BitBuy Review 2022: Exploring a Top Canadian Exchange

BitBuy is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada founded by Adam Goldman in 2016. The exchange is only available for Canadian citizens and those with permanent residence. It uses the Canadian Dollar as the currency for trading, deposits and withdrawals.

BitBuy has been growing rapidly in 2022, serving more than 400,000 Canadian customers and recording more than $4 billion in crypto trading volume. 

In this BitBuy review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the BitBuy exchange interface, its safety protocols, fee structure, customer support, trading features and more so you can decide if this exchange is right for you. 

Pros & Cons of BitBuy: The Basics

Let’s start with some of the pros and cons of BitBuy:

Pros:

• User-friendly platform
• Low trading fees
• Safe and regulated exchange
• $50 sign-up bonus
• Excellent customer support
• Canada-native

Cons:

• Only supports a few cryptocurrencies
• Only available for Canadian users

BitBuy Frequently Asked Questions

Does BitBuy have a built-in wallet?: No. BitBuy doesn’t offer a digital wallet app or web browser extension.

Does BitBuy offer leverage?: Unlike many crypto exchanges, BitBuy doesn’t offer leverage trading.

Does BitBuy support staking?: No. You can find an educational article explaining staking and interest-earning accounts on BitBuy but the exchange doesn’t support this feature.

What fiat currencies does BitBuy support?: BitBuy only supports Canadian dollars (CAD).

How Can I Get My $50 Signup Bonus?: You need to deposit $250 or more in order to claim the $50 signup bonus, which can be found in the Settings section of your BitBuy account.

Are other users besides Canadian residents allowed to use BitBuy?: No, BitBuy only accepts Canadian customers or users with permanent Canadian residence.

Is BitBuy insured?: All the funds in BitBuy are held in BitGo, which is insured by Lloyd’s of London for $100 million.

BitBuy Exchange Overview

BitBuy is a fully regulated crypto exchange by the Ontario Securities Commission and registered with the Financial transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a Money Service Business (MSB). In March 2022, WonderFi Technologies Inc, a FinTech company backed by Kevin O’Leary and Sam Bankman-Fried, acquired BitBuy after months of regulatory hurdles, paying over $160 million in cash and WonderFi shares.

BitBuy Core Features

BitBuy might fall short compared to other exchanges regarding certain features and products, such as staking or crypto lending, but there are still a few things worth highlighting:

• BitBuy Academy: BitBuy Academy is an educational section with several trading guides, important updates on the exchange, and the latest cryptocurrency news

• Over-the-Counter (OTC) trading: BitBuy allows users to trade crypto in the OTC market, where buyers and sellers trade assets directly outside of the exchange. It’s also called off-exchange trading.
  

• Express Trade: A user-friendly interface for newcomers, offering simple trading features and order options such as buy and sell crypto with low fees.

• Pro Trade: Pro Trade is an advanced charting platform designed for professional traders. It contains a live order book and other trading and order options. Express Trade and Pro Trade are similar to Coinbase and Coinbase Pro; both interfaces aim at different audiences.

• BitBuy App: BitBuy allows its customers to trade on the go thanks to its mobile app version, which is available for Android and iOS devices. The app is just as user-friendly as the desktop version and contains the same core features, allowing users to buy, sell, trade and stake cryptocurrencies.

BitBuy: Signup, Deposits and Withdrawals

Opening an account on BitBuy is a straightforward process that only takes a few minutes:

1. On Bitbuy’s homepage, click “Sign Up.”

2. Enter your email and create a password.

3. Check your email to verify your email address.

4. Enter a North American phone number; the exchange will send you a code to verify the number.

5. Fill in your personal details such as an address, date of birth, full name, etc.

6. Upload a photo of your ID Card and a selfie holding the document.
   

The verification process is usually instant, but it might take up to 1 – 2 business days. After your account is fully verified, you are able to make a deposit.

You can top up your account with cryptocurrency, wire transfer or Interac e-Transfer —a Canadian payments app. PayPal and similar digital payment services are not supported.

BitBuy’s Fees

Like the majority of exchanges, BitBuy operates on a maker-taker fees structure. Explained simply, market makers provide liquidity for a particular market on an exchange’s order book. They do this by placing limited buy or sell orders that are not executed immediately and have different prices. The taker, on the other hand, chooses a price and executes the order, taking liquidity off the exchange.

Market makers will pay a lower fee than takers. In Express Trade, users don’t have to worry about maker-taker fees as all trades carry a 0.50% fee. In Pro Trade, however, the initial maker fee is 0.10% for buy and sell orders, while takers pay 0.20%. These fees are relatively lower compared to other exchanges like Coinbase’s Coinbase Pro, which charges makers 0.40% and takers 0.60%.

CAD deposits and withdrawal fees will depend on the method you use:

• Interac e-Transfer deposit: 1.50%, near-instant
• Interac e-Transfer withdrawal: 1.50%, 24 hours
• Wire transfer deposit: 0.50%, 2 to 3 business days
• Wire transfer withdrawal: 1.00%, 2 to 3 business days.

Cryptocurrency deposits are feeless, but crypto withdrawals depend on the cryptocurrency but usually range from $1 to $20. 

BitBuy Cryptocurrencies Supported

There are a total of 25 cryptocurrencies available at BitBuy, including some of the most popular coins and tokens in the market:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• Polkadot (DOT)
• Polygon (MATIC)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Cardano (ADA)
• ApeCoin (APE)
• Stellar Lumens (XLM)

BitBuy: How Safe is it?

BitBuy is overall a safe crypto exchange that leverages several security protocols. The firm allows users to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) through Google Authenticator. 99% of users’ cryptocurrencies are held in BitGo, a crypto custodian company that provides cold storage and is insured by Lloyd’s of London for $100 million.

BitBuy also conducts frequent financial and security audits using trusted third parties. Being a regulated exchange, BitBuy complies with FINTRAC and OSC (Ontario Securities Commission)regulatory guidelines.

BitBuy Customer Service

Unlike most crypto exchanges, BitBuy stands out for having rather excellent customer support that provides fast responses via email. The exchange is also active on social media and has a support page where users can find answers to common questions. 

BitBuy scores 3.6 out of 5 stars from more than 250 reviews, which is actually quite high compared to other exchanges like Coinbase, which barely ranks 1.6 out of 5.

Final Thoughts: Is BitBuy Right for You?

We’ve reached the end of our BitBuy review, and we have to say the exchange offers users a simple way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies while providing professional traders with an advanced charting platform and trading resources. While it doesn’t have a vast amount of features compared to Crypto.com or FTX, its low fees and simplicity are appealing to users.

BitBuy is definitely a solid option if you’re barely starting your crypto trading journey. But if you’re looking for a platform with more trading features and order options, we can recommend FTX or Binance.

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