Up
With the right altcoin exchanges, you will have access to the entire crypto world and its opportunities. Whether you use one platform or multiple, these are the best choices that have lots of coins, low fees, and a trusted reputation. For more info, you might also want to check out my guide on how to buy any altcoin you want.
