So you want to buy crypto in Canada?

Remember last year when all that hype was surrounding Bitcoin and crypto in general? Some of you probably got on board and wanted to buy in. As a Canadian you probably had to do a little more work to figure out how to do it and not be using a TD account. You probably realized that you could easily purchase on Coinbase with a credit card. Until they shut that down…

Maybe then you found a nice local exchange like QuadrigaCX or Coinsquare or some other exchange or service that let you fund an account with Interac Online. Until they shut that down… (well unless you are with RBC; currently the only Big 5 bank that I am aware of that still allows for easy purchasing).

So unless you’re lucky enough to already be with RBC there are some pretty grim choices as to how you can easily purchase your favourite cryptos again. So here’s a run down of some alternative ways to keep your crypto assets growing until the Canadian banking system catches up.

1. GET AN RBC ACCOUNT
The first and most obvious choice is to switch to RBC and open an account but you have to make sure that you do not get the Visa Debit Card (they do not work with Interac Online and also Visa says crypto is a big scary monster). The only problem with this is will they continue to allow their customers easy access to crypto or not? Right now it’s a gamble but with the other banks pushing the other way it would make a lot of sense for RBC to stay the course and benefit. Time will tell.

2. GET A CO-OP BANK ACCOUNT
This will take some research and time on your part but if there is a co-op bank that uses Interac online you MAY be able to use it to fund your purchases like you used to. You will have to check with your exchange or service to see if that specific bank will work though on top of ensuring they are Interac Online enabled. You can check this link to see which Participating Financial Institutions still offer Interac Online and find one that is close to you. Just scroll down the page and find the Participating Financial Institutions section.

3. USE A BITCOIN ATM
Probably the quickest solution but not necessarily the best. While present in many cities all over Canada Bitcoin ATMs have been becoming even more prevalent. The big downside to this service is the prices they charge which means you are usually paying an extra $100+ on top of whatever the current price is for Bitcoin that day. A quick google search will allow you to locate any bitcoin ATMs near you.

4. E-TRANSFERS
Many exchanges/services are now accepting e-transfers to fund your account. While the process is slightly more tedious than buying with Interac Online it’s a workaround that the banks, seemingly, have yet to put a stop to. BMO has recently come out stating that it will not even allow for e-transfers to known crypto sellers but so far this has not come to pass as I imagine it’s next to impossible to identify all vendors and all transactions of this nature so I’m not sure how true that statement is. I’m also having difficulty finding the original article now which leads me to believe it is pure speculation. However I have heard accounts of people sending e-transfers and then being refunded days later. So take that for what it’s worth.

5. FLEXEPIN
This is most likely the best and most secure solution that will work until the banks actually figure out how to handle the crypto situation. Flexepin is a provider of digital gift card like vouchers. They can be used at a wide variety of stores and many online retailers accept it as payment. Banks will likely have a hard time being able to argue stopping your payment to them as their business was not created around the purchasing of crypto assets. You can go to the site TOPMEUP and purchase a Flexepin voucher that gets sent directly to your email address. There is a verfication process as they are compliant with the KYC laws. The process took under a day to complete and was very simple and painless. Once verified you are then able to purchase the amount you load onto your Flexepin.

Now pay attention there are 2 things you need to sort out first before making the purchase.

The first is how much is it that you want to purchase? Flexepins come in a variety of predetermined amounts ($20/$50/$100/$150/$250/$300/$500) plus a small fee ($1.95 - $15.95) depending on the amount you purchase (before you get mad remember you’re not paying $100+ price premium for the crypto you are buying if you went to a Bitcoin ATM). You are going to want to commit to purchasing the amount you are going to want to spend right now. If you don’t spend it all the balance either remains on the card (until it expires) or in some cases the balance gets sent to the exchange/service you are using as a credit the next time you make the purchase. That being said I would only purchase what you are wanting to spend at the time and to spend it all.

The second important thing you will want to know before picking your purchase amount is how much the exchange/service will sell you using a Flexepin. Some exchanges/services have a daily limit for Flexepin voucher purchases so it’s important to know that beforehand. The other thing to consider is if you are sending your purchase to an exchange you should be aware if they have minimum deposit amounts as well. There is nothing worse than sending your $20 purchase to the exchange only to find out they need $50 to be deposited before it shows and now you have to buy another voucher.

So until the banks decide to create their own on ramps into the crypto markets those are pretty much your options for now if you are living in Canada. If you know of any other methods feel free to share or reach out to me so I can include them too.