Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges for Margin Trading
in Canada 2023
Making Crypto Simple
Advanced traders often use borrowed funds to invest in crypto assets so they can take full advantage of the offer and maximize their profits. This method of trading is referred to as leverage.
Leveraged trading is, in fact, an advanced speculative investment vehicle that’s used with various crypto derivatives, such as leveraged tokens, futures contracts, and margin trading. While there is a strong correlation between leverage and margin, they do not constitute the same concept.
Before we look at the best crypto exchanges offering margin trading, let’s make things more straightforward and examine the relationship between margin trading and leveraged trading.
| Exchange Website | Rating | Currencies | Available Cryptocurrencies | Fees | Our Review | Visit Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5/5 | 60+ Currencies | 600+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.1% | Binance Review | Visit Site |
 |
2.5/5 | USD, GBP & EUR | 50+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.26% | Kraken Review | Visit Site |
 |
4/5 | 11+ Currencies | 300+ Cryptocurrencies | Varies | NDAX Review | Visit Site |
 |
4/5 | EUR, GBP & USD | 90+ Cryptocurrencies | Daily Fees | eToro Review | Visit Site |
 |
3.5/5 | 50+ Currencies | 200+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.1% | KuCoin Review | Visit Site |
 |
3/5 | Crypto Only | 5+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.05% | PrimeXBT Review | Visit Site |
 |
3/5 | 170+ Currencies | 70+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.075% | Bybit Review | Visit Site |
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3/5 | 30+ Currencies | 200+ Cryptocurrencies | Varies | OKX Review | Visit Site |
 |
2.5/5 | 20+ Currencies | 110+ Cryptocurrencies | Varies | Gate.io Review | Visit Site |
 |
2.5/5 | Crypto Only | 21+ Cryptocurrencies | 0.26% | BitMEX Review | Visit Site |
The Best Crypto Margin Trading Exchanges for Canadians 2023
Now that we helped you understand the concept of leverage and margin trading a little better, let’s look at some of the best Canadian-friendly margin trading exchanges.
WEBSITE:
binance.com
Country:
Global
Currency:
60+ Currencies
Fees:
0.1%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
600+ Cryptocurrencies
1. Binance Exchange
Binance is the world’s top cryptocurrency exchange regarding trading volume, flexibility, and trading fees. Aside from the basic crypto exchange services, this trading powerhouse provides a variety of derivative instruments, including leveraged tokens and margin trading.
At the moment, you can trade on Binance using both an isolated margin and cross margin mode. This trading platform enables you to participate in margin trading with up to 3x or 10x leverage or trade futures with up to 20x leverage.
To start margin trading on Binance, you need to register a trading account on the platform, open a margin trading account and transfer the funds you’ll use as collateral when trading cryptos with margin.
Pros:
- One of the most liquid and high-volume exchanges in the world;
- A wide range of supported cryptocurrencies;
- Some of the most competitively priced services in the business;
- It’s suitable for both beginners and more experienced market participants.
Cons:
- Regulatory concerns in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ontario, Canada.
WEBSITE:
kraken.com
Country:
United States
Currency:
USD, GBP & EUR
Fees:
0.26%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
50+ Cryptocurrencies
2. Kraken Exchange
Kraken is a crypto exchange that has been around for a long time and distinguishes itself from the competition with its robust security architecture. Like Coinbase, Kraken offers two unique platforms: one designed for novice traders with basic trading capabilities and another platform known as Kraken Pro, geared towards experienced traders.
Beginner traders can make instant buys and partake in easy cryptocurrency swaps, while expert traders have the opportunity to engage in trading with more volatile financial instruments. You’ve got it right – margin trading is also available through Kraken Pro.
With Kraken’s advanced trading engine, you can use up to 5x leverage to buy (or “go long”) and sell (or “go short”) a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Tether (USDT), Eos (EOS), and more.
Pros:
- The most advanced platform security mechanisms in the industry;
- Low trading fees;
- Outstanding customer support, including a live chat feature available 24/7.
Cons:
- The Instant Buy functionality on the basic Kraken platform might incur high transaction fees.
