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Coinfield vs. Coinbase: What Works Better For Canadians in 2024

Oleg Galeev

Last updated September 20, 2024

As of July 15th, 2023, Coinfield's website stopped operating properly for Canadians. Also, their registration status of MSB has been ceased by FINTRAC. As a result, we would recommend avoiding this crypto exchange at the moment. Feel free to check alternatives e.g. Bitget or BitBuy. The comparison below is outdated, but we have retained it in the event that the crypto exchange resumes proper operations in Canada. More information here. The comparison below is outdated and kept for educational purposes. Apparently, if you pick between Coinbase and Coinfield, go ahead with Coinbase.

Coinfield and Coinbase are both cryptocurrency exchanges used by many in Canada, though they differ significantly in their features, focus, and origins. Coinfield, a Canadian-based platform, takes a customer-centric approach with low fees and a user-friendly interface, while Coinbase, a US-based giant, offers a global reach with a wealth of educational resources but at a higher cost. Let’s delve deeper into these two platforms to better understand their unique offerings.

Description

CoinField is an EU-based cryptocurrency exchange that is Canada-friendly. It was a secure crypto exchange with a robust verification process.

Unfortunately, CoinField is no longer active in Canada. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has stated that the exchange does not have adequate assets to satisfy withdrawal requests.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase Canada is a cryptocurrency exchange with a simple interface making it a popular choice for Canadians looking to start their crypto journey. However, more Canadians are starting using local exchanges e.g. Bitbuy. Coinbase has 56 million users and became the first cryptocurrency exchange to have an Initial Public Offering.

Coins

While it offers the usual digital currencies such as bitcoinEthereum and Litecoin, it does not offer popular coins such CardanoSolana, or Dogecoin. The full list of coins available are: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Stellar, EOS, TRON, Sologenic, BAT, Mimblewimble, USDT, USDC, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, DigiByte, Golem, OMG, Augur, 0x, Zilliqa, Civic, and Loom.

50+ including BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC

Fees

When it comes to fees, CoinField has many. It charges a 2% deposit fee for Interac e-Transfers with a minimum deposit of $100. US dollar wire transfers are free. CoinField charges a 2.5% withdrawal fee using Interac and its maker/taker trading fees are 0.15%/0.25% if your trading volume is less than $50,000 over 30 days. 

Extremely High
3.99% buy fee
0.50% fee per trade

Pros

  • Secure and compliant exchange
  • CAD Interac e-Transfers available
  • Advanced trading features available
  • Easy-to-use app
  • Accepts many fiat currencies and deposit methods
  • Staking rewards and referral program
  • Simple and easy interface
  • Good for beginners
  • Secure exchange with cold storage
  • The most popular coins offered
  • Users can set up automatic recurring buys
  • Learn to earn crypto program

Cons

  • High deposit and withdrawal fees
  • Desktop platform can be confusing for beginners
  • Some of the most popular coins not available 
  • Slow customer service 
  • High fees
  • Fewer coins than Binance
  • Complaints of bad customer support
  • No Interac e-Transfer

Account Limits

Only limits at your local financial institution may apply

High limit. Purchase limit depends on account age and other factors

Methods to buy

CoinField accepts six fiat currencies including CAD, USD, EUR, GBP, AED, and JPY.

  • Interac e-Transfer
  • Credit/debit where accepted
  • Bank transfer

Debit card

Security

  • Cold storage
  • Secret vaults
  • Multi-signature wallets
  • Encryption and isolated servers
  • 2FA

2FA, coins held in cold storage with multi-signature wallets, KYC verification process

Mobile and Desktop Trading

Both Coinfield and Coinbase have user-friendly mobile and desktop apps, each with high ratings on the App Store and Google Play. Coinfield's apps are slightly less rated, with the iOS app at a 4.3 rating (544 reviews) and the Android app at a 4.3-star rating (1.25K reviews). On the other hand, Coinbase boasts a 4.7-star rating on the Apple App Store (1.7 million+ ratings) and a 4.1-star rating on Google Play (757K+ ratings). Both exchanges offer a seamless experience across devices, with easy-to-use interfaces and simple navigation.

Coinfield

On the Apple App Store, the CoinField app has a 4.3-star rating with almost 500 reviews. On Google Play it has a 3.4-star rating with over 1000 reviews. Some of the worst reviews are people lamenting the high fees and slow processing times. 

Reviewing CoinField's features

Coinfield trading view

Reviewing CoinField's usability from desktop version

Coinfield view with selecting coins

One of the pages on CoinField's app

Coinfield app main screeen

Reviewing CoinField's mobile app interface

App view while trading

Coinbase

Coinbase app offers a clean white background with simple text. It's user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Coinbases’s app is almost identical to its desktop platform making it easy to trade crypto wherever you are. Safely store your debit card information and you can buy and sell top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether in just a few clicks. On the Apple App Store, Coinbase has a 4.7-star rating with 1.3 million ratings. On Google Play it has a 4.3-star rating with 453,000 ratings.

