Shakepay Review For Canadians (Updated January 2024)

Pros

• Simple and intuitive platform for beginners
• No fees for deposits or withdrawals
• User-friendly Shakepay mobile app
• Shake your phone for extra Sats
• Shakepay is secure and safe to use
• Great customer support for Shakepay users
• Send cash or crypto via your Shaketag
• The Shakepay Card pays you 1% back in Bitcoin

Cons

• Shakepay only offers Bitcoin and Ethereum
• Customer Support is not 24/7
• Shakepay uses a spread system for trading fees
• No staking or earning services on Shakepay

Rating  

Trade Cryptocurrency with Shakepay

What is Shakepay?

Shakepay is a technology company that was launched in 2015 and is based in Montreal, Quebec. The company owns and operates financial applications like the Shakepay crypto platform, which is only available to Canadians. As of July 2023, Shakepay has seen over $9 billion in digital currency transactions with over 1 million Canadian customers. 

This crypto platform is licensed and registered in every Province across Canada and is regulated by FINTRAC^[1] and the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF). Shakepay is a true founder-led company, as the co-founders Jean Amiouny and Roy Breidi remain as the current CEO and CTO, respectively. 

For those looking for a full crypto trading platform, Shakepay might not be the site for you. Nearly ten years in and Shakepay still only offers users the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum. Although there are thousands of different cryptos on the market, Shakepay remains loyal to the two largest and most significant digital currencies. 

In this Shakepay review article, I will take a closer look at using Shakepay to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. I will also look at the sign-up process, deposits and withdrawals, and any transaction fees that are required. If you are looking to get started with investing in cryptocurrencies, Shakepay is a great first step towards owning the two blue-chip crypto tokens. 

Shakepay Review: A Comprehensive Analysis

Ease of Use (4/5)

Fees (3/5)

Cool Features (4/5)

Coin Selection (2/5)

Mobile App (4/5)

Safety Features (3/5)

Customer Support (3/5)

Where Shakepay Shines

1. Simple and Intuitive Platform for Beginners

There is a wonderful simplicity and purity to Shakepay, which I believe is what attracts so many crypto beginners to the platform. Only offering Bitcoin and Ethereum is both a blessing and a curse for Shakepay.

This allows the platform to be simple and user-friendly, which is perfect for newcomers to the crypto world. Crypto exchanges can often be complicated and overwhelming. Shakepay makes your first experience with a crypto platform a delightful one. 

Why do I think Shakepay’s platform is so simple to use? Because I’ve used it myself! Despite my account balances, there is something so straightforward about only having to worry about three different assets. Don’t worry, I discuss why this is also a disadvantage a bit later in this Shakepay review. 

Buying and selling cryptos is extremely easy, especially for beginners who are making their first crypto trades. You can only convert from Canadian dollars to Bitcoin and Ethereum or vice versa. Of course, you can also exchange Eth for BTC or BTC for ETH as well. 

Navigating the platform is smooth and intuitive, with clearly marked and defined sections. There is simply little room for confusion when using Shakepay, which is ideal for Canadians who are already skeptical about how complicated investing in cryptos can be. 

2. No Fees for Deposits or Withdrawals

Shakepay knows that one of the best ways to onboard new investors to crypto is to offer zero-commission trades and no fees for deposits and withdrawals. There are no fees for any deposit method to Shakepay, whether it is Interac eTransfer, Wire Transfer, or directly transferring in Bitcoin or Ethereum from another crypto wallet. 

Unlike many of its competitors, Shakepay does not charge any fees for withdrawing funds or cryptos. You can withdraw funds using the same methods as a deposit and still not incur any additional fees. 

It should be noted that when you send cryptocurrencies over almost any network, you will incur what is called gas fees or network fees. Unfortunately, these are unavoidable and are not included in the no-fee advertisement for Shakepay. Whether you are sending cryptos to another wallet or transferring them into Shakepay, there is no way to avoid network gas fees. 

3. User-Friendly Shakepay Mobile App

We are lucky to be living at a time when mobile apps are so advanced that there is very little drop-off in usability from desktop to mobile. Shakepay fits this description to a tee, as its mobile app is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate. 

In my opinion, the user interface on the mobile app is just as good, if not better, than the desktop version. This shows how high the quality of development is for the Shakepay app for both iOS and Android operating systems. The mobile app is smooth and fluid, and the navigation from screen to screen never feels onerous. 