WEBSITE:
ftx.com
Country:
Global
Currency:
11+ Currencies
Fees:
Varies
Available Cryptocurrencies:
300+ Cryptocurrencies
3. FXT Exchange
FTX is a centralized platform for digital trading assets that focuses on trading products with high volatility. There are a variety of derivatives and leveraged products available, such as leveraged token trading, spot trading, perpetual futures contract trading, OTC trading, NFT trading, staking, Bitcoin option trading on margin, collateral trading, and more.
The FTX exchange enables margin trading with up to 3x, 5x, 10x, or 20x leverage. To access the crypto derivatives trading services offered by FTX, you will need to register an individual or corporate trading account.
Alternatively, you can log onto the platform with your Google account, using a valid email address and a passphrase. However, before you begin trading or adding funds to your FTX balance, you will first be required to complete the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) user authentication procedure.
Pros:
- A variety of innovative trading options;
- More than 300 different cryptocurrencies for you to pick from while formulating your trading strategy;
- Demo trading account for the less experienced traders;
- Low trading fees.
Cons:
- It supports only a small number of fiat currencies;
- There is no live chat assistance.
WEBSITE:
etoro.com
Country:
Europe
Currency:
EUR, GBP & USD
Fees:
Daily Fees
Available Cryptocurrencies:
90+ Cryptocurrencies
4. eToro Exchange
eToro is a worldwide cryptocurrency exchange that offers various financial products to both inexperienced and experienced crypto investors. These services range from streamlined cryptocurrency swaps, CFDs, forex and stock trading to volatile trading products.
The social trading platform, the copy trading tool, and the margin call are some of eToro’s most distinctive characteristics. Let’s focus a bit more on the latest one; you’ll encounter it frequently if you’re performing margin trading on this global platform.
Namely, to protect traders from incurring negative balances while trading volatile products, eToro introduces the margin call feature. A margin call is a warning issued by the exchange that you need to bring your margin account back into good standing.
To be more precise, eToro alerts you when you’re nearing a margin. When you receive this warning, you have two options: to close your active trades (to decrease the margin) or deposit more funds to your trading account (to increase the margin).
Investors who continue to add capital to their failing holdings, hoping that the marketplace will come to their advantage, should exercise prudence while deciding on the second alternative. That isn’t always the reality because markets are notoriously unpredictable and prone to high volatility.
Pros:
- A fully registered trading platform;
- A safe trading environment for both novice and experienced investors;
- Free demo account for new users;
- No account management costs.
Cons:
- Lack of support for a wide variety of digital assets and fiat currencies (only USD).
- If you don’t use your account, you’ll be penalized with an inactivity fee.
WEBSITE:
kucoin.com
Country:
Hong Kong
Currency:
50+ Fiat Currencies
Fees:
0.1%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
200+ Cryptocurrencies
5. KuCoin Exchange
KuCoin is a prominent crypto exchange with low transaction costs and a large selection of altcoins. Advanced traders will find a wide range of investment choices available on the platform, such as margin trading, crypto loan services, cryptocurrency staking for earning passive income on your coins, and other trading options.
This trading platform offers cross-margin and isolated margin trading. When performing a trade in cross margin mode, the maximum leverage available to the borrower is 5x.
The maximum amount of assets that can be borrowed is equal to 4x the overall funds held in the cross-account balance. In the isolated margin option, the maximum leverage can be up to 10 x. However, this number largely depends on the trading pair and can often vary.
Pros:
- Charges low fees;
- Provides Margin Trading Academy for beginners;
- Offers a multitude of different ways to make a payment;
- Supports a wide variety of alternative cryptocurrencies;
- Offers real-time customer help through chat.
Cons:
- Offers advanced trading features that are not fit for traders who are just starting.
