The Canadian’s Guide To Buying, Trading, And Storing Bitcoin, Ethereum And Other Cryptocurrencies

A guide to getting Canadians started investing in cryptocurrency

As Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, in general, push itself to mainstream popularity, more and more Canadians are starting to get interested in getting a piece of the pie. Here is a basic guide to get you started on investing in the cryptocurrency world.

~ Before We Start ~

This is not investment advice but just a guide on how to get into cryptocurrency buying and trading. Just like any investment, there is always a risk so it is important to keep yourself informed when investing your hard earned money into something especially in the cryptocurrency industry where everything is so volatile and scams are everywhere.

Some basic terms before we get started

1. Cryptocurrency — is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets. i.e Bitcoin
2. Blockchain — watch this video.
3. Bitcoin — is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator.
4. Altcoin — any coin that is not Bitcoin.
5. Fiat — is currency issued by governments and banks or what you would know as traditional currencies today i.e. USD, CAD, etc.
6. Shill — A person engaged in covert advertising. The shill attempts to spread buzz by personally endorsing the product in public forums with the pretense of sincerity, when in fact he is being paid for his services.
7. FUD — the opposite of Shill; Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Usually used by competitors and/or others to evoke fear and drive the price of a coin down.
8. FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out. What you’re feeling right now, that’s why you’re reading my guide :).
9. ICO — Initial Coin Offering. Similar to stock trading’s IPO, this is when a coin is first offered to the public for sale/trading.

1. How To Buy Bitcoin

So how do you buy Bitcoin? Unfortunately for Canadians, we don’t have as much flexibility and choices compared to our American brothers and sisters… but don’t worry! Canadian resilience always finds a way!

Here are a few companies where you can buy Bitcoin:

Coinbase

Probably the most popular seller at the moment (shady as f*ck though)

Pros

• Lets you buy BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCC
• Easy to use interface
• Mobile App lets you buy on the go
• Option to buy using your Credit Card

Cons

• High fees at 3.99%
• Small weekly buy limits (but increases over time as you buy more — this is done for security purposes to make sure you’re not a scammer)
• Accused of market manipulation and insider trading

QuadrigaCX — No Longer Active

Pros

• Low fees at 1.5% using INTERAC Online
• The trading platform already built-in
• Lets Canadians cash out by selling their coins for Fiat (not the car) aka CAD

Cons

• Long verification process (it’s been 2–3 weeks for me and I am still waiting to get verified)
• No option to buy using Credit Card

Some Buy-In Sites That Exist But I Have Not Personally Used

• Coinsquare — Toronto company. Similar to QuadrigaCX as they let you buy and also trade on the platform. Fees slightly higher at 2.5% for INTERAC Online plus “Withholding” days.
• nTrust — no fees according to their website but quick google Reddit search makes me feel like I shouldn’t “trust” them… ahh, see what I did there? Anyhow, some Redditors accuse nTrust of some misleading prices and also increase the value of BTC so you pay more when buying compared to its competitors (way more than actually paying for fees). I also know them from my time in Vancouver as a Venmo type app and it seems they’ve pivoted a lot to find an idea that would stick.
  Full disclosure: during their promotion, I got a free hotdog from them back in 2014.

2. How To Trade Bitcoin For Other Altcoins

So you’ve managed to get your hands on some BTC or ETH or LTC… well, congrats! You are now officially in the cryptocurrency game. Now you’ve probably also heard about altcoins that are not directly sold for fiat like Ripple(XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), etc. Here are some places where you can send your coins over and trade other people for some other coins.

Bittrex

Update: Might be closed for new registrations so keep checking as sometimes they open it for a limited time

Pros

• Easy to use interface
• Low Fees
• No price manipulation (or at least as far as I know)
• Lots of coins being traded on this platform

Cons

• Need to have cryptocurrency already as you cannot “buy-in” or fund your account using fiat

Binance

Update: Might be closed for new registrations so keep checking as sometimes they open it for a limited time

Pros

• Supports lots of coins — some Asian coins can only be found here
• Low Fees
• Easy to use interface
• The mobile app lets you trade on the go

Cons

• Need to have cryptocurrency already as you cannot “buy-in” or fund your account using fiat

Kraken

Pros

• Let’s you “buy-in” or fund your account with fiat

Cons

• Takes forever to get verified to let you fund your account but you can still use it as an exchange if you already have crypto

Some Buy-In Sites That Exist But I Have Not Personally Used

• GDAX — Coinbase’s trading platform
• Poloniex — don’t know much about them at the moment. All I know about them is that they tend to get hacked one back in March 2017 and July 2017
• Bitfinex — currently not allowing new registrations
• Kucoin — Hong Kong-based exchange. Still accepting new users.

