How to Invest Your Money » Cryptocurrency

VirgoCX Review: Key Features, Pricing, and Pros & Cons

Each year, there seems to be more Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges entering the market. I’ve reviewed several of them here at MapleMoney, and I’m always interested in the new features being offered.

In this VirgoCX review, I look closely at a lesser-known cryptocurrency trading platform that, on the surface, has a lot to offer. You can buy and sell over 50 coins, fund your account with Canadian and USD fiat currency, and trade NFTs on their dedicated marketplace. They also have a generous referral program. But how does VirgoCX compare to other crypto trading platforms? Read on to find out.

Introducing VirgoCX

VirgoCX is a Toronto-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2018. They are registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and have handled more than $1 billion in transaction volume since launch.

VirgoCX’s mission is to accelerate cryptocurrency trading and improve the delivery of various crypto-related products, including NFTs. In fact, the company has its own NFT exchange.

VirgoCX: Key Features

  • Canadian cryptocurrency exchange
  • Buy and sell more than 50 crypto assets
  • NFT exchange
  • OTC Desk
  • Free fiat deposits and withdrawals
  • They accept CAD and USD fiat currencies
  • Referral program

How to Get Started with VirgoCX?

Opening an account with VirgoCX is straightforward. You’ll need to provide your email address and create your User ID and password.

You will need to provide additional personal details before trading on the platform, including your employment and income details.

Sign up with VirgoCX today and get $20!

VirgoCX OTC Direct

Through OTC Direct, VirgoCX provides dedicated account managers who can trade more than 60 cryptocurrencies 24/7. According to VirgoCX, advanced traders receive a seamless experience executing large orders. OTC Direct offers Market, Limit, Stop orders, Request for Quotes, and Time-Weighted-Average-Price options for advanced traders, and settlement usually occurs within one business day.

VirgoCX NFTs

VirgoCX has its own NFT Exchange where you can find, trade, and collect popular NFTs. VirgoCX will alert you to trending NFTs through their newsletter, or you can browse their NFT inventory. Once you fund your account, you can contact an account manager to purchase the NFT. Account managers also assist with the NFT selling process. The platform lags behind other NFT exchanges in its offerings, but it’s a nice feature nonetheless.

VirgoCX Trading Features

While VirgoCX provides a simple trading experience for beginners, they continually add features to appeal to more advanced, active traders. Here is a sample of the trading functionality you can expect with VirgoCX:

Recurring Buy: Similar to a preauthorized purchase plan that you would set up with your regular investments, VirgoCX’s Recurring Buy feature allows you to take advantage of Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA). Select the coins you wish to purchase, the amount and frequency, and your trades will be placed automatically on your selected recurring dates. Once the trade goes through, VirgoCX will send you a confirmation via email.

Price Alerts: While they’re only available as a feature on the mobile app, VirgoCX lets you set price alerts for various cryptocurrencies that you currently hold or may be thinking of buying. The alerts are a convenient way to track the price of a crypto coin without having to log in and check manually.

You can the alerts to notify you when a crypto coin reaches a specific price, the price increases by a certain percentage, or decreases by a certain percentage. You can also set alerts to one-time only or ongoing.

Stop Limit Orders: Traders use stop-limit orders to gain more control over their trades. When you set up a stop-limit order, you must set a stop price, which is the price at which the trade (buy or sell) will be executed. The trade will only happen if the price reaches the stop price (up or down).

Sign up with VirgoCX today and get $20!

Coins Supported by VirgoCX

VirgoCX accepts more crypto coins (over 50) than many large Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges. Here is the complete list at the time of this writing:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH) 
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)  
  • EOS (EOS) 
  • USD Coin (USDC)
  • PAX Gold (PAXG) 
  • Stellar (XLM)
  • Dogecoin (DOGE)
  • Dai (DAI)
  • Uniswap (UNI)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Curve (CRV)
  • Aave (AAVE) 
  • Maker (MKR)
  • Synthetix (SNX)  
  • Kyber Network (KNC)  
  • Basic Attention Token (BAT)  
  • Compound (COMP)
  • Polkadot (DOT)
  • Cardano (ADA)  
  • Filecoin (FIL)  
  • Polygon (MATIC)  
  • Enjin Coin (ENJ)  
  • Decentraland (MANA)  
  • Cosmos (ATOM) 
  • Solana (SOL)  
  • SHIBA INU (SHIB)  
  • Axie Infinity (AXS)  
  • Avalanche (AVAX)  
  • Ethereum Classic (ETC)  
  • Kusama (KSM) 
  • The Graph (GRT) 
  • Chiliz (CHZ)  
  • SushiSwap (SUSHI) 
  • Amp (AMP)  
  • Loopring (LRC) 
  • GALA (GALA)  
  • Quant (QNT)  
  • OMG Network (OMG)  
  • TerraUSD (UST) 
  • Terra Classic (LUNA)  
  • Fantom (FTM)  
  • The Sandbox (SAND) 
  • Ocean Protocol (OCEAN)  
  • Ankr (ANKR) 
  • Livepeer (LPT)  
  • Audius (AUDIO)
  • Dogelon Mars (ELON)
  • Ox (ZRX)
  • dYdX (DYDX) 
  • Storj (STORJ)
  • API3 (API3) 
  • Smooth Love Potion (SLP)
  • NuCypher (NU)
  • Ethereum Name Service (ENS) 
  • Alchemy Pay (ACH)
  • Algorand (ALGO)
  • ApeCoin (APE)
  • Crypterium (CRPT)
  • Tezos (XTZ)
  • Hedera (HBAR)
  • Convex Finance (CVX)
  • Mirror Protocol (MIR)
  • Terra 2.0 (LUNA2)