WEBSITE:
primexbt.com
Country:
Seychelles
Currency:
Crypto Only
Fees:
0.05%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
5+ Cryptocurrencies
6. PrimeXBT Exchange
Professional traders can make use of the advanced trading products and trading widgets available through PrimeXBT. This platform provides a vast number of advanced financial instruments, including:
- Margin trading of Bitcoin and other altcoins with up to 100x leverage,
- Forex trading with 1,000x leverage,
- Contract for difference trading (CFDs),
- Trading of commodities (precious metals/natural gas/crude oil),
- Paper trading,
- Stock indexes,
- Indices trading,
- Yield accounts,
- Trading bots,
- Copy-trading,
- Social trading, and much more.
Investors in cryptocurrencies who utilize this platform have access to a variety of cutting-edge trading tools and some of the most well-known and most popular financial instruments.
For example, you can establish long or short positions in the order book, set stop-loss orders, take advantage of Bitcoin’s hedging capabilities, and even replicate the trading tactics of other market participants. The use of protection orders can also help safeguard a trader’s position against price volatility.
Pros:
- Advanced trading platform with a wide variety of trading options;
- Highly secure trading platform;
- Deep liquidity;
- Advanced charting tools for real-time following of the market fluctuations;
- Live-chat bot as a part of the 24/7 customer support.
- No KYC verification.
Cons:
- Not suitable for beginners in crypto trading;
- Supports a small number of cryptocurrencies.
WEBSITE:
bybit.com
Country:
Singapore
Currency:
170+ Currencies
Fees:
0.075%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
70+ Cryptocurrencies
7. Bybit Exchange
Bybit is a Singapore-based crypto derivatives trading platform. It employs cutting-edge blockchain technology and a lightning-fast order-matching system (capable of processing up to 100,000 operations per second) to deliver a customer experience that is efficient, user-friendly, and one of a kind in cryptocurrency trading.
On this exchange, spot trading is the foundation for the derivative product recognized as margin trading. This financial instrument allows you to utilize the assets in your spot account as collateral to borrow some extra trading capital from Bybit to enter positions on the spot market that are greater than the amount in your wallet.
ByBit enables you to trade BTC, ETH and USDT as collaterals with up to 100x leverage.
Pros:
- Ultra-fast order-matching engine underpinning the platform;
- A vast selection of fiat currencies and payment options.
Cons:
- A handful of supported cryptocurrencies;
- Only BTC, ETH and USDT can be used for margin trading.
WEBSITE:
okx.com
Country:
China
Currency:
30+ Currencies
Fees:
Varies
Available Cryptocurrencies:
200+ Cryptocurrencies
8. OKX (formerly OKEx)
OKX is a global cryptocurrency exchange powered by blockchain technology that primarily emphasizes spot trading and derivatives trading. Some of the most attractive trading tools on this platform include:
- Trading with over 400 trading pairs in the Bitcoin,
- Perpetual swap contracts,
- USDT and Ethereum markets with up to 3x leverage,
- Trading futures with up to 20x leverage,
- Real-time streaming quotes,
- Interactive and spot charting for cryptocurrencies, and so on.
User funds are safely stored in different digital wallets. OKX crypto traders can pick from several wallet models: funding wallet, margin trading wallet, C2C trading wallet, and saving wallet.
Pros:
- High trading volume;
- An impressive number of payment options;
Cons:
- It supports only two fiat currencies;
- Has a modest selection of cryptocurrencies in comparison to its peers.
WEBSITE:
gate.io
Country:
Cayman Islands
Currency:
20+ Currencies
Fees:
Varies
Available Cryptocurrencies:
110+ Cryptocurrencies
9. Gate.io Exchange
With an average rating of 7.3, Gate.io is ranked as one of the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges on Coinmarketcap. Additionally, it is one of the most popular exchanges regarding the number of trades on this platform.
Gate.io provides a wide selection of innovative trading systems and quantitative trading strategies for its users. On the site, you’ll find a wide range of financial products on the site, including copy trading, perpetual contracts, margin trading, ETFs, Over-the-Counter trading (OTC), spot trading, and more.
In order to borrow the maximum amount of digital currency, a user’s tier and other parameters must be taken into consideration. Each market has a different amount of leverage that can be applied to trade. The present trading conditions on Gate.io permit leverage of 3x-10x.
