Crypto.com is one of the most famous cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, but is it one of the best? And more importantly, is it good for Canadians? To find out, I reviewed Crypto.com versus 20 Canadian crypto exchanges and brokers.
Keep reading to see our review or you can visit our exchange comparison tool to do the work yourself. That's where you can compare Canada's best and worst platform across 60+ features and 1,000 data points. Let's jump in.
Our Review
The bottom line is Crypto.com is expensive for Canadians. The total fee to buy Bitcoin was 1.68% (9th place) and the spread was 3.11% (16th place). However, fees aside, it's a secure platform with lots of ways to earn rewards like Visa Cards, interest accounts, and more.
If you want to buy and sell crypto for the lowest fees with Canadian dollars, skip to the alternatives section. Fees and trading aside, Crypto.com offers users many features and ways to earn rewards.
Video from March 25, 2022 (Refer to blog for most updated info)
Pros & Cons
How Crypto.com Works
Crypto.com lets you buy and sell popular cryptocurrencies as well as access other services. Once Canadians open an account (KYC and AML required), they can deposit Canadian dollars using Interac e-Transfer, credit card, or debit card and then buy and sell 250+ digital currencies. They have 3 mobile apps and platforms:
About Crypto.com
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 and is available in 90+ countries. Worldwide, they have over 50 million users, 4,000 employees and are becoming a top crypto exchange. They also have big partnerships with companies like Visa, the UFC, Fifa World Cup, Formula 1, and more.
The company offers many features like 200+ cryptocurrencies to trade, crypto Visa cards, beginner and advanced trading, their own token called Cronos, and much more.
Some Stats:
- Over 70 million users worldwide
- Available in 90+ countries
- 4,000+ employees
- Sponsorships with the UFC, Fifa World Cup, Visa, Formula1, and more
- Paid $700m to rename the Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena
Key Features
Crypto.com has a huge ecosystem of products and services. It includes a cryptocurrency exchange, DeFi wallet, Cronos Chain, and much more. We'll look at everything but first, here are the most popular features you should know about:
Trading Interface
The Crypto.com App is meant for beginners but it can be confusing to navigate. When it comes to trading, it is commission-free and users can set market orders, recurring buys, or log in to the Crypto.com Exchange for professional trading.
Crypto.com Exchange
The Crypto.com Exchange is a professional trading platform which is separate from the Crypto.com App. You can login with the same credentials and get access to a live order book, charting tools and other advanced trading features via TradingView.
The Exchange has its own trading fees which start at 0.075%. It also offers margin, futures, and lending/borrowing however, those features are restricted in the Canadian market at this time. Here are the other features which make the Exchange useful:
Recurring Buys
For those looking to DCA, you can set up automatic, scheduled purchases with your CAD balance. It's available for a handful of cryptocurrencies and the minimum purchase is $70 CAD.
Payment methods include fiat, crypto or credit card and you can customize the frequency (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) and day of the week. If you want to buy Bitcoin or crypto on autopilot, check out the best crypto exchanges to DCA in Canada.
Crypto.com Earn
Crypto.com Earn lets you put your crypto to work and start earning interest. It's important to note this is not staking rewards. Crypto.com pays you rewards from income that they make from their various products and services. Here are some more details:
If you're looking for rewards, note that almost every large crypto exchange offers interest accounts. Binance, KuCoin, OKX, you name it. Canadian platforms are also starting to introduce staking or interest rewards. You can check out Wealthsimple, NDAX, and Newton or visit our list of best staking platforms here.
Learn & Earn
Another way to earn, is with Crypto.com's new "University" which is a learn to earn program. Users can go through educational resources like blockchain quizzes and missions to earn rewards. You will be rewarded in Diamonds which can be exchanged for NFTs, merchandise, experiences, and even a CRO mystery box. One of the experiences includes a PSG stadium tour for 3,000 diamonds.
Crypto.com Visa Cards
Another core feature is the Crypto.com Visa card. It's a prepaid Visa card that lets you spend CAD to earn CRO cash back. They offer 5 card tiers that go up to 5% cash back. Depending on the card, you can also get free Netflix, free Spotify, and more. The downsides are you must stake $500-$500,000 worth of CRO to get the good rewards.
Visit our comparison tool to find the best crypto cards in Canada. Right now, the best Bitcoin cash back card is the Shakepay Visa.
Other Crypto.com Features
Fees & Spread
Crypto.com advertises "crypto at true cost" but in reality you should watch out for hidden fees in the spread. The total BTC purchase fee was 1.68% (9th overall). The total BTC selling fee was 1.41% (7th overall) and the BTC spread was 3.11% (16th overall) when we tested 18 platforms.
There are significantly cheaper platforms for Canadians to buy crypto like NDAX (0.49% total purchase fee), VirgoCX (0.66%) and Newton (0.69%).