VirgoCX Pricing

There are no trading fees for buying crypto on the VirgoCX platform. Instead, they build the price into the spread when trades are placed. In other words, the price you pay includes an amount that goes to VirgoCX to cover their expenses and make a profit. According to VirgoCX, the company prides itself in its liquidity and tight spreads, but we’ll see how its pricing compares to other Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges a bit later.

Deposits & Withdrawals

You can deposit and withdraw CAD and USD fiat currency for free with VirgoCX. Here are the details:

Funding Method Cost Limits Processing Time

e-Transfer Free $10-$10,000 Instant

CAD Wire Transfer Free* $3000 – no max. Up to 24 hours.

USD Wire Transfer Free* $500 – no max. Up to 24 hours.

Not all Canadian crypto exchanges allow you to fund your account in USD, so this is a nice feature. For example, our top-rated crypto exchange, Bitbuy, only handles CAD fiat currency.

*While VirgoCX doesn’t charge a wire fee, the sending financial institution (your bank) likely will.

Sign up with VirgoCX today and get $20!

VirgoCX Pros and Cons

I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and breadth of VirgoCX’s product offering, considering that they’re one of the newer (and smaller) players on the Canadian crypto landscape. With that in mind, there’s much to like about their trading platform, but they have a few drawbacks also. Here’s my list of pros and cons:

Pros:

  • Free deposits and withdrawals
  • Easy to purchase crypto
  • Accepts CAD and USD fiat currency
  • No trading fees
  • Helpful website knowledge base
  • Mobile app for iOS and Android devices
  • Advanced trading features (e.g., stop limit orders)
  • Registered with FINTRAC

Cons:

  • High spread prices relative to low-priced competitors
  • The trading dashboard can be confusing for inexperienced traders

VirgoCX vs. Bitbuy

You may be wondering how VirgoCX compares to other Canadian crypto exchanges. Bitbuy is our top choice here at MapleMoney, and a great all-around crypto exchange. Bitbuy has a better trading platform than VirgoCX. It includes ExpressTrade, designed for beginners, and ProTrade, for advanced crypto traders. Like VirgoCX, they also have an OTC desk for large orders.

One of Bitbuy’s biggest strengths is its transparent pricing and responsive customer service. Trading fees range between 0%-1.5%, and they don’t hide them in the spread, like VirgoCX and other exchanges. Fiat deposits are free via e-Transfer or wire transfer, and you can also deposit your crypto free of charge.

You can’t deposit USD fiat currency with Bitbuy; they only deal in Canadian dollars – advantage VirgoCX. And they don’t accept as many coins (25 vs. 50+ with VirgoCX). That shouldn’t throw off too many traders, but it’s something to consider before signing up.

Find out more about Bitbuy in our full review.

VirgoCX Referral Program

If you signup with VirgoCX using our exclusive link, you’ll earn $5 immediately and another $15 after you deposit your first $100.

After you become a customer, you can continue to earn money with VirgoCX by referring your friends through their referral program. Here’s how it works:

  1. Login to your VirgoCX account.
  2. Select “View More Details” beside “My Referrals.”
  3. Get your unique referral link.
  4. Copy your referral link to your friends.

As soon as your friend’s account is verified, you AND your friend will receive $5. Once they deposit $100 (or more), you’ll both receive an additional $15.

Sign up with VirgoCX today and get $20!

VirgoCX FAQs

Is VirgoCX safe?

Yes. VirgoCX is registered as a restricted dealer with the Ontario Securities Commission, along with several other crypto exchanges. They ensure compliance with PIPEDA (Canadian Privacy Act), and they claim on their website that they never share customer information without prior consent. They are registered with FINTRAC and have obtained $1 million CAD in crime insurance coverage.

Does VirgoCX have good customer support?

You cannot reach VirgoCX customer support by telephone, but they offer live chat and email support. They also have a helpful knowledge base on their website, with answers to many standard questions. Based on this information and the many online reviews (slow live chat and email response times seem to be an issue.), I would estimate their customer support to be just okay, which is the case with many Canadian crypto exchanges.

The Bottom Line on VirgoCX

VirgoCX is a solid Canadian crypto exchange that has a lot to offer traders who are looking for flexibility. For example, you can fund your account with CAD or USD fiat currency, choose from over 50 crypto assets, and buy and sell NFTs. On the downside, the spread pricing lacks transparency and isn’t as low as some other exchanges, and the VirgoCX trading platform isn’t as well developed as competitors like Bitbuy or Coinsmart.

I love the referral program. If you have a large group of friends or social media followers, you can make good money by getting them to sign up and start crypto trading with VirgoCX. You could offset your own trading costs through referrals.

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