Pros:
- KYC verification for the Gate.io trading accounts to prevent illegal access to users’ data and funds;
- The option for automated replication of another trader’s successful strategy;
- Cold and hot wallets for an enhanced level of security of user funds.
Cons:
- A history of security breach incidents, despite the heavy security systems implemented on the platform.
WEBSITE:
bitmex.com
Country:
Seychelles
Currency:
Crypto Only
Fees:
0.075%
Available Cryptocurrencies:
21+ Cryptocurrencies
10. BitMEX Exchange
Since 2016, when it first introduced the XBT/USD perpetual swap, the Bitmex crypto derivatives trading platform has been at the helm of the crypto trading industry.
All of Bitmex’s products are available with leverage. The leverage that BitMEX makes available to its customers varies from one product to the next. In fact, the initial and maintenance margin levels define the amount of leverage available to a trader. These levels tell you how much money you need in your account to open and keep positions open.
Since its customers utilize various trading tactics, BitMEX has implemented two distinct ways of margin trading to meet their demands – cross margin and isolated margin.
This strategy is of utmost significance for investors who seek to spread trading between two derivative contracts with the same investment product. If you want to use a profit from one contract to make poor financial decisions on another contract, you must first materialize that profit by closing out a position.
The Perpetual Bitcoin/USD Contract on BitMEX offers up to 100x leverage, the exchange’s maximum leverage.
Pros:
- An advanced trading platform;
- Up to 100x leverage.
Cons:
- Not suitable for beginners in crypto trading;
- Offers a relatively small number of supported cryptocurrencies;
- It doesn’t support fiat deposits or withdrawals;
- Not available for the residents of Quebec (Canada).
Leverage Trading Vs Crypto Margin Trading
Leverage refers to the process of taking on debt (i.e. borrowing), whereas margin trading refers to the practice of engaging in financial transactions with more capital than one possesses.
Leveraging digital assets increases your purchasing or selling power on the market, thus allowing you to transact with more money than your current balance holds. Because this is one of the most volatile trading instruments, leverage trading can also magnify your financial losses.
Some exchanges allow you to borrow up to 100x the money you already hold in your crypto trading account. The degree of leverage is represented as a ratio (multiplier), such as 1:5 (5x leverage), 1:10 (10x leverage), or 1:100 (100x leverage), which refers to how many times your purchasing power is amplified.
To begin trading cryptocurrency with leverage, you must first fund your investment portfolio with your own money. The money you put up as a deposit is the collateral. Here’s an example.
Suppose you have $1,000 that you plan on investing in Litecoin (LTC) with a 10x leverage. The required margin will be one-tenth of $1,000 (1:10), which indicates that you should have a hundred dollars deposit on your account to qualify as collateral for the borrowed capital.
Frequently Asked Questions
Margin trading is generally performed by crypto speculators who are confident that the marketplace will flow upwards or downwards in the near term.
Consequently, these crypto investors are consciously taking on the additional risk of investing borrowed capital because they believe the chances are in their favour to predict the market fluctuation.
In this regard, opening long and short positions in cryptocurrency is the central objective of margin trading. Going long on an asset indicates that you expect its price to rise in the future, bringing you profit. When you short an investment, you expect its price to drop in the near future and intend to profit from this movement.
The isolated margin is the rate of return put on an open order position when it is first opened. With an isolated margin, traders can decide precisely how much money they are prepared to risk. This helps them control their losses if the price fluctuates against their open trading spot.
Traders can regulate leverage and liquidation price by manually adjusting the isolated margin and depositing more money to the open position.
A trader who wants to prevent liquidation can employ the cross-margin option, even though traders have less control in this instance. Cross margin allows you to use your entire balance for an open position.
If a position fails, it can be saved from liquidation by a cross margin pull, automatically applying more margin to it.
Bitcoin margin trades on the BitMex exchange are the most popular among traders.
The margin trading option was available to Coinbase Pro users until November 25th, 2020. After this time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) asked Coinbase to register with them, which put pressure on Coinbase executives to stop selling this volatile product to their clients.