NDAX Review: 2024 Edition

NDAX (National Digital Asset Exchange Inc.) is a cryptocurrency trading platform made in Canada and available to crypto investors globally. Regulated as a money service business dealing in virtual currencies, it’s a safe place for anyone to invest.

In this NDAX review, we will closely examine what this platform offers and how it stands up to the competition.

What Is NDAX?

NDAX was incorporated in Alberta, Canada, at the end of 2017 and launched its operations in 2018. The company’s goal is to democratize access to cryptocurrencies for everyone by making it easy to start investing.

The cryptocurrency platform provides a simple and secure way to trade digital assets and options for institutional investors, as well as avenues to stake cryptocurrency tokens.

Users can appreciate the transparency offered by NDAX in providing important information such as fees, staking requirements, and the registration process.

NDAX Features

The NDAX exchange has many features helping the platform stand out among Canadian-based crypto platforms.

Trade

NDAX has 37 trading pairs. Except for the BTC/USDC pair, almost all currencies on the exchange are pegged to the Canadian dollar. While the exchange’s trading fees are not excessive, they can add up if you are looking to exchange one cryptocurrency for another. If you only have ETH and want to buy DOT, for instance, you would have to exchange ETH for CAD and then CAD for DOT and pay the trading fee twice.

Some investors will view this as a minor inconvenience, and they wouldn’t be far off the mark, especially considering our NDAX review revealed the exchange’s trading fees to be reasonable.

Experienced investors are going to be familiar with the trading window NDAX uses. However, even beginners will quickly learn how to place buy and sell orders. You can also choose your favourite pairs and set up price movement alerts. 

Professional traders will appreciate having a detailed graph with each trading pair, with various tools and functions available to make price predictions easier.

Staking

NDAX staking options are not as extensive as with some other exchanges, but you still have some popular options. The following cryptocurrencies are currently available, along with the staking APY's for each of them:

• ETH: 3.7%
• ADA: 3%
• SOL: 5.5%
• MATIC: 5%
• NEAR: 7%
• ATOM: 13%
• GRT (Flexible): 2.5%, GRT (Regular): 8%
• DOT (Flexible): 4%, DOT (Regular): 12%
• CELESTIA (TIA): 11%

It is important to note that when you begin staking with NDAX, you are not required to lock up your assets for a set period of time. You can exit your position anytime and have your digital assets at your disposal. 

Another benefit our NDAX.io review found is that staking rewards are calculated daily or weekly. ETH and GRT (can only be staked at NDAX in Canada) profits are distributed weekly, whereas DOT, ADA, and MATIC are distributed daily.

NDAX added this staking option in February 2022, and you can set up staking through a web or mobile application. Minimum staking amounts are not overwhelming. For instance, only 0.001 ETH is enough to start staking, which is much more affordable than the 32 ETH you would need to set up a validation node for yourself. 

The exchange has a consistent 20% staking commission regardless of the asset type, volume or staking plan, and there are no additional validator fees charged for staking. The APY's for staking here are some of the highest available in Canada as well, and remain stable for selected plans.

Having an NDAX account is also convenient for institutional and large investors. NDAX Wealth is intended for investors who want to invest $200,000 or more while avoiding price slippage. 

You can easily arrange a meeting with an NDAX representative and begin investing with the exchange’s personalized service. The following are the main advantages of OTC trading with NDAX: 

• No deposit and withdrawal fees
• Competitive execution fees
• Wide range of crypto assets
• Deep liquidity pools
• Secured assets with Ledger Vault 

So far, NDAX has worked with brokerage firms, hedge funds, investment banks, mining farms, merchants, and ATM providers, and it offers same-day order settlements.

NDAX Fees

Low fees are essential for a cryptocurrency exchange to create a friendly trading environment. On NDAX, you’ll pay a 0.2% fee for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

There are no deposit fees; you can use Interac e-Transfer, wire transfer, or a bank draft to fund your account. Furthermore, there are no fees associated with crypto deposits.

For both crypto and fiat currencies, NDAX charges flat withdrawal fees. Bank drafts and wire transfers cost $4.99 (CAD), while cryptocurrency withdrawals vary according to the cryptocurrency. However, if you send crypto to other NDAX users, there are no additional costs. There is also a withdrawal option for fiat currencies via Interac e-transfer, and it will cost you 1.50 CAD with a daily limit of 3,000 CAD.

NDAX Security

NDAX is among the few Canadian cryptocurrency trading platforms with SOC2 Type II certification. Furthermore, all crypto assets are kept in cold storage, essentially offline wallets, with Ledger Vault enabling multisignature access. Ledger is a market leader in cryptocurrency storage, and NDAX isn’t the only exchange using it.

NDAX is also insured against accidents and fraud. The company has $5 million in company cold wallets to account for theft or malfunction of hardware security modules. An additional $3 million per occurrence insurance policy is in place for NDAX hot wallets and a $5 million policy for general business liability.

The company is registered as a money service business with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada and Revenue Québec. It is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations, and maintains a strict Know Your Client (KYC) processes.

Creating an Account

The registration procedure is straightforward. After entering your email, first name, last name, and password, you will be required to verify your email. After that, identity verification is required before you can begin trading. Personal and contact information is needed, and you’ll complete the know-your-customer procedure by uploading an image of a government-issued ID or passport.

NDAX vs. Bitbuy

Canadian crypto traders will be interested to know the main differences between NDAX and Bitbuy.

The most obvious difference, which is reflected in our Bitbuy review, is in the selection of cryptocurrencies available. While NDAX has more crypto coins and tokens available – 37 – Bitbuy isn’t far off with 25.

Bitbuy’s trading fees of 0.5% aren’t as affordable as those on NDAX. To get more favourable rates on Bitbuy, you’ll need to use Bitbuy Pro or the API, which are not as easy to handle by beginners. Furthermore, withdrawal rates at NDAX are fixed, which is more affordable than the percentage rate that Bitbuy imposes on its users.

Both exchanges are secure and regulated, so you can rest assured your funds are safe on the platform.

Newton vs. NDAX

Newton is another cryptocurrency exchange that’s often compared to Shakepay and NDAX. All of these Canadian crypto trading platforms offer similar options, but there are subtle differences that may sway your decision.

The advantage of trading on Newton is access to more than 70 popular cryptocurrencies, almost twice as many available on NDAX.

Newton doesn’t charge commission fees on trades but does earn on spreads between buy and sell prices, like other major exchanges. The spread depends on the specific coin, and it’s more expensive than paying a transaction fee on NDAX.

Newton also uses reliable security measures, as it’s partnered with Coinbase, which provides institutional-grade security for users’ assets. 

NDAX Customer Support

The advantage of using the NDAX app for your crypto trades is having a team of professionals to contact if you need help. NDAX’s customer support has a team available through live chat, email, and phone. 

Summary

For Canadian-based users, NDAX is a perfect place to store their digital assets and start investing in crypto safely. A limited amount of cryptocurrencies isn’t an issue since some of the best projects in the industry are available on the platform. There’s also an option to stake some of the assets for further rewards.

Insurance policies, regulations, cooperation with Ledger, and Canadian banks ensure that everything is done above board and that your assets and investments are safe. Unsurprisingly, this makes the NDAX wallet and exchange one of the more popular ones in Canada.