3a. Digital Wallets

After you’re done trading, unless you are day trading … you shouldn’t keep your coins in exchanges. The ones you plan to hold long term (i.e. a year or more) you should take them out of exchanges and keep them in digital wallets to avoid getting hacked. Unfortunately, there is no “ONE WALLET” to keep all your coins. There are some wallets that hold multiple currencies but some only support 1 kind. Here are some that I use but as you diversify your portfolio, you’d want to research and find wallets to store your altcoins.

Jaxx.io

My current digital wallet of choice for my BTC, ETH, and LTC

Pros

• They’re Canadian!
• Full range of applications from Desktop App, Mobile Apps, and a Chrome extension so you can access your wallet in diff. ways
• Stores multiple currencies i.e. BTC, ETH, BCC, LTC, and many more

Cons

• Lots of popular coins not available i.e. XRP, ADA, STRAT, etc.

Gatehub

Pros

• This is the main XRP wallet from what I know but I am sure there are others out there

Cons

• Requires a minimum of 20 XRP to use

Blockchain Wallet

Pros

• Oldest and most popular
• Supports BTC, ETH, and BCC

Cons

• Only supports BTC, ETH, and BCC

For other altcoins, you end up trading for, you have to look for wallets that support them. Your best bet is to google for some Reddit threads and look for reviews because it is a dangerous world out there and lots of fake “wallets” where you’re just transferring it to someone else’s wallet.

3b. Cold Storage Wallet or Hardware Wallet

Paranoia still kicking in? Well, I’ve got you covered! Hardware wallets are the ultimate form of security (unless you physically lose them or they don’t work properly). I’d suggest buying one of these once you’ve got a substantial amount and again… for holding long term.

Ledger Nano S

Pros

• One of the cheaper ones in the market (I paid $99 CAD + $15 duty for mine)
• Nice sleek design
• Good support?
• Holds multiple coins

Cons

• Some reviews complain that they lost their coins when transferring. Not sure if this is a hardware issue or user error
• Kind of confusing to use with the many software that comes with it

Trezor

Another popular hardware wallet. Unfortunately, no pros and cons since I don’t have one and no first-hand experience to share with you.

3c. Paper Wallets

I personally haven’t used this at all but there are lots of resources online that teach you how to create your own paper wallet. Here’s one for BTC.

4. Portfolio Trackers

This is probably the most dangerous one of them all as it is addicting to watch the changes in your overall portfolio value every second so download at your own discretion. You would want to use one of these to track the value of your coins, your gains, and losses and watch other coins that you might be interested in. I also use mine to monitor if there’s a dip on some of the coins I am “watching” so I can buy them for cheap and also see if some of the coins I’ve been holding have increased in significant value that I would like to move them to cheaper coins for more GAINS!

Blockfolio

Probably the most popular portfolio tracker out there at the moment.

Pros

• Extensive coin support
• Real-time market trading report (You can see the current Asks and Bids on the market of your choosing for each coin you’re tracking)
• 24-hour value highs and lows

Cons

• Get’s wonky sometimes/not updating or price is delayed
• Does not show total profits (from current portfolio value less initial investment)
• Not the most elegant interface but useable

Delta

This is the app I am currently using.

Pros

• Nice interface
• Shows your total profits from your initial investment
• Easier to read

Cons

• No real-time market trading view
• No 24 value high and low

Coincap

Another popular portfolio tracker but I’ve personally haven’t used it to have a Pros and Cons list for you.

5. How To Keep Updated With News And Updates

It is important you keep track of market trends and news especially to the coins you’ve invested in to make sure you get out if a coin is a dud or if there’s a new coin you would probably want to invest into.

• Reddit — join subreddits specific to the coin you have and other general communities surround cryptocurrency and blockchain.
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Telegram Groups — download the Telegram app and join some groups where you can interact, ask questions, and it is also a good way to find out about breaking news and updates.
• Slack — if you already have slack, there are also some public slack groups you can join and would have the same benefits as Telegram groups.
• Facebook groups

Conclusion

We’ve gone through a lot and if you’re reading this, congratulations! You know the basics of getting started in crypto-investing/trading. Unfortunately, this is only the start young Padawan and there is still much to learn for you to get from basic to expert. Over time, you will develop your own investment strategy, what works and doesn’t work. Be ready as there could be some expensive lessons along the way but I hope it doesn’t come to that. And just like in any investments, it is a gamble so make sure you are ready not only when the market rises but also if the market crashes.

I’d suggest don’t settle to be a “dumb” investor and really take the time to understand how blockchain works, what the future is for cryptocurrencies and bitcoin itself.

Happy investing!

Full disclosure: some of the links above are embedded referral links. I would suggest you use them because of some of them like Coinbase, we both get $10 once you invest money in it.