Wealthsimple Crypto
Buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and 170+ other coins right inside the same app you use for stocks and banking, no separate exchange, no external wallet. New here? Claim $25 with code _Y024Q.
For Canadians who want some crypto exposure without juggling a separate exchange, Wealthsimple Crypto is the most convenient option going. It's a regulated, Canadian platform that lives inside an app you already trust for the rest of your money.
What you can do with Wealthsimple Crypto
- Trade 170+ coins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and a wide roster of major altcoins.
- Stake eligible assets, earn staking rewards on Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and Polkadot directly in the app.
- Swap coin to coin, move directly between eligible cryptocurrencies without cashing out to dollars in between.
- Set price-target orders, queue a buy or sell that fills automatically when a coin reaches the price you pick.
- Deposit & withdraw crypto, move coins on-chain to and from external wallets on supported networks.
- Buy fractionally, start with a few dollars; you don't need to buy a whole Bitcoin.
- Set recurring buys, dollar-cost average automatically on a schedule you choose.
Because crypto lives in the same app as your TFSA, RRSP, and Chequing, you can see your entire net worth, stocks, registered accounts, banking, and crypto, on a single screen. For most Canadians, that convenience is the whole appeal.
Supported coins
Wealthsimple lists Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and more than 170 other cryptocurrencies. The most-traded include:
- Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the two largest by market cap.
- Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), XRP, Avalanche (AVAX).
- USD Coin (USDC), the one stablecoin on the shelf, plus a rotating selection of established altcoins.
The exact roster changes over time as coins are added or delisted, so check the current list in the app before planning a specific purchase. Beyond that curated list, the newer DEX trading beta opens up millions of on-chain tokens.
Fees & how pricing works
Wealthsimple Crypto charges a flat 0.5% trading fee on every order, and market orders also carry a spread, the gap between the live market price and the price you actually fill at. So if you buy and immediately sell a market order, you'd notice a small difference, that spread is the extra cost. Limit orders have no spread at all, and the 0.5% fee itself falls as your trading volume rises.
| Cost | Wealthsimple Crypto |
|---|---|
| USDC bought or sold with US dollars | 0% |
| Auto-invest purchases | 0% |
| Account / custody fee | None |
| CAD deposits & withdrawals | Free |
| Baseline trading fee | 0.5% |
| Spread, market orders | variable |
| Spread, limit orders | 0% |
| Orders under $100 | +$1 surcharge |
| Active Trader, high 30-day volume | down to 0% |
The volume discount runs on a rolling 30-day window and requires Active Trader status, which also drops your spread to 0% on every order. From there the 0.5% baseline steps down as volume grows: 0.35% at $10,000, 0.25% at $100,000, 0.15% at $500,000, 0.10% at $1,000,000, 0.05% at $10,000,000 and 0% at $15,000,000. Casual buyers will sit at the flat 0.5% plus spread, so it's worth being clear about what that buys you. Wealthsimple is a regulated Canadian platform that keeps the majority of coins in insured cold storage, there's no account or custody fee, Canadian dollars move in and out free, and the whole thing sits beside your TFSA, RRSP and Chequing instead of on a separate exchange you have to fund and monitor. Dedicated crypto exchanges can be cheaper for large, frequent trades. For buy-and-hold investors who value one app and one login, the simplicity usually wins.
Staking explained
Wealthsimple offers staking on four proof-of-stake assets: Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT). You lock up part of your holdings to help secure the network and earn a yield paid in more of that same coin. After Wealthsimple's cut and validator commissions, indicative net yields have been running near 4.15% on ETH and 4.5% on SOL, though both move with network conditions and neither is guaranteed.
A few mechanics are worth knowing before you stake:
- Warm-up and cool-down periods, your coins earn nothing for a short window after you stake, and can't be sold or withdrawn immediately after you unstake. Both vary by asset.
- Auto-stake, you can switch on automatic staking so future purchases of an eligible coin are staked without you doing anything.
- Wealthsimple takes a share of the rewards, and third-party validators take a small commission on top. See the FAQ below for the exact split.
- Rewards are taxable, generally treated as income at their value when you receive them.
DEX trading (beta)
In July 2026 Wealthsimple added in-app access to decentralized exchanges, the most interesting thing to land in the Crypto product in a while. You can search and swap millions of on-chain Ethereum tokens without leaving the app, funded by cash or crypto you already hold, with Solana support signalled as coming. When you buy, a third-party aggregator scans the chain for the best available price, and the token lands in a self-custody wallet attached to your account.
This is a different animal from the curated list above. These are unvetted on-chain assets that exist the moment someone creates them, so Wealthsimple filters out tokens it flags as malicious and shows risk warnings on the rest, covering things like thin liquidity, concentrated top holders, very short trading history and artificial trading patterns. Only market orders are supported, and these tokens aren't reviewed, held or insured by Wealthsimple the way the main roster is. Treat it as the most speculative corner of the app.
Is Wealthsimple Crypto safe?
Wealthsimple Crypto is offered through a registered Canadian entity and is regulated as a crypto trading platform. The majority of assets are held in cold storage with an institutional custodian, with additional crime insurance on custodied assets, plus the same app-level security (2FA, biometric login, encryption) as the rest of Wealthsimple.
Important: crypto assets themselves are volatile and are not covered by CDIC or CIPF. That protection applies only to your cash and traditional investments, not to your coins, whose value can rise or fall sharply.
How crypto is taxed in Canada
The CRA treats cryptocurrency as a commodity, not currency. In general:
- Selling, trading one coin for another, or spending crypto can trigger a capital gain or loss.
- Staking rewards and crypto earned as income are usually treated as taxable income at their value when received.
- You're responsible for tracking your adjusted cost base and reporting gains, Wealthsimple provides transaction history to help.
Crypto held in a Wealthsimple Crypto account is in a non-registered account; you cannot hold coins directly inside a TFSA or RRSP. This page isn't tax advice, consult an accountant for your situation.
Get $25 to kick-start your portfolio, crypto, stocks, or both.
Sign up with code _Y024QDoes buying crypto qualify me for the bonus?
Yes. Opening a Crypto account counts as opening an eligible Wealthsimple account, and a qualifying deposit triggers the bonus. As with every product, the $25 is paid to your Chequing account, completely separate from your crypto holdings. See how to claim it step by step.
How much crypto should you hold?
Most advisors suggest keeping crypto to a small, speculative slice of a diversified portfolio, an amount you could afford to lose. The bigger win for most Canadians is a low-cost TFSA or RRSP of broad ETFs, with crypto as an optional side position. Wealthsimple's advantage is that it lets you hold all of it, index ETFs, registered accounts, cash, and crypto, in one place.
Wealthsimple Crypto questions
Common questions about buying crypto on Wealthsimple and the $25 bonus.
