Newton Review: The Canadian App That Prints Its Fee

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Newton is a Toronto company that has sold crypto to Canadians since 2018 through a plain app with no order book. Our verdict: the most honest pricing of the simple Canadian apps, because it prints the fee as a percentage and shows it while you place the trade, and it sends bitcoin to your own wallet overnight for nothing. The catches: 1.15% is several times what NDAX charges, it sells dozens of coins and staking alongside bitcoin, and the investor protection fund it belongs to does not cover crypto at all.

Facts on this page were checked on September 22, 2026 against Newton’s own fees, Signature Program, funding and about pages and the Ontario Securities Commission’s decision of March 11, 2026. Newton’s help centre blocks automated readers, so its fee article was read from the Internet Archive’s copy of April 22, 2026, and its CIRO approval date from our reading of that help centre on September 21, 2026.

Founded2018
Based inToronto, Ontario, Canada
CoinsBitcoin, ether, USDC and dozens of other crypto assets
Fees1.00% to 1.15% on bitcoin buys and sells at the standard Silver status, shown to you while you place the trade; Interac e-Transfer deposits and withdrawals are free, EFT withdrawals are free, and a wire is free at $10,000 or more and $35 between $5,000 and $10,000
CustodyCustodial; send bitcoin to your own wallet on the bitcoin network at three speeds: the Free Lane runs nightly with Newton paying the miner fee, the Standard Lane costs the miner fee, and the Fast Lane costs $10 CAD plus the miner fee. No Lightning
Best forCanadians who want the bitcoin fee printed as a number before they buy, and a free way to move it to their own wallet

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What it is

Newton Crypto Ltd. is based at 180 John Street in Toronto. Its own story starts in 2017, “back in 2017, Bitcoin was breaking through the $20,000 mark,” and the earliest press item it lists is dated April 12, 2018: “Akira Founder Moves From Healthtech to Launch Newton Cryptocurrency Trading Platform.” We date the company to 2018 on that basis.

The app buys and sells bitcoin, ether, USDC and dozens of other coins, and offers staking on some. There is no order book and no advanced screen: you say how much you want, the rate appears, you confirm. For a beginner that is the right shape, though the long coin list and the staking menu are noise to ignore. Our advice from Other Coins applies.

Fees

Newton publishes a plain percentage for bitcoin and shows it to you before you commit. Its fees page puts bitcoin, ether and USDC in “Tier 1” at “1.00% to 1.15%,” and says rates “are displayed for each trade.” Our chart carries 1.15%, the top of that published range.

You fund by Interac e-Transfer, the standard Canadian way to send money from a bank account using an email address or phone number. Newton charges nothing either way, so the trading fee is the whole published cost of a bank-funded buy.

ItemCost
Buying or selling bitcoin1.00% to 1.15%, shown while you place the trade
Interac e-Transfer in or outFree
Wire inFree at $10,000 and above; $35 between $5,000 and $10,000
Bitcoin out, Free LaneNo fee, processed nightly, Newton pays the miner fee
Bitcoin out, Standard LaneThe miner fee only, within 2 hours
Bitcoin out, Fast Lane$10 CAD plus the miner fee, within 30 minutes

A $1,000 purchase therefore costs about $11.50, against roughly $2 at NDAX and up to $20 at Shakepay. Heavy traders pay less: the Signature Program sets your rate from your trailing 365-day volume and reaches “trading fees as low as 0.05%,” though its own table puts that bottom rate above $5 million of volume, which is nobody reading this. Newton also covers “up to $5 of network fees” on your first withdrawal each day.

The Free Lane is the quiet strength here. Most exchanges make you pay the miner fee to leave, which is exactly the moment a beginner decides not to bother. Newton pays it if you can wait overnight.