We tested 18 Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges at the same time to compare the true fees. This data was collected on Mar 2, 2022 at 4:41pm and is subject to change since spreads and prices change daily.
- Total BTC Purchase Fee = CAD Deposit Fee + Trading Fee + Reference Price Difference
- Total BTC Selling Fee = CAD Withdrawal Fee + Trading Fee + Reference Price Difference
You can compare all platforms from the price test on this page.
Crypto.com Fees | Amount |
|---|---|
*Total BTC Purchase Fee | 1.68% (9th place) |
*Total BTC Selling Fee | 1.41% (7th place) |
Trading Fee | Free |
Recurring Buys | Free for e-transfers, 3.50% for credit card |
CAD Deposits | Free up to 3.50% |
CAD Withdrawals | Free |
BTC Withdrawal Fee | 0.0006 BTC |
Price Test & Spread
Price Test (On Mar 2, 2022) | Prices |
|---|---|
BTC Spread | 3.11% (16th place) |
BTC Buy Price | $56,710 |
BTC Sell Price | $55,000 |
Ref. Price Difference | Buy: +1.68% Sell: -1.41% |
Reference Price (Google) | $55,774 |
How to Deposit & Withdraw
Crypto.com offers free Interac e-Transfers but does not have bank transfers if you want to move higher limits. It also supports credit/debit card purchases with fee ranging between 0% or 3.50%. In my experience, the first deposit took a while to process but all other deposits showed up in under one hour.
Withdrawals are processed slower than other platforms. It will take 0-2 days to withdraw money via e-transfer withdrawal. If you want to deposit a different fiat currency, Canadians can also set up a free EUR fiat wallet.
CAD Deposits
Type | Fee | Time | Limits (24 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
Interac e-Transfer | Free | 0-2 Days | Min $20 - Max $10,000 |
Credit / Debit Card | 3.50% | Instant | Min $2 - Max $30,000 weekly |
CAD Withdrawals
Type | Fee | Time | Limits (24 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
Interac e-Transfer | Free | 0-2 Days | Min $100 - Max $25,000 |
Crypto Withdrawal Fees
Type | Fee | Minimum Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
Bitcoin | 0.0004 BTC | 0.0012 BTC |
Ethereum | 0.005 ETH | 0.01 ETH |
USDC | 25 USDC | 50 USDC |
XLM | 0.1 XLM | 200 XLM |
Security
Is Crypto.com Safe in Canada?
With all the info available, Crypto.com is considered safe. They are FINTRAC licensed, pending OSC registration, and hold crypto in cold storage. They also have a $750 million insurance policy and offer various security features like 2FA, address whitelisting, and more.
Additionally, after the FTX collapse, Crypto.com's CEO published a proof-of-reserves and claims that all customer deposits are backed 1:1.
While the Proof of Reserves audit preparation is underway, we are sharing our cold wallet addresses for some of the top assets on our platform.
This represents only a portion of our reserves: about 53,024 BTC, 391,564 ETH, and combined with other assets for a total of ~US$ 3.0b— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) November 11, 2022
⚠️ Although Crypto.com is considered safe, nothing will beat safeguarding your crypto on a mobile or hardware wallet where you own the private keys. The Ledger Nano S is one of the best hardware wallets on the market.
Company Security Features
Here is everything we dug up on Crypto.com's security practices:
- They claim 100% of users funds are held in offline cold storage using Ledger Vault
- $750 million cold storage insurance policy for physical damage and third-party theft
- Proof-Of-Reserves coming soon
- Dedicated team to monitor for suspicious transactions
- Software is peer reviewed before being updated
- Employees take security awareness and privacy training
- Bug bounty program - get paid to find hacks and vulnerabilities
- Good reputation - partnerships with Visa, Formula 1, UFC and many more which adds legitimacy
- See their security page for more
User Security Features
- Two Factor Authentication (via app like Google Authenticator, Authy, etc)
- Multi factor authentication
- Optional passcode when opening app
- Biometric login (eg: face ID, touch ID)
- Create Anti-Phishing code to identify legitimate emails
- Set up address whitelists
- View live status in real-time
Customer Support
According to reviews online, Crypto.com has poor customer service but I have not tested it myself. Their portal claims that they respond within a few hours and are available 24/7. You can visit their knowledge base for FAQs, articles and walkthroughs. There is also a live status page where you can view incidents in real-time.
Crypto.com Summary
Crypto.com has 250+ coins and a lot of features and rewards on its platform. However, it is has high fees which are hidden in the spread. For that reason, we don't recommend it as the cheapest platform for Canadians. Fees aside, Crypto.com can still be a good choice for a Visa card or the multitude of other features mentioned above.
For the cheapest fiat on and off ramp in Canada, try Newton or NDAX. You can also check out the cheapest altcoin exchanges in Canada here.
Here are the best crypto exchanges for Canadians right now. We assessed 18 platforms across 60 variables and 1080+ data points.