Security on the mobile app is another bonus: you can use either 2FA or biometrics like FaceID to log in to your Shakepay account. Shakepay allows you to deposit and withdraw via Interac eTransfer on the app as well as chat with customer support. In fact, there is more incentive to use the mobile app for the ShakingSats daily shake to earn bonus Sats. 

4. Shake Your Phone for Extra Sats Via ShakingSats

One unique feature on Shakepay’s mobile app is the ShakingStats daily bonus. All you need to do is shake your mobile phone while you have the Shakepay app open, and you will be awarded a bonus number of Satoshis. You can even build your streak by participating in ShakingSats on each consecutive day. 

There are two tiers of ShakingSats rewards: Active Stacker and Inactive Stacker. Active Stackers must either be Shakepay Visa card cardholders or make a Bitcoin or Ethereum trade once every seven days. For Active Stackers, the daily streak can reach as high as 356 at which point you will be awarded 1,000 Sats. For Inactive Stackers, there is a base daily rate of just 21 Sats per shake. 

To participate in the ShakingSats program, you need to either join Shakepay through a referral or refer someone else, who then must deposit at least $100.

5. Shakepay is Secure and Safe to Use

The crypto world is one where security and safety are paramount to being a successful investor. If you are signing up for a new crypto exchange, you will definitely want to make sure it has good site security. 

Shakepay has never been hacked before, which certainly indicates that your funds will be well protected. Like most crypto exchanges, Shakepay holds most of its crypto assets in offline cold storage. This means that the storage is not connected to the internet and is, therefore, more secure from potential hackers or threats. One problem is that Shakepay does not specify how much of its assets are held in cold storage. While this shouldn’t be a roadblock to signing up for the site, it is something that would be nice to know. 

The platform also has both segregated accounts for fiat funds and no fractional reserves. This means that both crypto and fiat assets are kept separate from Shakepay’s own. Shakepay also has an insurance policy for any funds held within the platform, although there isn’t much detail on what is covered and for how much. 

Finally, Shakepay requires multi-party approvals for which neither founder are able to perform any withdrawals from cold storage. Add all of these to the already impressive 2FA and biometric login, and you can begin to see why Shakepay has thus far been impenetrable (knock on wood!). 

6. Great Customer Support for Shakepay Users

For new crypto traders, it is so important to have a strong customer support team to rely on. Getting started in the crypto market is a daunting task, and I don’t blame you one bit for wanting to reach out for help. 

With Shakepay, things never really get too complicated because the platform only offers Bitcoin and Ethereum. Still, Shakepay has a long list of products and services it offers, so there are plenty of reasons to need some support from its staff. 

One problem with Shakepay’s customer support team? It’s only open during limited office hours. This is hard when you want to trade cryptocurrencies around the clock, and it is even harder if you are in the Pacific Time Zone, but I’ll go over this in my Where Does Shakepay Come Up Short section. 

For the most part, Shakepay’s customer support is great if you can catch them during office hours. You can reach out via email or the live chat function in both the desktop and mobile apps. Shakepay also has an extensive Help Section and a strong social media presence. You can always ask for help from the Shakepay community on platforms like Twitter, Reddit, or Discord. 

7. Send Cash or Crypto Via Your Shaketag

These features are why I usually think of Shakepay as a fintech platform rather than a crypto exchange. Whenever a user signs up for a new Shakepay account, they also receive a Shaketag. This is a unique identifier that allows you to send or receive funds or cryptos directly in the Shakepay app. 

Think of your Shaketag like your PayPal username or Cashtag on the Cash App. Any Shakepay member can send funds directly by Shaketag, and you will have access to them in your account. 

It’s not a groundbreaking idea, but it is a nice feature to have for Shakepay users. Of course, the obvious downside is that the person you wish to transfer to has to be a Shakepay user as well. 

8. The Shakepay Card Pays You 1% back in Bitcoin

Another great feature of Shakepay is the pre-paid Visa debit card. This card is a Visa Rewards debit card that you must load funds onto in order to use it. But the benefits of this card are incredible. 

The Shakepay Card will pay you back 1% of nearly all purchases in Bitcoin satoshis. One of the best parts is that Shakepay will automatically pay for certain purchases as a treat for your loyalty. 

