CoinSmart Vs Newton: Which Is Better For Canadians In 2026?

How Do CoinSmart And Newton Compare, Fact By Fact?

Every row below comes from each company’s own pages and the Canadian registries, checked October 2026. Where a row has no fair winner, it says so.

What Are The Key Differences Between CoinSmart And Newton?

How Do You Fund And Cash Out CoinSmart And Newton In Canada?

All funding ended. Accounts moved to Bitbuy. Account verification is required before any deposit. Crypto withdrawals to an external address need the address saved in your address book first.

What Does It Actually Cost To Buy On Newton?

Newton: Standard Silver-tier spread fee shown at trade time: 1.00% to 1.15% on BTC, ETH and USDC, up to 1.60% on other assets, checked 2026-10-03 on Newton's fee article. Signature status lowers it, to 0.05% at CAD 5M of trailing 365-day volume. Neither publishes a maker and taker schedule because there is no order book: the spread is the fee. If cost matters most, NDAX (flat 0.20%) or Kraken Pro are cheaper places to buy in Canada. Ranges reflect each platform’s published band, not a single quote. Bank and network fees are not included.

What Do CoinSmart And Newton Offer Beyond Buying And Selling?

Newton Only

• Signature Program: Fee tiers assigned automatically by trailing 365-day volume: Gold CAD 100K (BTC, ETH, USDC at 1.00%), Platinum CAD 1M (0.85% and 1.00%), Diamond CAD 2M (0.50%), Onyx CAD 5M (0.05%).
• Staking: Up to 4.5% APY shown for ETH, SOL and ADA (estimates, not guaranteed). Newton keeps 30% of ETH rewards plus execution income, 27% of SOL rewards plus MEV rewards, and 7.5% of ADA rewards. Staked assets are locked.
• Recurring buys: Set an amount, a coin and a frequency for automatic purchases.
• Referral program: A friend gets a CAD 20 bonus after signing up and trading CAD 100 within 90 days; the referrer earns up to CAD 100 depending on activity.

What Happens To Your Money If CoinSmart Or Newton Fails?

CoinSmart: This was a merger, not a collapse. CoinSmart's accounts went to Bitbuy, which has since moved to Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. and then Robinhood. Log in through Bitbuy with your old CoinSmart email, and never send crypto to an old CoinSmart deposit address, because the addresses changed. If you prefer not to follow the move to Robinhood, withdraw to your own wallet.

Newton: As a CIRO investment dealer member since March 2026, cash left in a Newton account is covered by CIPF, but Newton states crypto is not protected by CIPF, CDIC or any investor protection scheme. Over 80% of assets are kept offline and Newton says it carries crypto insurance, but it gives no amount and the custodian is not named on the current page, and no proof of reserves is published. An exchange hack or insolvency would leave you relying on that insurance and on the dealer's regulatory capital rules for the portion you cannot withdraw in time.

How Are CoinSmart And Newton Treated For Tax In Canada?

CoinSmart: Trades on CoinSmart were dispositions for CRA purposes. Pull your CoinSmart history from your migrated Bitbuy account. Export formats: Not published.

Newton: Selling, swapping one coin for another and staking rewards are dispositions or income; buying and withdrawing to your own wallet are not. Newton exports your history as a Koinly-formatted CSV and links directly to Koinly; there is no CRA-ready report from Newton.

Selling, swapping or spending crypto is a disposition for the CRA on any platform. This is not tax advice: see my guide to crypto taxes in Canada.

Which Should You Choose, CoinSmart Or Newton?

Choose CoinSmart If

• You want a registered platform that serves Canadians today: Coinbase is our number one replacement, with free Interac e-Transfer funding and a Canadian restricted dealer registration.

Choose Newton If

• You want a Canadian-only CIRO dealer with free Interac and EFT funding and a simple app.
• You trade small amounts of the majors and prefer one visible price over order book mechanics.
• You trade over CAD 1M a year and can reach Signature tiers that cut the fee below 1%.

What Happened To CoinSmart?

CoinSmart, run by Simply Digital Technologies Inc., stopped operating as a separate exchange after WonderFi moved its client accounts to Bitbuy. WonderFi announced the deal on September 8, 2023, and I could not verify the exact completion date. Its two CSA decisions, the original of October 21, 2021 and an amended one of December 21, 2021, now sit under the CSA's expired decisions.

FINTRAC lists the CoinSmart registration as ceased on September 10, 2024. Today coinsmart.com serves the Bitbuy site with a banner saying Bitbuy is now part of Robinhood. That chain matters: CoinSmart accounts went to Bitbuy, Bitbuy later moved under Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd., and Robinhood closed its WonderFi purchase on June 1, 2026.

So CoinSmart did not collapse. It was folded into a larger group, and the group is now being folded into Robinhood. Bitbuy has a help article for migrated CoinSmart accounts if you ever need to trace one.

For more detail, see my CoinSmart page. I do not link to CoinSmart for sign-ups, because it is not an option for Canadians.

What Should CoinSmart Users Use Instead?

The short answer is Newton, the other half of this match-up. It is available to Canadians, and it is beginners who want a Canadian dealer with free CAD funding and do not mind paying through the spread. If you want the closest like-for-like match to CoinSmart, my notes name NDAX.

How Much Does Newton Cost, And How Do You Fund It?

Since CoinSmart cannot be compared on current fees, here is what Newton charges today, taken from its own published pages.

Is Newton Safe For Canadians?

Newton Crypto Ltd. was admitted to CIRO as an investment dealer on March 18, 2026, after being a CSA-registered platform since 2022. The CSA list shows amended decisions on March 11 and March 25, 2026.

Newton says it holds crypto asset insurance and keeps over 80% of assets offline in cold storage. Cash is CIPF-covered; crypto is not.

The app rates 4.62 on the Canadian Apple App Store from 24,473 ratings, and 4.3 on Google Play from 8.14K reviews.

Whichever platform you use, I still say the same thing: do not keep more on an exchange than you are prepared to lose, and move long-term holdings to your own wallet.

Who Should Choose Newton?

Newton suits beginners who want a Canadian dealer with free CAD funding and do not mind paying through the spread. It is a weaker fit if you need something its list or fee structure does not cover: spread of 1.00% to 1.60% is not cheap, and crypto is not CIPF-protected.

Not sure which platform fits you? Take my 60-second quiz or see my full ranking.

What Should You Do If You Still Have Something With CoinSmart?

CoinSmart: If you held a CoinSmart account, it was migrated to Bitbuy, and Bitbuy's help centre has an article on what to do with a migrated account. Bitbuy itself is now part of Robinhood and is inviting customers to the Robinhood app, so check what you hold there and decide whether you want to stay. Whatever you decide, do not send crypto to an old CoinSmart deposit address.

A simple rule applies after any platform change: keep your own records of every purchase, because the CRA treats crypto as a commodity and you need the history for your tax return.