Shakepay Review

Published: September 5, 2022
Last updated: July 11, 2024

Written by
Cara Lam

Edited by
Zack Fenech

Why you can trust us

The team at WealthRocket only recommends products and services that we would use ourselves and that we believe will provide value to our readers. However, we advocate for you to continue to do your own research and make educated decisions.

Shakepay is a small Montreal-based tech company that believes in empowering Canadians from all walks of life to gain financial independence through cryptocurrency trading. It is considered to be one of the best crypto exchanges in Canada.

You can use their website or mobile app to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to their website (and much positive feedback online), Shakepay is the “easiest way for Canadians to buy and sell Bitcoin.”

In this Shakepay review, we’ll take a look at Shakepay, its features, how it works, its pros and cons, and much more.

Shakepay

Visit Shakepay

Funding Methods Bank Transfer, Debit Card
Cryptocurrencies BTC, ETH
Countries Canada

Overview of Shakepay

Founded in Montreal, Canada, Shakepay has been trailblazing the crypto sphere since 2015. In a nutshell, Shakepay is a platform for Canadians from all walks of life to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies.

So far, this super user-friendly crypto exchange has served over 900,000+ customers and supports both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Shakepay is one of the few options available for crypto trading in Canada and is loved by many, constantly throned at the top of the App Store and Google Play.

Now, let’s dig deeper into their services and see where they excel and where there’s room for improvement.

Features of Shakepay

Shakepay works very similarly to other major crypto exchanges. It is not a peer-to-peer marketplace, so you won’t be buying and selling directly with other customers.

Instead, Shakepay is like a shop: they sell crypto to and buy crypto from customers.

Other than buying and selling crypto, you can complete other tasks on the Shakepay app. For example, the app provides various charts for you to see your transaction history.

How to use the Shakepay app

You can either buy or sell instantly at the current price or place an order to trade at a price you desire. If you want to stay in the loop, you can even set notifications for when Bitcoin or Ethereum has reached a certain price.

To help you streamline purchases, you can set rules on Shakepay to have the app automatically buy Bitcoin or Ethereum at the frequency you want.

Lastly, if you’re wondering why Shakepay is called Shakepay, it’s because you can shake your phone with the app open every 24 hours and free Bitcoin is deposited in your Shakepay account (You read that right!).

The reward increases every day so make sure you don’t break the streak! If you’re wondering how they make money as a company, then know that they adjust the prices that you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies.

For example, if you sold $100 worth of crypto to Shakepay, they may resell it at $110, with the $10 difference being their revenue to cover operating costs.

Shakepay Fees

Shakepay doesn’t charge any transaction fees. To start buying, you need to use Interac e-Transfer to deposit money from your banking account to your Shakepay wallet. Once your wallet is funded, then you’re free to trade on Shakepay.

However, Shakepay does make money through the spread between buying and selling Bitcoin and Ethereum. The spread is equal to the difference between what it is bought and sold at. The Shakepay will sell the order slightly higher than it’s worth and profit from the difference.

Note that transfers are usually instant, but in some cases, it may take up to an hour for Shakepay to receive your funds.

Shakepay Pros & Cons

Pros

Super friendly user interface on Shakepay app
Earn crypto by rounding up purchases with a debit card
Easily send funds to hardware wallets
Easily trade in Canadian dollars
Free transfers to and from Shakepay
Fast transactions
No deposit or withdrawal fees
No limit to how much users can buy, (but note that Shakepay does not offer an OTC service)
Customer Service is available 7 days a week, 365 days a year
Easily send money to Shakepay account using interac e-transfer or wire transfer

Cons

Only available in Canada and to Canadians.
App doesn’t support multitasking with smartphones
Hidden fees in the quoted exchange rates
Only Bitcoin and Ethereum available

Our final thoughts on Shakepay

Shakepay provides a fantastic means for beginners to start buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

Thanks to their simple user interface and fast transactions, users are able to get their feet wet, fast. Although there are only two cryptocurrencies available on Shakepay right now, it gives beginners a great place to test the waters, especially with Bitcoin the most well-known cryptocurrency out there.

For more experienced traders, however, other platforms may be more desirable as Shakepay doesn’t allow you to store your private keys when you have funds stored in their app. That said, they make it easy to send funds to personal crypto wallets.

Cara Lam

Cara Lam is a content designer based in New York City. She has spent more than five years in content strategy, writing for fin-tech, travel, crypto, and social media companies.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shakepay safe?

Is Shakepay secure?

Where is Shakepay available?

Is Shakepay legit?

Is Shakepay safe?

Yes. Even though Shakepay has only been around since 2015, it has a pretty solid track record of safety. It is licensed as a Money Service Business by Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) and Authorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF), which are big financial regulatory bodies in Canada. Not many cryptocurrency exchanges have that kind of government oversight so you can trust that Shakepay is doing the right thing (or in fact, one of the safest exchanges currently in existence). Plus, most assets on Shakepay are stored offline so bad actors won’t have direct access to your funds. They are also backed by an insurance policy so your funds are safe with them. To give you more confidence, know that Shakepay has never been hacked or lost any of their users’ funds.

Is Shakepay secure?

Absolutely. Shakepay goes the extra mile to make sure that your account is secure with them and that they’re taking enough measures to give you peace of mind. Like we mentioned above, most digital currencies held at Shakepay are stored offline in cold storage wallets. The cold storage provider is regulated under the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) who holds SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II certifications. That’s a lot of acronyms…but all you need to know is that Shakepay is strictly regulated. When you want to start a transaction, multiple authorizations are required. Also, none of Shakepay’s staff can withdraw money from their cold storage wallets. Your money will never be their private funds. To add to that, transactions from their cold wallets are restricted to a whitelist, meaning that unauthorized withdrawals to any address Shakepay hasn’t approved are banned. On the user side, you can make sure no one else has access to your Shakepay account by using 2-factor authentication and face ID. To be extra safe, opt-in to receive emails to confirm a withdrawal request.

Where is Shakepay available?

Shakepay is only available to Canadians at the moment. You need a Canadian phone number and an official ID issued by the Canadian government (e.g. driver’s license, passport, provincial ID card, residence permit card) to sign up for Shakepay. If you’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, then you’re free to use Shakepay on both desktop and mobile. The crypto exchange is accessible from any operating system and available on the Google Play and iOS app stores.

Is Shakepay legit?

Yes, Shakepay is a legit crypto exchange. Even though “shaking” for free Bitcoin seems a little too good to be true, the crypto exchange now services over a million people.