Shakepay exchange profile: quoted dealing, cash routes, custody and product-specific protection

Shakepay deals as principal, buying from or selling to customers using wholesale liquidity providers and including a price mark-up. Customers do not trade against one another on a public Shakepay order book.[2]

The execution policy refreshes quotes approximately every 30 seconds. At a refresh, it honours the earlier quote only within a 0.3% change; otherwise a new quotation requires resubmission. Its spread target is 0.5%–2.0% against its benchmark, with up to 1.5% additional spread under adverse conditions. Where the combined spread exceeds 3.5%, its reimbursement rule has a CAD 10 per-trade materiality threshold. These are published policy terms, not a measured average execution cost.[2]

At a hypothetical 1% buy-side mark-up, CAD 1,000 of benchmark value costs CAD 1,010. A later sale can incur another spread. These are illustrative inputs, not a live account quote.[2]

Large-order discounts apply to verified personal and business customers using immediate market orders. The guide excludes custom orders and recurring buys and asks customers planning more than CAD 10 million to contact the business team. Its wording alternates between a minimum of CAD 100,000 and amounts above that threshold; the actual confirmation resolves the boundary.[6]

USD is a separate balance, not merely a CAD valuation label. The published help route permits CAD/USD conversion and USD transfers to another customer, but does not support direct USD bank deposits, USD wires or USD Interac transfers. Card spending uses CAD. Inbound USDC supplies the USD balance at 1:1, while outbound USDC is instructed from that balance.[7][8]

The generic fee page lists smaller BTC/ETH minimums than normal-speed withdrawals, and the detailed withdrawal page retains an older conflicting troubleshooting figure. Use the selected-speed confirmation.[4][9]

For Lightning, a hypothetical 100,000-satoshi payment has a formula charge of 3.1 satoshis before rounding or the free allowance; the wallet quote determines the debit.[10]

The USDC help page specifies Ethereum/ERC-20 and says it is converted to USD, not retained as USDC. A separate September 2026 Auto-swap feature supports eligible tokens on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon and Base. That broader conversion route should not be treated as blanket permission to send every coin over every listed network.[8][29]

The August permanent-closure procedure normally requires customers to sell remaining crypto and withdraw eligible CAD to their own bank; it does not offer an external crypto transfer as part of that process. Legal restrictions can delay or determine the return route. Incoming payroll after completed closure is returned to the sender. This is a different situation from an ordinary voluntary crypto withdrawal.[19]

Shakepay’s insurance explanation identifies a cold-storage policy arranged through Aon and Lloyd’s-market insurers for certain theft, damage and key-loss events. It does not publish a usable per-customer cap, total shared aggregate, deductible or full claims conditions. The existence of this policy cannot establish reimbursement for an arbitrary account loss or market decline.[12]

The reserve-review help page was updated in March 2025, but its actual findings refer to 26 August 2020. That historical CipherBlade review cannot be presented as a current 2026 proof-of-reserves result or an audit of today’s liabilities.[13]

Customers must reside in Canada, be at least 18, have legal capacity and a Canadian mobile number. Business activity requires a business account. Physical location can restrict features despite continuing Canadian residence.[17]

Registration collects an email, shaketag, mobile verification, legal name, birth date, address and occupation. The app guide explicitly rejects VoIP numbers. Registration and full account verification are separate stages, so creating login credentials is not proof that crypto purchases or withdrawals are enabled.[18]

The relationship disclosure describes different outcomes from the appropriateness assessment: full product access, a restricted account that can earn card crypto rewards but cannot purchase or receive crypto, or fiat-only access. This is an account-level distinction and should remain separate from the platform’s broad national availability.[11]

The permanent-closure guide says ordinary intended activity, or travelling abroad by itself, is not a reason for permanent closure. Where closure occurs, the customer can request a review through the help-centre chat using the account email. Once upheld, the closure prevents reopening a new account. No numerical inactivity tariff or universal inactivity-deactivation clock was established in the inspected materials.[19]

The complaint guide provides OBSI access after an unsatisfactory response or 60 days, with a 180-day decision-response deadline; CIRO conduct complaints and Quebec AMF mediation are separate. The August account agreement still specifies 90 days. These published clocks conflict; retain the newer procedure and acknowledgement.[21][17]

