Coinsmart vs Binance | The Best Exchange For Canadians?
Jack Moreau
Feb 2024
9 min read
Fact checked
Coinsmart vs Binance: In this comprehensive comparison, we delve into the key aspects of both exchanges to assist you in making an informed decision. From examining their user KYC processes, country availability, product range and trading fees, we provide you with the necessary facts to determine which exchange suits you best!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
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eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Coinsmart and Binance are both prominent cryptocurrency exchanges that cater to different markets and offer a range of services.
Coinsmart is a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2018 by Justin Hartzman. It is registered and based out of Toronto, Canada. With over 40 employees, Coinsmart aims to make cryptocurrency trading accessible and user-friendly, especially for beginners.
Coinsmart exchange
The platform offers a clean and intuitive user interface, making it easy for Canadians to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, and a few others.
Coinsmart is estimated to have over 250,000 registered customers and is available in over 40 countries, including most European countries, Japan, Canada, UK, Singapore, South Africa, among others.
With over 6,400 employees, Binance offers a comprehensive range of trading and financial services that includes spot trading, futures trading, options trading, staking and earn products and more.
So while Coinsmart primarily focuses on serving the Canadian market, Binance has a global presence and caters to a much larger user base with a broader range of trading services and supported cryptocurrencies.
Coinsmart vs Binance KYC Requirements
When it comes to the signup process and KYC requirements, Coinsmart and Binance have some similarities and differences.
Starting with Coinsmart, the signup process is a bit more complex compared to other exchanges. Users are required to provide their email, password, and country of residence to create an account.
Once the account has been created, users are prompted to immediately complete the KYC (Know Your Customer) process in order to access their account. This involves providing personal information such as full name, address, a valid government ID and a selfie.
Coinsmart signup
Coinsmart aims to ensure that only Canadian residents can use their platform, so users who are not Canadian residents won't be able to pass the KYC process.
In terms of verification time, assuming the uploaded documents are correct, Coinsmart can verify users within a matter of minutes in the best case.
Once the verification has been completed, users must also connect their 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) before they can finally access their account.
Binance offers a more quick and straightforward signup process than Coinsamrt. Creating a Binance account takes less than a minute with users simply needing to provide their email and password.
Binance Know Your Customers (KYC) verification
In order to unlock full account privileges and begin trading on Binance, users must verify their account by going through the KYC process.
Binance requires users to submit all of the required information and documents for verification, including their country of residence, address, and government ID.
While the KYC verification process on Binance can be as short as 15 minutes in most cases, it can take up to 2-3 business days to verify certain users. And as mentioned previously, at the time of writing, Canadian citizens will not be able to signup.
Coinsmart vs Binance Crypto Products
Coinsmart is a small and limited exchange that primarily focuses on the Canadian market. The exchange offers users the ability to buy and sell 40 cryptocurrencies through their spot exchange or with a credit card.
Coinsmart trading
However, Coinsmart's liquidity is not great due to its small user base which results in higher spreads and fees for users. The user experience on Coinsmart is beginner-friendly, making it easy for beginners to navigate the exchange.
Coinsmart cryptocurrencies
However the lack of advanced features and limited product range are not enough to satisfy more experienced traders.
That's not an issue for Binance however as it offers a wide range of products and services. Binance provides spot trading, futures trading, margin trading, perpetual swaps (perps), and options trading.
Binance products
Users can settle contracts perpetually or on a quarterly basis using various cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Binance also offers trading bots and copy trading, allowing users to follow and replicate the trades of successful traders automatically.
Binance spot trading
Additionally, Binance provides leveraged tokens, staking, lending, and different types of vaults for users who want to earn on their assets. Binance also stands out with its own NFT marketplace and web 3 wallet called Trust Wallet.
Binance earn
In terms of user experience, Binance does an excellent job of offering a wide range of products while still maintaining an easy to use dashboard. The platform manages to maintain a user-friendly interface and provides clear navigation.
Binance crypto markets
Binance's liquidity is one of the best in the world, with daily spot trading volumes frequently exceeding $10 billion. When comparing Coinsmart to Binance, it is clear that Binance offers a more extensive range of products and services with better liquidity.
Binance futures trading
While Coinsmart focuses primarily on spot trading, Binance satisfies the needs of beginners, professional traders and institutional clients with more products and services.
