Shakepay

What Is Shakepay?

Shakepay is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange for Canadians that's based in Montréal, Quebec. They make it easy for Canadians to buy or sell Bitcoin and Ethereum, regardless of their experience level. They also have many ways to earn free Bitcoin like their Bitcoin cash back card, performing microtasks, and free giveaways.

They have over 1 million Canadians signed up which is an impressive stat.

Overview

The Bottom Line

Shakepay is great if you're a beginner or just want to earn free Bitcoin. It's very easy to use, has low fees, free e-transfers and bank transfers, a Bitcoin visa card, and many ways to earn free Bitcoin. The downsides are Shakepay only has 2 coins (BTC and ETH) and no advanced trading features.

We reviewed and ranked dozens of exchanges and overall, Shakepay is our best exchange for beginners. If you sign up with this link, you can get $30 free when you trade $100 on the platform. If you're looking for advanced trading features or a better selection of altcoins, see our alternatives section.

Shakepay's Features

1. Trading Interface

Trading on Shakepay gets you simple charts, market orders and limit orders. If you want to dollar-cost average Bitcoin or Ethereum, you can also set up recurring buys.

2. Recurring Orders

3. Shakepay Card

The Shakepay Card is a prepaid visa card that lets you earn 1%-2% Bitcoin cash back on every purchase you make. If you want to ditch loyalty points and start earning Bitcoin on all of your purchases instead, it is worth looking into.

You can see my full Shakepay Visa card review or compare all Canadian crypto credit cards. Here is an overview: 

4. Free Bitcoin Rewards

In addition to the Shakepay Card, there are various ways to earn free Bitcoin on the Shakepay app. Here is the list:

Shaking Sats: Earn free Bitcoin for shaking your phone every 24 hours. Rewards go up as you build your daily streak

Shakepay Earn: Earn Bitcoin rewards for keeping a CAD balance in your Shakepay account. 

#ShakeSquad: Launched in June, 2022, you can earn 42 sats every time your friend make a purchase on their Shakepay Card. Create your squad of up to 5 people and everyone will earn 42 sats when a transaction is made. Don't have 4 friends to invite? Go to Shakepay's Discord to find a squad!

#ShakePaid: Shakepay will pay for random purchases you make on your card. On Discord and twitter, there are tons of people sharing their free purchases. Personally, I've received about 5 purchases for free. The highest being an $11 order for my fast food and a few free coffees. You don't have to do anything other than use your card.

Giveaways: Shakepay regularly runs free Bitcoin giveaways. You can find them by joining the Shakepay Discord and following them on Twitter.

5. Shakepay A Friend

If you want to pay friends, you can send CAD, BTC or ETH to anyone with a Shakepay account. Just enter their phone number or Shakpay username.

6. Referral Program

Shakepay has a standard referral program where you can invite your friends to sign up with your promo code or link. The sign up bonus right now is $30 free when you trade $100 or more. The rewards are paid out quickly and there is no limit to how many friends you can invite.

7. Shakepay Earn

Shakepay Earn pays you 4% APR (paid in Bitcoin) for holding CAD in your Shakepay account. It's up to a balance of $1,000 and rewards are paid out weekly. You can join the waitlist by updating your Shakepay app. More details can be found in Shakepay's official FAQ.

Fees & Spread

We bought Bitcoin on 18 platforms to compare total fees, prices, and spreads. Shakepay had a total BTC purchase fee of 1.03% (4th place). The total BTC selling fee was 1.21% (5th place) and the spread was 2.26% (12th place) on the day we tested. 

Overall, Shakepay has fair prices but there are cheaper platforms for Canadians to buy Bitcoin and crypto like Newton (0.69% total BTC purchase fee), NDAX (0.49%)  and VirgoCX (0.66%).

Price Test & Spread

Deposit & Withdrawals

Shakepay is a great on-ramp and off-ramp for Canadians. You can deposit and withdraw Canadians dollars free and quickly with e-transfer or wire transfer. Bitcoin and Ethereum withdrawals are also free because Shakepay covers the miner fees and gas fees.

CAD Deposit Methods

CAD Withdrawal Methods

Is Shakepay Safe?

Shakepay is considered a safe crypto exchange. They store crypto in cold storage, never had a hack and offer 2FA and email confirmations for withdrawals in your account. They are also FINTRAC registered in Canada.

Here is a full list of the security features we found:

Company Security Features

• Funds held in cold storage (doesn't say how much)
• No fractional reserve
• Insurance policy for assets in cold storage. Covers most damages, theft, and loss of private keys (doesn't say how much the insurance covers)
• FINTRAC registered: #M17065696
• Third party proof of reserves report
• See the rest on their security page

User Security Features

• Mandatory 2FA for login (SMS or Authenticator app)
• Email conformation for crypto withdrawals (optional)
• Touch ID / Face ID / Pattern login
• Button to "Suspend Shakepay account" (disable all transactions)
• View system status in real-time
• See the rest on their security page

Even though Shakepay is safe, 44% of platforms we reviewed had a hack or incident. We highly recommend storing and protecting the majority of your crypto on a hardware wallet or a wallet where you own the private keys. Try to hold as little as possible on centralized exchanges.

Customer Support

In our experience, Shakepay has fantastic customer support and usually responds within 24 hours.

You can start a conversation with their team or visit their help center for articles and FAQs.