Buying bitcoin step by step

  1. Create an account and verify it. Newton says setup must be finished “before you can fund your Newton account.”
  2. Turn on two-factor login, which Newton says “may prevent a bad actor from accessing your account even if they have your password.”
  3. Fund by Interac e-Transfer, which Newton calls the fastest route and which your bank can repeat automatically. Wires are for larger amounts.
  4. Buy bitcoin. The fee rate appears while you place the trade, so read it before you confirm.
  5. Add your wallet address to the Address Book. Newton requires this before a withdrawal, a small friction that also stops you pasting an address in the wrong box in a hurry.
  6. Withdraw on the Free Lane. It runs nightly and costs nothing. Read Wallets and Self-Custody first, and send a small amount before a large one.

There is no Lightning. Newton’s own list of supported networks carries bitcoin on its own network and nothing else, and no current product page mentions it. Shakepay and NDAX both support it.

Where you can use it

Canada only, everywhere in it, and unusually well documented. The Ontario Securities Commission’s decision of March 11, 2026 covers Ontario together with “Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon,” and records that Newton “is currently registered in the category of restricted dealer in all provinces and territories of Canada.” Québec is named there, so Quebec residents are served.

Its referral programme is for Canadians too: the terms say a referrer must be “a legal resident of Canada,” at least 18, with at least $100 traded, and the friend must also be a Canadian resident trading $100 within 90 days.

Security and trust

Newton is custodial, so it holds your bitcoin until you move it. Its regulatory standing is the strongest part of the case for it. The footer, on every page, says it is “a Canadian company registered as a money services business with FINTRAC,” number M19607029, and “a dealer member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).” Its help centre dates that CIRO approval to March 18, 2026. Eight years in, we found no reported loss or freeze of customer funds, and it says over 80% of assets sit in cold storage, with SOC 2 Type II certification behind it.

Read the second half of that footer. It continues: “Crypto assets are not protected by CIPF, the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation, or any other investor protection insurance scheme.” CIPF covers cash, not coins. A beginner who reads “investor protection fund” and assumes their bitcoin is insured has been misled, and to Newton’s credit it prints the correction on every page. There is also no proof of reserves you can check yourself. The Free Lane answers both: move bitcoin to your own wallet and leave the platform holding cash you are about to spend, not savings.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Publishes the bitcoin trading fee as a number, 1.00% to 1.15%, and shows it while you place the trade.
  • The Free Lane sends bitcoin to your own wallet overnight with Newton paying the miner fee.
  • A CIRO dealer member since March 18, 2026 and FINTRAC MSB #M19607029, registered in every province and territory.

Cons

  • CIPF covers your cash but not your crypto: Newton says on every page that crypto assets are not protected by CIPF, the CDIC or any other insurance scheme.
  • No Lightning: Newton’s own list of supported networks shows bitcoin on its native network only.
  • Sells dozens of other coins and staking alongside bitcoin, which is a distraction on a first visit.

Taxes

Buying bitcoin is not a taxable event in Canada. Selling it, spending it or swapping it for another coin is. The Canada Revenue Agency’s crypto-asset guidance, last updated December 2, 2025, says a disposition “may occur” when you “trade or exchange it for government-issued currency or another type of crypto-asset,” “use it to buy goods or services,” or give it away, and that if you disposed of it on account of capital “you must include half of your capital gains (known as taxable capital gains) in your income for the year.” Newton adds a warning of its own on its referral page: “promotional rewards may carry tax implications under the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); you are solely responsible for any tax reporting.” Our own Bitcoin and Taxes page covers the United States only, so start from the CRA’s own crypto-asset pages. This is education, not tax advice.

Who it’s for

Newton suits a Canadian who wants the fee as a number before pressing buy, and who intends to move the bitcoin off the platform. A printed rate plus a free overnight withdrawal makes the whole cost knowable in advance, which is rarer than it should be.

It does not suit the lowest cost: NDAX at a flat 0.20% is about a fifth of the price, if you can live with a busier screen. Nor a weekly habit, where Shakepay‘s 0% recurring buys win outright. And if you never want a company holding your coins, that is Bull Bitcoin.

The button below goes to Newton’s ordinary sign-up page and carries no referral code, because its referral programme is open only to Canadian residents with a funded account and we are not in it. This is education, not financial or tax advice.

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