What's interesting about Binance is that they also provide opportunities to further lower your trading fees. If your monthly trade volumes exceed $1 million or if you hold at least 25 BNB tokens, you can enjoy discounted fees. So, the more active you are on Binance, the cheaper it gets to trade.
Now, let's shift our focus to Coinsmart. This exchange charges a single trade fee of 0.2% and a double trade fee of 0.3%.
Single trades involve trading between any fiat currency or any cryptocurrency, while double trades are for trading two cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin.
Coinsmart trading fees
Comparing the two, Binance has much lower trading fees across the board compared to Coinsmart.
Coinsmart supports three fiat currencies for deposits: USD, EUR, and CAD.
Deposits can be made using SEPA for EUR, Wire Transfers for USD, Interac e-Transfer for CAD, and credit/debit card deposits with Visa or Mastercard.
SEPA and Wire Transfers are free of charge, while Interac e-Transfers have a 1.5% fee for deposits under $1,999 (free above that amount).
Coinsmart fiat deposits and fees
The minimum deposit is 50 EUR, and the processing time is up to 5 business days. Card purchases are also an option but come with higher fees, starting at 6.75% commission with a minimum fee of $10.
On the other hand, Binance supports a wide range of 26 fiat currencies, including USD, EUR, AUD, GBP, SEK, and many others. The deposit methods available on Binance include bank transfers via Swift, Signet, SEPA, and Faster Payments (FSP).
Binance deposit funds
Fiat deposits are also possible with Visa, Mastercard, PayID, and Advacash. Binance charges a 1.8% fee for fiat deposits made with Visa and Mastercard, a 1 EUR fee for bank transfers via SEPA, and a 1.5% fee for Advcash deposits.
Overall, both Coinsmart and Binance provide users with a range of deposit methods for fiat currencies. Coinsmart offers less options for users in terms of deposit methods and fiat currencies compared to Binance.
Coinsmart and Binance are both popular cryptocurrency exchanges that offer various withdrawal methods for their users.
Starting with Coinsmart, users can withdraw their funds in multiple fiat currencies, including USD, EUR, and CAD. For USD and EUR withdrawals, users have the option to choose between Wire Transfer and SEPA withdrawals.
Coinsmart fiat withdrawal fees
SEPA withdrawals are free of charge and typically take 1-5 days to process. On the other hand, withdrawing funds through Wire Transfer or Interac e-Transfer comes with a 1% commission or $15 fee, whichever is higher.
When it comes to cryptocurrency withdrawals on Coinsmart, the fees vary depending on the blockchain. For Bitcoin withdrawals, there is a 0.0005 BTC fee.
Ethereum withdrawals come with a 0.003 ETH fee, and Solana withdrawals have a 0.01 SOL fee. For users looking to withdraw ERC-20 USDC, Coinsmart charges a 10 USDT fee.
Coinsmart crypto withdrawal fees
Moving on to Binance, this exchange offers multiple methods for users to withdraw their fiat currencies. USD can be withdrawn via SWIFT, EUR via SEPA, and GBP via Faster Payments (FSP). Binance also provides free bank withdrawals for many other fiat currencies.
Binance withdrawal fees
However, Binance charges a 1.8% withdrawal fee for fiat withdrawals made with Visa and MasterCard. For SEPA withdrawals, there is a nominal 1 EUR fee.
In terms of cryptocurrency withdrawals on Binance, the fees are fixed for each blockchain. Bitcoin withdrawals have a fee of 0.0002 BTC, Ethereum withdrawals have a fee of 0.000768 ETH, and Solana withdrawals have a fee of 0.008 SOL.
In conclusion, Coinsmart and Binance cater to different markets and users.
Coinsmart focuses primarily on the Canadian market, providing a user-friendly platform for Canadians to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. With its clean and intuitive interface, Coinsmart is ideal for beginners in the cryptocurrency space.
However, it has limited liquidity and a smaller range of only 40 supported cryptocurrencies compared to Binance which has the deepest liquidity in the industry and support for over 350 cryptocurrencies.
Binance also has a global presence and caters to a much larger user base with wide range of products and features that includes spot trading, futures trading, staking, earn vaults and much more.
Also when it comes to trading fees Binance has a big advantage over Coinsamrt. Binance generally offers lower fees across the board with spot fees starting at 0.1% compared to 0.2%-0.3% charged by Coinsmart.
Ultimately, Binance is a much better exchange than Coinsmart as it offers a more extensive range of products and services with better liquidity and much lower fees.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
