Coinberry

Overview

What Happened To Coinberry?

Coinberry was acquired by WonderFi Technologies, the same company who also bought Bitbuy, another Canadian cryptocurrency exchange. WonderFi has made the decision to shut down Coinberry and migrate all new and existing users to the Bitbuy platform.

If you visit Coinberry and try to open an account, you will see a message like this:

Coinberry Review

Bottom line: If you're a Canadian resident looking for a low-cost crypto exchange, Coinberry and Bitbuy are not the best choices. For a better user experience and low fees, use NDAX as your fiat on/off ramp. For the best altcoin exchanges, Canadians should use either Binance or KuCoin depending if you live in Ontario.

Many online reviews complain about Coinberry's slow withdrawals and poor customer support. They also self-promote as an inexpensive option, but cost more than other exchanges in Canada. Based on my testing, Coinberry charges a total fee of 2.44% (ranking 11th) to buy Bitcoin, with a Bitcoin spread of 4.19% (ranking 18th).

Keep reading if you want to learn more about Coinberry in the rest of this review.

Published Mar 10, 2022

Pros and Cons

What Is Coinberry?

Coinberry is a beginner-focused cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017. They are based out of Toronto and offer 25 digital assets. Their goal, according to their website, is to "make it easy and secure to trade cryptocurrencies in Canada."

Coinberry's key features are 25 cryptocurrencies, free deposits, and beginner-friendly trading. They are also considered safe because they are OSC regulated, registered with FINTRAC, and owned by a publicly traded company. They were acquired by WonderFi in 2022, who also owns Bitbuy, another Canadian cryptocurrency exchange.

How Does It Work?

Canadians who are 18 or older can open a Coinberry account and start trading popular crypto assets. You will first need to go through the KYC process and prove your identity. Once your account is open, you can deposit and withdraw funds from your Canadian bank account.

What Does Coinberry Offer?

25 Supported Coins

Buy Bitcoin and other major cryptos like, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, etc. While there are no trading fees, the actual fees are in the spread (more on this below). Coinberry recently delisted 5 coins so there are only 25 cryptocurrencies available now.

Canadian Dollar Deposits and Withdrawals

Coinberry offers e-transfers (under 30 minutes) and wire transfers (0-3 business days). Deposits are free while withdrawals have a fixed fee of 1.50%. 

Beginner Friendly Platform

Coinberry offers a web app and mobile app on iOS and Google Play which is easy for anyone to use. It also has many security measures (covered below).

Other Features:

Coinberry previously offered Autopilot, which enabled users to set up recurring purchases, and Coinberry Pay, an easy way to receive cryptocurrency payments. Unfortunately, both of these features have been removed in the March 2023 update. Coinberry still has a referral program that rewards users for inviting friends, but the referral links only redirect traffic to the Bitbuy website.

App Walkthrough

Home Dashboard

Trading Platform

Mobile App

Security Measures

Coinberry has put in place various security measures for user safety.

Overall, Coinberry is considered a safe cryptocurrency exchange in Canada. They offer two-factor authentication and hold crypto in multisig cold storage with their custodian Bitgo, who is insured up to $250 million. They are also OSC-regulated and FINTRAC registered.

With that being said, Coinberry is still a centralized crypto exchange and does not replace the need for a hardware wallet. The main drawback when it comes to security is the inability to withdraw most cryptocurrencies. You can only withdraw 5 coins (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, USDC).

User Security Features

Company Security Features

Coinberry Fees & Spreads

Coinberry has recently changed their fee structure which you can find here. If your trading volume is under $250K, they have a 2.00% maker/taker fee which is the highest in Canada. They also hit you with a 1.50% withdrawal fee on Canadian Dollars.

According to our test, Coinberry had a total BTC purchase fee of 2.44% (11th overall). The total BTC selling fee was 1.71% (10th overall) and the BTC spread was last place at 4.19% (18th overall). To compare, NDAX had a total BTC purchase fee 0.49% (1st place), Coinbase was 4.54% (17th place), and Crypto.com was 1.68% (9th place). 

Deposit & Withdrawals

Coinberry has two deposit methods, E-Transfer and Wire Transfer and the same for withdrawals. For crypto withdrawals, the fees are fixed.

Deposit Methods:

Withdrawal Methods:

Crypto Withdrawal Fees:

Coinberry Reviews According to Reddit

I headed to the App Store, Google Play, Reddit and other websites to see the Coinberry reviews. Overall, you would see that Coinberry does not have a good rating online. All of the recent reviews are complaints about hidden fees, slow withdrawals, and poor customer service.

Summary

If you're a Canadian resident looking for a low-cost crypto exchange, Coinberry is not your best option. With such high fees, it's no surprise that recent online reviews have been negative. Instead, consider using exchanges like Newton or NDAX for lower fees and a better user experience.

Coinberry FAQs

Has Coinberry Ever Been Hacked?

While it was never officially confirmed by Coinberry, there was an alleged hack in 2020. Cipherblade, a blockchain forensics firm, said 8.33 BTC was stolen from Coinberry's hot wallet. Here is a link to more info on reddit.

Is Coinberry A Wallet?

Coinberry provides a custodial wallet where traders can store and transfer cryptocurrencies. However, they are in full control of the private keys, which can pose a risk if Coinberry experiences a hack or wants to lock your account for whatever reason.

Is Coinberry Regulated?

Coinberry Canada is, as required by regulation, registered with FINTRAC in Canada and the OSC in Ontario.