What in the World is Shakepay?

Shakepay is a mobile cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer wallet available only for Canadians (Buy and sell coins for Canadian dollars). It has a pretty simple layout but only support Ethereum and Bitcoin. Launched in 2015, Shakepay has roughly 250,000 users, and claims to have low-fee, fast transactions. Ontop of that, users who have been referred to the platform are able to shake their phones every day (Hence the name Shakepay) and receive a couple of cents in Bitcoin! Having used Shakepay for quite some time, I thought I'd write a quick little review of the platform and detail some of the pros and cons with this platform. 

Users can fund their accounts with relative ease using ETH, BTC, Interac E-Transfer, or even wire transfer. There are no transfer fees for using E-transfers but while Shakepay claims to not charge any fees on buy and sell orders, the fees are actually hidden in the quoted rates for the coins. In other words, buying on Shakepay may be a little more pricey than actual market rates. Something to be aware of is that users do NOT have access to private keys for purchased or deposited ETH or BTC. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Shakepay is regulated by FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) and the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers). In other words, they're pretty legit at least on paper. 

Shakepay also has a feature called Shakepay Change, where the app rounds up purchases made by debit or credit cards and invests the change in a tiny bit of Bitcoin every time the card is used. Not a bad way to accumulate more coins. Personally, I have not used it, but two of my friends have been using it for some time, and say that it isn't a bad feature, but the exchange rates aren't the greatest. 

Personally my main complaint for Shakepay is their inaccurate quoted rates. But I guess the daily shaking rewards kind of make up for some of it, and after all, the platform needs a way to make some money too. Personally, I've calculated the hidden fees to be roughly 1.2-1.8% of the total purchase, which isn't terrible but definitely not great either. Another issue commonly seen is the slow response time in the customer service department. In my personal experience, it took Shakepay about 5 days to verify my account and about 4 days to respond to a message I sent. While it definitely isn't the worst, it is still frustrating wanting to buy Bitcoin but not being able to because a platform hasn't verified you yet. 

The platform also has very limited functionality. Aside from buying and selling, there's pretty much nothing else the app can really do. 

If you felt that this article was helpful and want to try using ShakePay, please feel free to use my referral link: https://shakepay.me/r/SHUCDZB . Not only will you be allowed to shake your phone every day for some free Satoshis, but you'll also get $30 when you buy your first $100 of Crypto! Disclaimer: I will also get a bonus $30, so it's a win-win! 

Pros

• Simple charts and layout. Very intuitive
• Can use Canadian dollars
• Can fund account using ETH, BTC, Interac E-Transfer, or wire transfer
• Referees can shake their phone everyday for some Satoshis
• Available on smartphone or desktop
• Team members are listed on the website
• Has a feature called Shakepay change, which rounds up purchases made by debit/credit carts and buys a tiny bit of Bitcoin each time

Cons

• Can only buy and sell Ethereum and Bitcoin
• Only available for Canadians 
• Support email often takes several days to reply
• Verification process takes several days to complete
• Do NOT hold your own private keys

Disclaimer: I am NOT affiliated with the Shakepay team or any other cryptocurrency-related businesses, nor am I a financial advisor. This article is a review based on my personal experiences. Everyone may have different experiences. If you found this article helpful and want to sign up for Shakepay, please feel free to use my referral so we both get $30 when you buy $100 of cryptocurrencies, and so that you get to shake every day to win some free Satoshis! https://shakepay.me/r/SHUCDZB

Remember: Every single investment, whether it's real estate, cryptocurrency, or stocks, is a risk. Only ever invest what you can afford to lose!