NDAX Review + $50 Bonus Inside

December 1, 2022
Reviews

The National Digital Asset Exchange (NDAX) is a Canadian crypto exchange that was established in 2018 and allows you to buy, sell, and trade a wide variety of crypto tokens. It has a nice user interface and mobile app, but with no crypto-to-crypto trading and unreliable customer support, I can't recommend NDAX in good faith.

For a better overall trading experience with significantly lower fees, I recommend opening an account with Kraken, my #1-ranked Canadian crypto exchange. Kraken has 250,000+ satisfied users, charges very low trading fees, and is offering a $10 signup bonus (no referral code required) from now until April 27, 2024.

What Is NDAX?

The National Digital Asset Exchange (NDAX) is a crypto-trading platform that was established in 2018 and has its headquarters in Calgary, Canada. It allows Canadian retail and institutional investors to buy, sell, and trade a wide array of different cryptocurrencies.

NDAX has competitive trading fees and a simple sign-up process, which makes it a good choice for newcomers to the cryptocurrency market. However, NDAX also has an advanced charting functionality that will benefit more seasoned crypto traders.

Why you should trust me

  • Experienced
    I bought my first cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) in 2013, bought Ethereum in 2017, and have held active accounts with at least 5 exchanges since 2018.
  • Unbiased
    All of my selections are supported by multiple data points, including crypto thought leaders, security experts, and TrustPilot reviews.
  • Deep Research
    My team and I spent more than 100 hours researching exchanges before choosing our top picks, and we update them almost daily as the industry continues to change.

NDAX Features

1. NDAX Desktop Platform

ndax exchange review crypto wallets

NDAX's user interface has been designed to be able to be used by everyone. Investors new to the cryptocurrency world will find NDAX's Trade platform to be very intuitive and easy to use, allowing trades between cryptocurrencies in just a few clicks. Additionally, NDAX allows you to verify your account instantly. This allows you to start buying and selling crypto assets in as little as a few minutes after you've created your account, and it even has its own NDAX crypto wallet where you can store your crypto assets for added convenience.

ndax exchange review

On the other hand, the more advanced traders will find that NDAX has advanced charting tools that will allow them to use this crypto exchange to its fullest potential. The exchange also features a wide array of supported advanced order types beyond market orders and limit orders, such as stop orders, stop-limit orders, trailing stop limit orders, trailing stop market orders, reserve/iceberg orders, fill or kill orders, and immediate or cancel (IOC) orders. Strangely enough, however, the platform doesn't support crypto-to-crypto trading, and you'll be restricted to trading the crypto-trading pairs that NDAX offers.

When using the NDAX platform, deposits are free whether you use a bank draft, a bank wire transfer or an Interac e Transfer wire. There's a withdrawal fee of 4.99 CAD for bank direct transfers and bank wire transfers, which surprisingly seem to be the only supported withdrawal methods, but on the flip side, the platform has a 0.2% flat trading fee for buying and selling crypto, which is not bad.

You can also stake different crypto tokens using NDAX, which is great, but you can only stake 5 tokens, which are The Graph (GRT), Ether (ETH), MATIC (MATIC), Polkadot (DOT), and Cardano (ADA). Why have a staking program if you can't stake more than 10 coins?

2. NDAX Mobile App

NDAX's mobile app is pretty well designed, and it allows you to do everything that you can do on the desktop platform, including the advanced order types and the advanced charting for in-depth analysis of the ups and downs in the price of the token you're interested in. However, this version of NDAX also doesn't support crypto-to-crypto trading, which is disappointing.

It's worth pointing out that the app is pretty well-received. In fact, it has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating based on 5,000 reviews on the Apple App Store, which means that users are extremely satisfied with the app.

3. NDAX Security Features

NDAX has an amazing track record in terms of regulation and security. For starters, just like VirgoCX (our best-rated crypto broker), it's a registered Money Services Business (MSB, registration number M18632135) with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), and it's also a licensed member of Revenue Québec (license number 11885). Additionally, it's compliant with the Proceeds Of Crime (anti-money laundering) and the Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) of Canada, as well as Know Your Customer (KYC) standards, which is great.

The only thing missing is to be a registered member of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), something other options like VirgoCX, CoinSmart and Bitbuy do have under their belt. That would give NDAX a perfect regulations record. However, other good exchanges like Wealthsimple Crypto, Shakeepay and Newton aren't registered with the OSC either, so it may not be a dealbreaker for you, especially if you don't live in Ontario.

NDAX has very strong security measures as well: it has industry-standard measures such as cold storage protected by multi-signature technology (provided by Ledger Vault), and it also has an insurance policy that will protect its users' funds against international theft, Hardware Security Module (HSM) malfunction, and general business liability.