This card can be used physically at any retailer that accepts Visa cards, as well as online and digitally via the Google Wallet and Apple Wallet. It is one of the best ways to earn Bitcoin by spending in Canada, especially since most credit cards are banned from being used on crypto sites. 

You can sign up for the card directly in your Shakepay mobile app and can earn an extra 1% back in Bitcoin for the first $5,000 you spend. 

Where Shakepay Falls Short

1. Shakepay Only Offers Bitcoin and Ethereum

I already mentioned that this is both a blessing and a curse. By only offering Bitcoin and Ethereum to trade, Shakepay is alienating a lot of crypto traders who want to take advantage of the wide range of available coins on the market. 

Many people believe that Bitcoin and Ethereum are the only two cryptos that will last for the long term. But many investors get into crypto for the potential to make life-changing gains on altcoins or even on meme coins. 

It sure hasn’t deterred more than 1 million Shakepay customers from using the app. Personally, I like to have a nice variety of cryptos to trade, like with Kraken or Coinsquare. 

The no-fee trading will certainly attract many users, as will the various features that Shakepay offers. It is a pure-play platform for Bitcoin and Ethereum and nothing else. 

2. Customer Support is not 24/7

This is just something that Canadian crypto traders learn to deal with. For most Canadian-based crypto exchanges, customer support is only available during office hours. This is definitely more problematic if you do not live within the Eastern Time Zone – it shortens the business day by 3 hours. 

There is customer support seven days per week now, but there can be a long wait even if you leave a question on the live chat service. For a market that is open 24/7, it would make sense to have customer support available around the clock. 

3. Shakepay Uses a Spread System for Trading Fees

Often when a platform advertises zero-trading fees, there is a catch. Shakepay does not charge any trading fees for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Canadian dollars. So how does Shakepay even make money? Through something called a spread fee system for trading. 

Essentially, when you buy Bitcoin from Shakepay it sells it to you are a higher price, and when you sell it back to Shakepay it sells it at a price that is usually lower than your buy price. This creates a spread where Shakepay takes the difference between the two prices to earn fees. 

Overall, it’s not a terrible way to operate a crypto site. It’s good for Shakepay and most traders, it will be a fairly insignificant amount. But, these fees can potentially be higher than a set commission fee, depending on how large the order is. 

4. No Staking or Earning Services on Shakepay

This is more of a nitpicky thing, but there are no staking services on Shakepay even though it offers Ethereum to traders. The Ethereum protocol is one of the first staking services that allow traders to earn additional rewards from pledging their cryptos to the network. 

Don’t get me wrong, staking is not an essential service that needs to be on every crypto site. But it is nice to have, especially when so many of its peers are offering it these days. Check out sites like Wealthsimple Crypto or Kraken if you want to earn some extra rewards on your Ethereum. 

Who Should Use Shakepay

If you’re still hesitant about whether Shakeypay is the appropriate crypto platform for your needs, I encourage you to look at the following section, where I outline who I believe would benefit most and least from using Shakepay.

You Should use Shakepay if…

Shakepay might not be for you if…

My Experience with Shakepay

Was I a Shakepay user before writing this review? I was not, but I did sign up for an account to test it out. Anything I have said is from first-hand experience with both desktop and mobile apps, so you can trust that both my positive and negative feedback are legit. Unlike other Shakepay reviews, it is easy to tell who has used the app and who hasn’t. 

Shakepay is a unique crypto platform in Canada because it only offers Bitcoin and Ethereum. While other exchanges boast how many hundreds of different coins they offer, Shakepay has never looked to expand its offerings. Would it have been nice if Shakepay added some more coins? Sure! Is it necessary in order to use Shakepay? Absolutely not. 

There aren’t really any other comparable sites in Canada. Other Canadian sites like Wealthsimple Crypto or Newton offer plenty of different cryptos to invest in. They even offer additional features like staking, which is another area where Shakepay falls short. 

Where Shakepay lacks in coin offerings it more than makes up in additional financial services. The ability to send cash or cryptos directly in the app via the peer-to-peer Shaketag system is handy, especially since there are no transfer fees involved. 