The reporting guide distinguishes transaction exports from tax slips: crypto dealing and card spending do not generate their own tax slips, while eligible interest may generate a T5 and, in Quebec, RL-3. Annual performance and fees reports require the account to have existed for the complete reporting year. Save needed records before losing access; the guide does not establish a guaranteed post-closure download facility.[22]

The public chat route does not establish an emergency telephone trading desk or a guarantee that an unconfirmed instruction remains open during an outage. Preserve the order time, asset, amount and reference, then reconcile the recorded result before resubmitting. An on-chain withdrawal already broadcast cannot be cancelled merely by contacting support.[20][9]

CIRO’s current firm-specific page publishes membership conditions for Shakepay Inc., including approved independent third-party custody for at least 80% of customer crypto value, custody oversight and liquidity-provider checks. The dealer directory separately lists membership conditions imposed on 8 January 2025. This is direct regulatory evidence about the named dealer, rather than reliance solely on the brand’s website.[23][30]

The relationship disclosure identifies investment-dealer registration across Canadian provinces and territories, subject to the January 2025 exemptive-relief decision. Shakepay Financial Inc.’s payment services have a separate regulatory scope. Membership, AML registration and a cryptoasset’s investment merits should not be collapsed into a single approval claim.[11]

The current website reports 1.5 million Canadians using Shakepay. This is company-reported reach, not a count of currently active traders or independently audited funded accounts. Its regional customer base supports inclusion among established Canadian platforms; it does not establish a global volume rank.[1]

Shakepay Inc. provides the dealer account; Shakepay Financial Inc. supplies payments and eligible CAD savings; Shakepay Credit Inc. offers bitcoin-backed credit. Each product has separate terms.[17][25][26]

Operator

Shakepay Inc.

Exchange model

Centralised

Service scope

Principal dealing in bitcoin/ether, hosted balances and fiat access; separate payment and credit services.

Client types

Retail clients; Institutional clients

Pricing publication

Public and quoted pricing

Pricing scope

Spread-based quotes, a conditional scheduled-bitcoin exception and public transfer fees.

Funding scope

CAD bank transfers, supported crypto networks and USDC/USD conversion.

Custody and asset handling

Cold/hot custody; crypto, dealer cash and affiliate balances have distinct protection.

Client eligibility

Canadian residents/businesses; assessment and location controls apply.

Support

Authenticated app/web support chat and a formal complaints process.

Authorisation and registration scope

CIRO membership corroborated; affiliates have separate scopes.

Exchange metadata checked 20 Oct 2026Source 1Source 11Source 17Source 26

The September benefits terms set Bright qualification at CAD 100 of exchange activity or CAD 200 of qualifying direct deposits in a calendar month; Blue uses CAD 1,000 or CAD 2,000 respectively. Qualification takes effect immediately and lasts through the following calendar month. Benefits are variable and subject to the programme terms; these are eligibility thresholds rather than a reason to trade.[28]

Savings keeps funds separate from everyday spending and dealing. Eligible cash accrues interest daily, paid weekly in bitcoin; bitcoin allocated to Savings does not itself earn interest. The personal-account Blue 5% is a limited-time variable rate on the first CAD 100,000, with 30 days’ notice stated for changing that rate. A hypothetical unchanged personal-account balance of CAD 120,000 gives CAD 5,600 annual simple interest at 5%/3%, before tax, compounding or changes in bitcoin conversion value.[25]

The bitcoin line of credit is offered by Shakepay Credit Inc. and uses BTC collateral. The product page says no fixed monthly payments while LTV is 50% or lower; falling collateral value can require more funds and cause partial automatic liquidation. The full borrowing agreement, maximum advance and liquidation thresholds are shown in-app. A CAD 10,000 draw against CAD 20,000 of BTC is 50% LTV; if that BTC falls to CAD 16,000 with debt unchanged, LTV rises to 62.5%.[26]

Auto-swap requires eligible token value of at least CAD 10 and can convert to USD, CAD, BTC or ETH using third-party decentralised liquidity. Fees or spreads are disclosed in the flow. Recovery eligibility also depends on the address and network; the guide limits old-transfer recovery to addresses generated after January 2023 and does not promise universal success. Completed swaps are irreversible.[29]

Eligible settled card rewards and ShakingSats credit bitcoin to the account. The current referral schedule offers CAD 20 each after the new customer verifies and buys at least CAD 100 of crypto in aggregate, with credit within five business days. Enter the code at signup or contact support within 30 days. Misuse can cause withholding or reversal; normal account holds still apply.[28]