<aside> ⚠️ Disclaimer: these screenshots are old (~ May 2021). And I'm not a financial advisor. The prices are in CAD not USD.

</aside>

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Long story short

the problem - bad rates on WS Trade

I think - (opinion) - bank apps which provide the option to trade Crypto don't have enough liquidity. Plus, their primary business isn't Crypto - so the rates that they provide are very bad like baaaddd bad.

the solution - use Cexes

Start from custodial centralized exchanges(CEX) like Binance, FTX, kuCoin, etc. And over time if you feel the need - move to Decentralized exchanges and holding your Crypto.

DYOR (do your own research) before start using a Centralized Exchange (not all exchanges are legit or damn good). Aim for lower fees & more coins. Look which Cexes are good for your country.

Long Story - w/ screenshots

Used to use WealthSimple Trade to buy BTC, ETH coz it was super simple. I'd just put in buy order whenever prices would crash (dip), and never check the executed order. Until the day things didn't make sense to me, I was dollar-cost-averaging(DCA) buying BTC with the tiny amount of money I had but the average was shit compared to how low I'd been buying BTC. So I looked into it.

And here's what I found - I found out that I was not the only one who didn't know you get different price depending on how much quantity you buy??? Coz Instead of buying all at one, I thought it'd be better to like dollar cost it. WealthSimple change the price hell lot depending on quantity. Same shit if you wanna sell it. Better price if you sell more. And worst price if you sell less.

Price when buying BTC at WS

The price of BTC when I put the order was ~CAD46K. But when placing orders - the buying/selling price which is decided by WS change a ton.

Price when selling BTC at WS

These are consecutive screenshots. Hardly couple of seconds apart. The different in actual value of BTC didn't change more than $100-200, but changing the size of transaction, my buying price decided by WealthSimple changed ton (3-4K)

Pros & Cons

• Simple UI, and easy to use (still love them for this though).
• Good beginner tool if you're intimidated by Graphs, Candle sticks, orderbooks, etc. (I used to be)
• Integration with other WS apps like WS Tax, Bank.

Cons

• worst rate I've seen so far (so worse that I no longer use it).
• It's custodial - i.e. the funds are held in WS wallets - you don't have the keys to your crypto.
• Can't withdraw or deposit Crypto

Fees discounts for Cexes - Referral Links

Most money is lost in fees, hidden fees & taxes. That's why I switched, fees add up. I haven't used WS since that time, so maybe things have changed but now I'm good with the apps I currently use.