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Additionally, they use segregated bank accounts held at a Crown-owned Canadian bank to protect its users' fiat funds, which means that fiat assets can be identified and appropriately distributed to entitled parties in the case of insolvency. Also, transferring funds out of cold storage requires multiple approvals from NDAX's senior management team, and NDAX's Ledger Vault is whitelisted to add an additional layer of protection, as outgoing transactions can only go to NDAX's whitelisted addresses in hot storage.

NDAX has also implemented a Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology that offers an advanced security level for hot wallet management solutions, and even their 2-factor authentication (2FA) feature is mandatory to ensure its effectiveness. All NDAX users are also required to confirm their withdrawals via email, adding a third verification to the process and thus making it even safer.

4. NDAX Customer Support

NDAX also has a thorough Help Centre that will answer most questions you could have when using their platform, plus a customer support team that can assist you with issues the Help Centre doesn't cover. You can reach NDAX's customer support through the following methods:

Additionally, NDAX has a social media presence on Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

It's worth noting that many users complain about NDAX's customer support, and I've personally had a difficult time solving my issues with their team, too. Having a strong customer support team is important when you're trading a significant amount of crypto, so I suggest being very cautious about investing with NDAX.

5. NDAX Wealth

One neat feature that NDAX has is its NDAX Wealth platform, which serves as an OTC desk that will allow its users to conduct large crypto trades of $200,000 or more. If you were to do this in the platform's regular order books, you'd have fewer investment returns due to slippage, which is when there's a difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. However, NDAX has its own deep-liquidity pool to counter this slippage, which means that you'll never lose part of your investment returns due to slippage.

Cryptocurrencies on NDAX

Here are the cryptocurrencies that NDAX currently supports:

Bitcoin (BTC)Polkadot (DOT)The Graph (GRT)Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)
Ethereum (ETH)Litecoin (LTC)Polygon (MATIC)Fantom (FTM)
Dogecoin (DOGE)Chainlink (LINK)USD Coin (USDC)EOS (EOS)
Cardano (ADA)Stellar (XLM)Terra (LUNA)Compound (COMP)
Ripple (XRP)Uniswap (UNI)Decentraland (MANA)
Tether (USDT)Aave (AAVE)Axie Infinity (AXS)

NDAX Fees

All things considered, NDAX has pretty low trading fees. You don't have to pay any fees for fiat or crypto deposits, and the maximum fee you can expect to pay when withdrawing fiat funds is around 4.99 CAD.

As for crypto withdrawals, you can expect the following fees for the top 10 most popular tokens on the platforms:

CryptocurrencyWithdrawal Fee
Bitcoin (BTC)0.00399 BTC
Ethereum (ETH)0.0499 LTC
Litecoin (LTC)0.0099 ETH
XRP (XRP)3 XRP
EOS (EOS)1 EOS
Stellar (XLM)8 XLM
Dogecoin (DOGE)10 DOGE
Cardano (ADA)3 ADA
Tether (UDST)16 USDT
Chainlink (LINK)0.35 LINK

As for trading fees, you have a 0.2% buying fee and a 0.2% selling fee on all trades, which is also quite low. It may not be the cheapest Canadian exchange out there, but it definitely gets very close.

3 Exchanges I Recommend Over NDAX

Although NDAX has very competitive trading fees and very advanced charting tools, it also has a few cons that don't allow me to recommend it. For example, not being able to trade between cryptocurrencies is very disappointing, and although the exchange does support staking, which is a common feature in other Canadian crypto exchanges, its staking program is quite limited as you can only stake 5 different cryptocurrencies.

That's why I recommend these 3 exchanges over NDAX:

  1. Kraken: With the lowest fees in Canada, an excellent app and desktop platform and best-in-class 24/7 customer support, Kraken is the best crypto exchange in Canada. Open your account with Kraken here.
  2. CoinSmart: With quick deposits and withdrawals and average customer support, CoinSmart is a decent exchange with a great signup bonus. Get your $50 signup bonus with CoinSmart here.
  3. Bitbuy: With trading fees at 2%, tight spreads, and a well-rated mobile app, Bitbuy is more expensive than Kraken and CoinSmart, but it's still a popular, trustworthy exchange. Get your $50 signup bonus with Bitbuy here.

Here's a quick summary of these three exchanges:

Best In Canada
Kraken

Total Fees: ~0.16%
Security: Best in class
Customer Support: Excellent

By far the lowest fees in Canada.

★★★★★

Rated 4.9/5

Very Secure
CoinSmart

Total Fees: ~3%
Security: 95% cold storage
Signup bonus: $50

Great bonus but high fees.

★★★★

Rated 4.4/5

Strong Security
Bitbuy

Trading fees: 2% (High)
Security: 99% cold storage
Signup bonus: $50

Higher fees, strong security.

★★★★

Rated 4.2/5

How To Withdraw From NDAX

To withdraw funds from your NDAX account, you have two options. Depending on whether you want to withdraw fiat or you want to withdraw cryptocurrencies, you'll have to follow different sets of steps:

1. Fiat Withdrawal

Web Browser

  1. Log in to your NDAX account.
  2. Click the “Withdraw” option at the top of the screen.
  3. Make sure you select the “CAD” option and click the “Withdraw” button.
  4. Choose the method of withdrawal.
  5. Select your preferred bank account or add a new one if this is your first time.
  6. Type in the amount you want to withdraw or click the “MAX” button if you want to withdraw all of your funds.
  7. Click the “Withdraw” option.