Reviewing Coinbase desktop version

Coinbase desktop interface

Coinbase main screen with features

Coinbase portfolio

Coinbase mobile app

Coinbase app interface

Made an order with Coinbase app

Coinbase app interface while trading

Security Compliance

CoinField is one of the safest crypto exchanges in Canada. It has never been hacked. While CoinField may receive bad reviews for their slow customer service, CoinField is certainly a safe and compliant exchange. With CoinField you can have peace of mind knowing you are dealing with an exchange that prides itself on its security and privacy. The exchange utilizes cold storage, secret vaults, multisignature wallets, encryption and isolated servers. Users can enable two-factor authentication on their accounts for extra protection, and users must confirm all withdrawals via email. Signing in on a new device or with a new IP address also triggers a verification email. 

Coinbase uses its own digital wallet for storing your cryptocurrency.

Coinbase keeps 98% of its cryptocurrency in cold storage. This makes it hard for thieves to steal crypto assets if the exchange is hacked. Cold storage is the most secure way to store cryptocurrency, so the fact that Coinbase does this is a huge plus.

Coinbase is known for being one of the safest crypto exchanges. 98% of its assets are stored in cold storage, and it sets up two-factor authentication on all accounts. Coinfield also prioritizes security, keeping 95% to 100% of assets in cold storage and maintaining a multi-layered firewall infrastructure. Each platform uses encryption to secure wallet and private keys and conforms to strict employee background check policies.

Regulatory Compliance

Coinfield used to be a FINTRAC-regulated crypto exchange in Canada but recently their registration status was ceased. It's hard to tell at this point how compliant it is but many Canadians still use it.

Coinbase is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, however, no restrictions for Canadians. Canadian residents can use Coinbase to their full capacity.

Both Coinfield and Coinbase are registered Money Services Businesses in Canada and are fully compliant with FINTRAC regulations. Coinbase, as a publicly-traded company in the US, has additional transparency obligations towards its shareholders.

Customer support

CoinField allows users to submit support tickets either online or via email. It does not offer phone support. Customer support is available on weekdays and weekends, but CoinField does not have the fastest customer support – in some cases it can take days for an answer. You can, however, also get in touch via Twitter if you need urgent support.

Unfortunately, CoinField has a poor 2.2-star rating on Trustpilot with 62% bad reviews.

A lot of customers say that they have been waiting weeks to receive their crypto withdrawals.

Coinbase customer support is very slow. It took them 4 days to address our request to a real person. Even though they offer 24/7 support and a live chat option, the quality of the support is bad due to a very high volume.

Customer support is an area where Coinfield outshines Coinbase. Coinfield provides 24/7 customer support, including live chat, email, and even phone support. Coinbase, on the other hand, has been criticised for its customer support, with complaints of ignored requests, slow verifications, and delayed withdrawals, despite offering live chat, email, and 24/7 phone support.

Conclusion

As of July 15th, 2023, Coinfield's website stopped operating properly for Canadians. Also, their registration status of MSB has been ceased by FINTRAC. As a result, we would recommend avoiding this crypto exchange at the moment. Feel free to check alternatives e.g. Bitget or BitBuy. The comparison below is outdated, but we have retained it in the event that the crypto exchange resumes proper operations in Canada. More information here. The comparison below is outdated and kept for educational purposes. Apparently, if you pick between Coinbase and Coinfield, go ahead with Coinbase.

Both exchanges have their strengths. Coinbase's global presence, educational resources, and strong security measures make it an appealing choice. However, for Canadians, Coinfield emerges as the winner due to its customer-centric approach, low fees, robust security measures, excellent customer service, and the fact that it's a homegrown platform. The limitations on Coinbase for Canadian users, including low buying limits and high costs, make Coinfield the preferred platform.

We recommend choosing Coinfield over Coinbase for your cryptocurrency trading needs. By opting for Coinfield through our referral link, you support us in conducting comprehensive independent analyses of crypto trading options for Canadians.

If you find that neither Coinfield nor Coinbase meets your requirements, we encourage you to explore our monthly-updated list of the best exchanges for Canadians to trade crypto. This list provides a range of alternative options that may better suit your specific needs and preferences.

Author

Oleg is a Canadian citizen & crypto expert who has been trading since 2016. He started out with Coinbase, Kraken and Peer-to-Peer exchanges. After some time, centralized exchanges started charging crazy fees to their users.

He decided to review different crypto exchanges that operate in Canada and start a Youtube channel in order to educate Canadians on what kinds of things are going inside each one while giving them unbiased advice. On top of that, Oleg also has experience with NFT, airdrops, and crypto staking and he is constantly checking on new crypto assets.

His writing has been featured in popular Canadian media sources such as Toronto Sun and Ottawa Citizen.