Bitbuy vs Coinbase Fees

Let's take a look at the various fees charged by Bitbuy and Coinbase, to start our comparison.

Deposit Fees

Depositing CAD into Bitbuy is completely free of charge.

On Coinbase, you do not pre-fund your account with Canadian Dollars, instead you pay using your debit card at the time of purchase. There is a fee of 3.99% when you pay with your card.

Trading Fees

On Bitbuy if you use Express Trade (the easiest way to buy and sell cryptocurrency), the fee is 1.5%.

If you use Pro Trade (trading on the market), the maker and taker fee is 1.5%.

Coinbase's trading fee structure is complicated and consists of two components. There is a 0.50% spread fee, with an additional 'Coinbase fee' on top, which is the larger of the 'flat fee' or the 'variable fee', shown below.  

Withdrawal Fees

Withdrawing CAD from your Bitbuy account will incur a 1.50% fee with Interac e-Transfer, and 1.0% fee using Wire transfer.

Coinbase's withdrawal fees for Canadians is $1.

Bitbuy vs Coinbase Deposit Methods

Bitbuy accepts deposits via Interac e-Transfer, Wire Transfer and Cryptocurrency.

Coinbase accepts Debit card payments and Cryptocurrency only. 

Bitbuy vs Coinbase Features 

Bitbuy and Coinbase are two well-established cryptocurrency exchanges with plenty of features to offer. I'm not going to describe all the features on these two platforms, but if you are interested to read more, here is my Bitbuy review and Coinbase review. In this comparison article I will highlight a few points that make Bitbuy and Coinbase stand out from their competition.

Bitbuy is extremely user-friendly, and is perfect for beginners with their Express Trade feature. Even someone with no knowledge of crypto will be able to use this feature to buy or sell one of 17 popular coins.

Bitbuy also has a Pro Trade market for those that are more experienced with cryptocurrencies. It displays advanced charts by TradingView as well as giving access to limit and market orders.

Bitbuy has partnered with BitGo Trust Company to store 99% of their cryptocurrency offline. BitGo Trust Company is the world’s first qualified custodian, purpose-built for storing digital assets. All cryptocurrency assets held in custody with BitGo are covered by a comprehensive insurance policy, meaning that all cryptocurrency held in your Bitbuy account would be covered under the same policy.

Coinbase has a unique feature where you can earn free cryptocurrency just by watching a short video! All you need to do is watch a short 3 minute video teaching you about crypto, and you receive crypto rewards afterwards. For example, if you watch one video about COMP crypto, you can earn $3 of COMP. By watching all 3 videos, you receive $9 of COMP.

Coinbase has a Wallet app that is available for iOS and Android mobile devices. According to Google Play store, there are over 1 million downloads, with a 4.3-star rating from 24K reviews. With your Coinbase Wallet you can do more than just store crypto safely. Users also gain access to a wide range of decentralised innovation. They can participate in airdrops and ICOs, collect NFTs, browse decentralised apps (DApps), and send crypto to anyone in the world.

Bitbuy vs Coinbase Security

Bitbuy is the most secure and trusted cryptocurrency exchange in Canada. Their servers are secured across multiple world class cloud providers and disaster recovery locations. All providers are ISO, SOC, and FIPS 140-2 compliant. Bitbuy’s privately maintained codebase keeps core components closed source, so your intellectual property is safe from prying eyes. Bitbuy has 2FA and biometric login security features for their users, and store their cryptocurrency offline with BitGo Trust Company, who provides comprehensive insurance.

Coinbase uses multi-layered security such as 2FA (2-factor authentication), biometric logins (fingerprint & face ID), and data encryption, with USB drives and paper backups distributed geographically in safes and vaults around the world. All Coinbase employees are required to pass a criminal background check, and their hard drives are encrypted. Coinbase stores 98% of its digital assets offline in cold storage, and even has crime insurance cover to protect digital assets in the event of a cybersecurity breach. For more information about Coinbase's insurance cover, click here. 

Verdict - Bitbuy

Although Coinbase is very popular in the USA, Bitbuy is my recommendation for Canadians due to much lower fees, ease of use for beginners and experienced traders, and extremely high security. The biggest downside of Bitbuy is that they only support 17 different cryptocurrencies. If you are after a wider selection of coins, then Coinbase may be the choice for you, with over 160+ different cryptocurrencies. 

If you wanted to compare more options of crypto exchanges, check out our article on the best exchanges in Canada here.

Still Researching?

If you want to do some more research before choosing one of these exchanges, you can read my detailed reviews on Bitbuy (here) and Coinbase (here). You might also find my article on the best Canadian crypto exchanges helpful. I have also included a quick comparison table of the top 5 exchanges in Canada here.