Mobile Web Browser

  1. Log in to your NDAX account.
  2. Click the NDAX logo that's in the top left corner of the screen.
  3. Click the “Wallets” option from the pulldown menu.
  4. Click the “Dollars” option.
  5. Click the “Canadian Dollars” option.
  6. Choose your preferred withdrawal method.
  7. Select your preferred bank account or add a new one if this is your first time.
  8. Type in the amount you want to withdraw or click the “MAX” button if you want to withdraw all of your funds.
  9. Click the “Withdraw” option.

2. Crypto Withdrawal

Desktop Web Browser

  1. Log in to your NDAX account.
  2. Click the “Wallet” option on the left side of the screen.
  3. Select the Cryptocurrency you want to withdraw to a personal crypto wallet.
  4. Click the “Send” button at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Copy and paste the destination address.
  6. Enter the number of crypto tokens you’d like to send.
  7. Click the “Send” option.
  8. You'll receive a confirmation e-mail shortly afterward. 

Mobile Web Browser

  1. Log in to your NDAX account.
  2. Click the NDAX logo that's in the top left corner of the screen.
  3. Click the “Wallets” option from the pulldown menu.
  4. Select the Cryptocurrency you want to withdraw to a personal crypto wallet.
  5. Click the “Send” button at the bottom of the screen.
  6. Copy and paste the destination address.
  7. Enter the number of crypto tokens you’d like to send.
  8. Click the “Send” option.
  9. You'll receive a confirmation e-mail shortly afterward. 

In Summary

NDAX is a Canadian crypto exchange that was established in 2018 and allows you to buy, sell, and trade a wide variety of crypto tokens. It has a nice user interface and mobile app, but with no crypto-to-crypto trading and unreliable customer support, I can't recommend NDAX in good faith.

For a better overall trading experience with significantly lower fees, I recommend opening an account with Kraken, my #1-ranked Canadian crypto exchange. Kraken has 250,000+ satisfied users, charges very low trading fees, and is offering a $10 signup bonus (no referral code required) from now until April 27, 2024.

NDAX FAQs

Is NDAX Safe & Secure?

Yes, NDAX is a secure cryptocurrency trading platform. The bulk of its digital assets are kept offline in cold storage and the majority of its fiat funds are kept at a Crown-owned financial institution in Calgary, Canada. To secure your account, the platform also follows standard industry security protocols, such as mandatory 2-factor authentication.

Is NDAX Legit?

Yes, NDAX is a legit crypto exchange for several reasons: it's a registered Money Services Business (MSB) with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), it's a licensed member of Revenue Québec, and it's also compliant with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws in Canada.

Is NDAX Legal In Canada?

Yes, NDAX is a legitimate crypto platform that has been registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and Revenue Québec.

Is NDAX Trustworthy?

Yes, NDAX is trustworthy because it's a registered Money Services Business (MSB) with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and it's compliant with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws in Canada.

Does NDAX Verify Accounts Instantly?

Yes, NDAX does verify some accounts instantly, though if your account needs to go through the manual verification process for some reason, you can provide any of the following documents to get your account verified:

  • Driver’s license.
  • Passport.
  • Citizenship card (issued prior to 2012).
  • Permanent Resident Card.
  • Secure Certificate of Indian Status.
  • Provincial or territorial Photo Identification Card.

Is NDAX Good For Canadians?

NDAX is a decent exchange for Canadians, though if you’re looking for the best overall trading experience, I recommend using CoinSmart or Bitbuy instead. Each of them offers quite a bit more than NDAX, and I’m confident you’ll have a better experience with them.

How Well Is NDAX Reviewed On Reddit?

Reddit’s review of NDAX is uncertain: some Redditors have good things to say, while others don’t. Of course, Redditors are known for their brutally honest opinions, so take what they say with a grain of salt.

Is NDAX Insured?

Yes, NDAXs crypto holdings are insured. For insurable incidents, including fraud, NDAX holds:

  • USD 5 million on its cold wallets, covering internal theft and Hardware Security Module (HSM) malfunction, and
  • USD 3 million in insurance per instance on its hot wallets.
  • CAD 5 million in general business liability.

Is there an NDAX referral code?

Unfortunately, there are no NDAX referral codes available at this time. If you want a $50 signup bonus with our #1-ranked exchange CoinSmart, though, you can get that here.

Does NDAX Report To The CRA?

Yes—as a Money Services Business registered with FINTRAC, NDAX is required to report to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). With that said, NDAX is only required to report transactions larger than $10,000 to the CRA. Transactions below that amount do not need to be reported to the CRA.

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