Coinfield is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Vancouver. Coinfield is devoted entirely to servicing the Canadian crypto community, and has established a reasonable volume of CAD exchange liquidity, thanks primarily to its exchange product, which is arguably the most advanced in Canada. This is no small feat, considering the product launched in February of this (2018) year.

Confield has big ambitions, judging by its career page (hiring by the boatloads) as well as it’s recent announcement which outlined plans for international expansion and the start of a steady introduction of new cryptos. While USD markets are currently offered, and there are plans for the addition of additional fiat markets to target Europe and Latin America, the product is currently very much Canadian driven, and so our review will focus there entirely.

Getting Started

As with any Canadian exchange, new accounts are required to undergo a Fintrac mandated KYC process. Confield offers a automated process in conjunction with Equifax, in which the name, address, and date of birth is matched against credit file details via Equifax. If there is a direct match, bingo, you are automatically verified and you may begin trading post haste. If the automated verification is inconclusive, you need to go through the old, ID card, and a selfie with the ID and your signature. Manual verification is generally done within one business day, but may take longer depending on the queue.

Depositing and Withdrawing

Coinfield laps the field in terms of deposit limits – any whales out there looking to crack the 7-digit deposit threshold, we have got excellent news for you! That $10k interac deposit limit is also best in market, and Coinfield is the only exchange we know of in Canada that offers free bank wire deposits.

Note that new accounts might be subject to an additional withholding period, particularly if depositing large amounts right off the bat.

Security

Coinfield emphasizes it’s robust security which sound great on paper. They have got a three level wallet structure, with cold storage held in safety deposit boxes, and requiring the presence of both founders to access. They have some sort of secret vault, which they term a “warm wallet”, hidden in a secret cloud, accessible only by a few. Sounds great, no idea really what that means. The hot wallet utilizes a Bitgo multisig infrastructure. Long and short of it is – Coinfield seems to have invested in a great security infrastructure, but who knows. As is the case with any exchange, keep only the bitcoincoin in the exchange that you mean to trade. If you are holding bitcoin, make sure to secure it in your own, privately-held wallet.

The Coinfield Exchange

If we were looking entirely at the robustness of the trading platform, Coinfield is best in the Canadian show! The exchange interface is obviously inspired by GDAX, a worthy muse we suppose.

They are held back by their liquidity volume, which to be fair is top three in the market. However, while top three in the BTC/CAD market is a very auspicious spot for a relative newcomer, the market itself is comparatively small and traders must limit their activity to peak trading hours at the moment or suffer some pretty wide spreads. For instance, the screenshot above shows activity at 830 am est. The other CAD markets can get pretty empty at times; we wouldn’t recommend trying to buy DASH on the exchange at the moment, for instance.

However, the quick trade functionality works whenever there is not adequate exchange liquidity, and is simple to use and cost effective.

Fees

Fees are a flat .49%, aside from any XRP pair, with fees of .69%.

VIP or Institutional accounts

Planning on depositing CAD $100k? Email eliteclub@coinfield.com to get access to a dedicated account manager, OTC services, and even invites to special events. You can expect up to a 50% discount on trading fees as well, not to mention expedited KYC verification.

Mobile

Coinfield has a great mobile product, and users can deposit, withdraw, and execute trades as if they were on a desktop. Only difference is that the tradingview charts are not displayed under the advanced trade tab, but that’s acceptable.

Bottom Line

Coinfield has a very nice exchange product. Based on the help wanted profiles, it is reasonable to conclude they will continue to refine and enhance the offering. Building liquidity is a grind, but it seems that Coinfield has managed to traverse the first and most difficult hurdle – achieving an adequate base of volume. We would imagine that as volume builds in the BTC/CAD markets the alt markets will grow as well, making Coinfield a good alternative to Coinsquare and Quadriga in those secondary markets.