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Written by: Craig Leontowicz | Updated: April 27, 2023
If you are trying to figure out which crypto exchange to sign-up for and you’ve got it narrowed down to Shakepay vs. Coinbase — The answer is Shakepay for funding/deposits with a Canadian bank account and Coinbase for trading and altcoins.
I’ve used both these platforms and apps for a couple of years. I also live in Canada.
Basically, as a Candian, the easiest, fastest way to fund a crypto exchange account with $ dollars is with Interac e-Transfer. Coinbase doesn’t offer this option to fund your account.
Shakepay only offers Bitcoin and Ethereum compared to Coinbase, where you can choose from 100+ altcoins.
You can still sign up and verify your account on Coinbase as a Canadian — it is just easier to fund and withdraw crypto for a majority of people using Shakepay and eTransfer.
Shakepay – Best for beginners. Easiest crypto exchange to use
Features unique to Shakepay compared to Coinbase:
- Simple app design that works great
- Interac eTransfer for funding and withdraws
- Fast, automated account verification
- Lower fees than Coinbase and simplified pricing
- ShakingSATS — Get free Bitcoin every day by just shaking your phone
- Earn – 1% in free Bitcoin to your Shakepay account when you shop with any Visa merchant
- Mobile app only – iOS, Android
- Located in Montreal, Canada
- Over 600,000 Canadian customers
- BTC, ETH only
Read: Shakepay Review
Shakepay Fees
- Deposits and withdrawals: $0
- Spread: ~1 to 2%
- Crypto withdrawal: Free
Funding & Withdrawal Options
- Interac E-Transfer
- Wire Transfers
- Pre-authorized Debit
Cryptocurrencies: 2
Shakepay Pros
- No fee crypto withdraws
- Simple app UI/UX
- Earn Bitcoin cashback reward with a prepaid Visa debit card
- *NEW – Dark mode
- Shakepay ShakingSATS
- Shakepay Card for BTC Rewards
Shakepay Cons
- Limited coin selection
- High spread fee
- Mobile app only
Coinbase – Recommended for traders and altcoins
Features unique to Coinbase compared to Shakepay:
- Earn interest on your crypto
- Crypto-to-crypto trading pairs
- Conbase Products: Simple Exchange, Advanced Exchange, NFT marketplace, Wallet (self-custody)
- Crypto solutions for institutional investors, family offices, and businesses
- Private client – For high net worth individuals, family offices, trusts, and more to navigate crypto with a high-touch team of experts
- Tools and APIs for developers building with crypto
- Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
- 100+ altcoins to buy/sell and trade
- Learn and earn – Learn about crypto and get rewards
Coinbase Fees
- Deposits and withdrawals: 1.49% – 3.99%
- Spread: 0.5%
Funding & Withdrawal Options
- Interac eTransfer
- Crypto
- Wire Transfer
- ACH Transfer
Cryptocurrencies: 100+
Coinbase Pros
- Coinbase Pro for traders and lower fees
- Easy to use for beginners
- Coinbase Card
Coinbase Cons
- Hard to fund/withdraw fiat in Canada
- High fees
- Complicated fee structure
Coinbase – Advanced Trade Dashboard
Advanced Trade gives you more robust tools to make better trading decisions. Access to real-time market information through interactive charts, order books, and live trade history on the advanced trade view. TradingView functionality with custom drawing tools, 104 indicators, and different chart types.
Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody crypto wallet, putting you in control of your crypto, keys, and data. Store your crypto and NFTs in one place.
With all those fancy products and features Coinbase offer — it still has problems. My account verification took days (maybe longer), and withdrawing to Paypal didn’t work for me. The Coinbase exchange regularly suffers performance issues at peak times.
Not all the altcoins that are listed on Coinbase are available for Canadians to buy/sell or trade.
Crypto Exchange Fees Compared
Spread % | Withdraw Fee | Deposit Fee | # of Coins | ||
1 - 2% | $0 | $0 | 2 | ||
0.75-1.5% | Crypto: Free up to $5 | $0 | 60+ | ||
0.2% | Crypto:~$10 | $0 | 30+ | ||
0.5% | Fiat: $0 | $0 | 30+ | ||
0 - 1.5% | Fiat: 1.5% | $0 | 25+ | ||
0.2 - 0.3% | Crypto: 0.00001 BTC | Fiat: 1.5% | 65+ | ||
~0.2% | Fiat: 1% | Fiat: 0 - 1.5% | 16+ | ||
0.5 - 2.5% | Fiat: $0 | $0 | 67+ | ||
0.5% | 1.49 - 3.99% | 1.49 - 3.99% | 100+ | n/a | |
~1.5 - 2% | $0 | $0 | 49+ | ||
~0.4% | Crypto:~$13 | $0 | 100+ | ||
0.6% | $0 | $0 | 7 stablecoins | n/a | |
0.5 - 1.25% | Crypto: you decide fee | $0 | 1 | n/a | |
1.5% | Fiat: 0 - 1.5% Crypto: 0.0005 BTC | $0 | 39+ | n/a | |
0.21% | Variable | $0 | 1 | n/a |
Shakepay vs Coinbase — Conclusion
If you are Canadian and want to buy/sell a few hundred to a few thousand dollars on BTC or ETH and send it to your wallet to hodl — Use Shakepay. It’s a very easy-to-use app, free to withdraw crypto, set limit orders or recurring buys. Verification is a fast and automated process.
Shakepay is what I recommend to most of my friends who are just starting in crypto and want to buy $100 of Bitcoin to just learn more about it.
Shakepay does just a few things. But, they do them well and it just works.
If you want to trade crypto, have a larger selection of altcoins or earn interest on digital assets — Use Coinbase. Regardless you will still probably want to set up a Shakepay account to simplify the funding and withdrawing of crypto to your bank.
It will ultimately depend on your bank, and the amount you are wanting to trade to determine the best fees and prices. This has been my personal experience and what I have read about other people’s similar experiences trying to use these crypto exchange platforms.
HowToBuyBitcoin101.com is basic how-to crypto guides, reviews, and information for beginners to get started with cryptocurrency in Canada. NOT investment advice. Investing in cryptocurrency is risky. Do your own research.
Seen in: Finbold, CoinMarketCap, and TheBitTimes.com