Bitbuy Is Becoming Robinhood: What Canadians Need to Know

On 1 June 2026 Robinhood closed its acquisition of WonderFi Technologies, the parent company of both Bitbuy and Coinsquare. Robinhood is not keeping them as separate brands: the two platforms “will become part of the Robinhood brand”, and Canadian customers “will be invited to download the Robinhood app”.[1] Robinhood puts the customer base it acquired at approximately 300,000 funded accounts.[1]

That does not mean your account or assets are unprotected in the meantime. Bitbuy has told customers directly that accounts "will continue to be held and operated by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd." — the same CIRO-regulated investment dealer — CIRO being the body that oversees Canadian stockbrokers — that has custodied Bitbuy assets since 2024 — while the migration to Robinhood rolls out.[4]

Robinhood's own support documentation lays out a three-step process, and it is being rolled out gradually rather than all at once[4]:

There's no published deadline. Robinhood describes the rollout as phased "based on account characteristics" — you'll get an email and in-app notification when it's your turn, or if your account isn't eligible yet.[4]

Bitbuy launched in 2016 and is one of Canada's oldest regulated exchanges. It's registered with FINTRAC as a Money Services Business, has held an Ontario Securities Commission Restricted Dealer registration since November 2021, and — notably — has operated as a CIRO Member Dealer through Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. since May 2024, well before the Robinhood deal.[5] That regulatory groundwork isn't something Robinhood is building from scratch.

On custody, Bitbuy states that over 90% of customer crypto sits in insured cold storage with an institutional custodian, and that it completed four consecutive years (2019–2023) of third-party Proof-of-Reserves audits confirming 1:1 asset backing — a streak it says no other Canadian exchange matches. There's no record of a security breach in its history.[5]

Two documents from the same company give two different answers, and the gap matters. Robinhood’s announcement of 1 June 2026 promises Canadians “lower fees with a flat 0.5% fee per CAD trade”.[1] The fee schedule filed by Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. — the dealer that actually operates Bitbuy — and updated three weeks later says each client order carries a fee “of between 0.5% and 1.85% of the trade value”.[2] The word “flat” does not appear in it anywhere. We cannot tell you which one you will be charged. We can tell you that the number in the press release is the bottom of the range in the filing, and that a 1.85% order costs you nearly four times a 0.5% one.

Trades are also commission-free on this platform from 1 July to 30 September 2026 under a promotion for fully onboarded clients.[2] Treat that as a window, not a price. On the published rates, Bitbuy is not the cheapest route in Canada: NDAX charges 0.20% and Kraken Pro 0.40% maker / 0.80% taker — see what a $1,000 Bitcoin buy actually costs on each platform.

For most people, no immediate action is required — the migration happens on Robinhood's schedule, not yours, and you'll be notified when your account is eligible to move.[4] If you'd rather move your crypto somewhere else before the switch reaches you, you can withdraw or transfer out at any time, the same as with any exchange account.

One real risk worth flagging: any high-profile account migration like this is prime season for phishing. Scammers will send fake "your account is ready to migrate" emails designed to steal your password or seed phrase. Only act on migration prompts inside the official Bitbuy or Robinhood app, never through a link in an email or text — and never enter your seed phrase anywhere.

Pros and Cons of the Robinhood Move

Frequently Asked Questions