Where to Buy Bitcoin In Canada?

Today, Tesla bought 1.5B worth of $BTC. A few friends since then have asked me where to buy Bitcoin or Sats here in Canada.

To start, let me explain a few terminologies that I’ll be using in this blog:

• Sats or Satoshis: units of a bitcoin. 1 bitcoin has 100M Satoshis. One of the beauties of Bitcoin is that you can buy Sats if you can’t afford to buy a whole bitcoin. Yes, it’s not too late for you to be on the right side of innovation and history!

• Crypto wallet: No, we’re not talking about your Apple wallet (digital wallet.) We’re talking about a crypto wallet where you can store your Sats or bitcoins. You can download crypto wallets and install them in your phone. I use Exodus wallet: https://www.exodus.io.

• Exchange: Where you can buy bitcoins and crypto. I buy from Shakepay: https://shakepay.com. If you want to earn $10 when you buy $100 worth of Sats, feel free to use my referral link: https://shakepay.me/r/2GBWIIY . 🙂 We both get $10. 😉 I also buy from Wealthsimple.

I, myself, have mostly been buying actual units of Bitcoin or Sats from one exchange, and that is Shakepay: https://shakepay.com. I’ve bought some Sats from Wealthsimple as well, but only for short term.

When to buy from Shakepay and when to buy from Wealthsimple?

Buy from Shakepay if you want to own the actual bitcoins and Sats, or if you want to hold or #hodl them for long term because you see them more as a cryptoasset or a store of value like gold.

Buy from Wealthsimple if you want to buy fast and sell fast, and you’re in it for short term, and you only want to buy Bitcoin now to sell later.

What’s the difference between the bitcoins or Sats from Shakepay and Wealthsimple?

The Sats and bitcoins you buy from Wealthsimple cannot be transferred to a crypto wallet or a cold wallet (this is basically a physical ”wallet” — more on that later.) You cannot use them to buy anything. You can only sell them. Buying bitcoins or Sats via Wealthsimple, however, is as easy as buying and selling a stock from an exchange. So, I would recommend it if your goal is to only buy and sell.

However, if you want to actually own Bitcoins or Sats and keep them for long term, I highly encourage you to buy them from Shakepay and immediately transfer them to the crypto wallet of your choice. That is because, you don’t know what can happen with exchanges. Remember what happened with Robinhood? Also, what if they get hacked or they go bankrupt? I would even encourage you to learn how to transfer them to a cold wallet at some point to keep them safer. It’s a rule of thumb to not keep crypto in exchanges.

I personally find Shakepay very easy to use. Their customer service agents are responsive and are very helpful as well. On top of that, they are based in Montreal, my hometown. ☺️

How does Shakepay work?

Once you’ve downloaded the application, simply click ”Add Funds” and select ”Interac e-Transfer” — you’ll see the instructions on how to send money to Shakepay. Once you’ve e-transfer them the funds, it’ll be a matter of 30-60 mins (based on my experience), until you see get to see your fund on Shakepay.

Here’s are some screenshots on how to buy bitcoin once you’ve added the funds in your Shakepay account. Ok, someone used my referral link, hence, why there’s $30 there. 🙂

Again, once you bought your Sats or bitcoins, transfer them to your crypto wallet.

Anyways, I’m going to make some dinner now. I’ll probably make that trending baked pasta with tomatoes and feta cheese. 😋

I hope that you ladies and gents find this post helpful. ☺️

#hodl