Another great feature is the Visa Bitcoin Rewards debit card that Shakepay offers. This card needs to be pre-loaded with funds but will pay you back 1% in Bitcoin Satoshis for all of your purchases. Shakepay will even pick up the tab on some of your purchases throughout the year. 

When it comes to using the actual app, Shakepay definitely errs on the side of simplicity and minimalism. With only two cryptos, this shouldn’t be surprising, but the app is really a very simple and intuitive product. Some crypto exchanges overcomplicate things by trying to add in too much, but Shakepay’s developers really get it right with this app. 

Two more things I often look at in a crypto exchange review are site security and the level of customer support on the app. I covered customer support in detail already earlier in this article. The support itself is good, but only if you can catch them during business hours, otherwise, you are left waiting for a response until the next day or trying to dig around on Shakepay’s social media sites. 

When it comes to site security, Shakepay has done pretty well. The site has never been hacked, which is a great sign that the company is looking out for its clients. Shakepay uses the proper encryption for the site and uses 2FA or biometrics to log in through both desktop and mobile. Shakepay holds most crypto assets in cold storage and all fiat assets in a CDIC-insured account. 

Overall, I have enjoyed using Shakepay, but I have also asked myself how different it is from buying Bitcoin or Ethereum on another exchange. The zero-commission fees aren’t really felt when buying in small amounts. On a site that focuses on financial rewards and services, a lack of staking for Ethereum really stands out.

I understand that there is a population of people that only want to invest in Bitcoin or Ethereum. I would assume that a lot of new traders want to try their hand at other coins as well. The novelty of only trading Bitcoin and Ethereum wear off pretty fast with Shakepay, although the additional features like the daily ShakeSats bonus do make this a fun app to use.

I like Shakepay but I don’t love it. There are too many things that I kept saying would be nice to have. Eventually, those ‘nice to haves’ add up and become serious shortcomings for the platform. Shakepay is fine, but most people will get more from using a different crypto exchange. 

How to Sign Up for a Shakepay Account

Estimated time: 10-20 minutes 

1. Register for an Account at Shakepay.com

Registering with Shakepay is a simple process, although it does take some steps to complete your account with verification. The first thing you will need to do is head over to Shakepay.com and hit Get Started in the top right corner:

From there, you will choose your Shaketag and create a password to register with your email address. As you can see, Shakepay also wants to know if you are using the app for personal or business purposes. 

Once you’ve filled this out, Shakepay will ask you to confirm that email address before proceeding. Shakepay will also ask you to confirm your mobile phone number via an SMS code: 

Once you have confirmed both your email and phone number, Shakepay will begin the KYC or Know Your Customer part of the setup. This will ask you for some vital information like your name, date of birth, residential address, and occupation. They will even want to know what you plan on using Shakepay for: 

2. Complete Verification of Your Shakepay Account

Before you begin using your Shakepay account, you will need to verify it. This takes an extra few minutes but is required by the site just as it is with most crypto exchanges in Canada. You can choose which type of government-issued document to provide to Shakepay to prove your identity. 

This is the same OnFido identity verification service that is used for other sites like Coinsquare in Canada. It is a pretty easy service to use and is very intuitive and straightforward. Once you have selected your document, you can continue the rest of this process on your mobile phone:

OnFido will provide you with a QR code to scan with your phone to transfer the process there. 

From there you will be asked to take a self-facing video of yourself as you complete the steps on the screen. Usually, this requires moving your head in certain directions or repeating a sequence of numbers. Once you have completed this submit it back to OnFido along with a photo of your documents. Now, we wait!

3. Get Approved by Shakepay and Begin Trading

Hopefully at this point Shakepay will get back to you within a few minutes. I know it says up to 7 days but it really shouldn’t ever take that long. In my case, Shakepay approved me in about five minutes. 

4. Login and Fund Your Shakepay Account 

Once confirmed, you can log in and fund your Shakepay account. Interac eTransfer is the fastest and easiest way, but remember that Shakepay does not have any deposit fees. If you deposit Bitcoin or Ethereum, you will most likely have to pay some network gas fees.

5. Start Trading on Shakepay!

It’s time to get started with trading! You can immediately begin to trade Bitcoin or Ethereum or sign up for any of Shakepay’s services. If someone referred you to Shakepay or if you have referred someone else, you will also begin to use the ShakingSats bonus each day. 

FAQs About Shakepay