Is Shakepay Safe? Yes, It's CIRO-Regulated, and Your Cash Is Protected

Shakepay is safe to use. It’s a regulated Canadian investment dealer, based in Montreal and running since 2015. The company behind the app, Shakepay Inc., has been a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization since January 8, 2025, and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, the same regulator and protection fund as brokers like Questrade.

What that protection covers depends on what you hold. The cash in your account is covered. Bitcoin isn’t covered by any fund, at Shakepay or anywhere else in Canada, so what keeps it safe is the way Shakepay is required to store it.

Is Shakepay a bank?

No. Shakepay Inc. is an investment dealer, and it isn’t on CDIC’s list of member institutions (opens in a new tab). Its app lets you buy and sell bitcoin and ether and hold Canadian and US dollars, under its customer account agreement (opens in a new tab). If you send USDC to your account, Shakepay converts it to US dollars as soon as it arrives, so you never hold USDC itself there.

Two more companies carry the Shakepay name. Shakepay Financial Inc., an affiliate, runs the prepaid Visa card, bill payments and the Savings account, and the card itself is issued by Peoples Trust Company (opens in a new tab), a CDIC member. Shakepay Credit Inc. appears on the Ontario Securities Commission’s list of crypto businesses (opens in a new tab) as a crypto-backed lending platform.

Shakepay Inc. is wholly owned by Shake Labs Inc. Jean Amiouny and Roy Breidi launched Shakepay in 2015 (opens in a new tab) and still lead it as CEO and CTO.

Where does your money actually sit?

In four places, and the protection is different for each. Shakepay’s relationship disclosure (opens in a new tab) and account terms set out where your crypto, your cash, your Savings and your card money are held, and which fund, if any, stands behind each one.

Crypto. At least 80% of customers’ crypto sits in cold storage with Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a US qualified custodian, in accounts held for your benefit. Shakepay’s disclosure says that gives you “the legal and rightful claim to these assets”. The rest is in multi-signature hot wallets secured by Fireblocks and BitGo. The same document says crypto bought and held on Shakepay isn’t protected by CIPF, CDIC or any other investor protection scheme.

Cash. Your Canadian dollars are held in accounts marked “in-trust” at a Canadian financial institution that qualifies as a custodian for cash, separate from Shakepay’s own money. Its documents don’t name the institution. Because Shakepay is a CIPF member, the account agreement says your cash is protected “up to $1,000,000 CAD per customer”, and Shakepay’s help centre (opens in a new tab) says that limit covers your Canadian- and US-dollar balances combined. The same agreement says Shakepay can’t promise the money is CDIC-insured, so the protection here comes from CIPF, not CDIC.

Savings. The Savings account is a separate balance run by Shakepay Financial. Its terms (opens in a new tab) say eligible deposits are “held for your benefit in trust at one or more CDIC member institutions”, and the Savings page (opens in a new tab) says that cash is CDIC-covered up to $100,000 through a partner institution. Shakepay doesn’t name that partner either. We explain how CDIC’s limits work in CDIC deposit insurance in Canada.

Card money. If you use the card or pay bills, Shakepay automatically moves money from your cash balance to your account with Shakepay Financial. Money held there isn’t protected by CIPF or held in trust at a CDIC member, according to the account agreement.

What happens if Shakepay fails?

CIPF covers your cash. Nothing covers your crypto, but it’s held as your property rather than Shakepay’s. If Shakepay Inc. became insolvent and couldn’t return what it holds for you, CIPF would cover the cash. CIPF’s FAQ (opens in a new tab) says its protection reaches cash held in a crypto trading account at a member firm, but not the crypto itself.

So the protection for crypto is in the custody rules. The January 2025 decision (opens in a new tab) from Canada’s securities regulators requires Shakepay to keep clients’ crypto in wallets or accounts designated for them, or in trust for them, separate from its own assets. At least 80% has to sit with a qualifying third-party custodian, and Shakepay isn’t allowed to pledge clients’ crypto, re-pledge it or use it in any other way.

Insurance is a separate layer, and it covers theft, not prices. Shakepay’s risk statement (opens in a new tab) says Coinbase’s parent company carries US$320 million of insurance against hacks, stolen private keys and insider theft at Coinbase Custody, and that Fireblocks has US$30 million of coverage in aggregate, shared among its customers. Shakepay also has its own cold-storage policy (opens in a new tab), underwritten by insurers at Lloyd’s of London.

Savings has its own safety net. If a CDIC member holding it failed, CDIC would cover it up to $100,000, and Shakepay’s terms point out that this coverage comes from CDIC, not from Shakepay or its affiliates.

None of this covers a fall in bitcoin’s price. CIPF says its coverage excludes (opens in a new tab) “a drop in the value of your investments for any reason”, and that’s the risk you take on when you buy.

Who regulates Shakepay?

Canada’s securities regulators and CIRO, with Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers in the lead, plus FINTRAC for money laundering rules. The January 2025 decision records that Shakepay Inc. is registered as an investment dealer and is a member of CIRO, and it names the AMF as Shakepay’s principal regulator.

• CIRO sets and enforces the rules investment dealers follow, and CIPF membership comes with it. CIPF’s member directory (opens in a new tab) lists Shakepay Inc.
• Securities regulators register the firm. The Ontario Securities Commission’s list shows Shakepay Inc. as an investment dealer. Before 2025 it was registered as a restricted dealer, which is why some older pages still describe it that way.
• FINTRAC has had Shakepay Inc. registered (opens in a new tab) as a money services business since February 2017, for virtual currency and money transfers. Shakepay Financial is registered with FINTRAC too, and with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider (opens in a new tab) since May 2026.

What Shakepay does well, and what to watch

The strongest thing about Shakepay is how much it discloses. Its own documents name its custodians, say how much of the crypto is in cold storage, and say which balances CIPF and CDIC cover and which they don’t, so you can check the arrangement yourself. The security settings are good too: two-factor authentication on every account, passkeys, and an anti-phishing code (opens in a new tab) at the end of every transactional email, so a fake is easier to spot.

What to watch, before you buy:

• The fee is in the price. Shakepay charges no commission or account fees. It earns a spread built into the price you buy or sell at, and it’s the other side of every trade you make. Compare the price you’re quoted, not a fee line.
• Text-message codes are the default. Shakepay sets up SMS codes for two-factor authentication and recommends switching (opens in a new tab) to an authenticator app.
• Scammers use the Shakepay name. Shakepay says it will never ask you (opens in a new tab) to send crypto to an outside wallet, share your password or 2FA code, or share your screen. Its guide to spotting scams (opens in a new tab) lists the email domains it actually uses.

What’s on the public record

Shakepay disclosed a data incident (opens in a new tab) in December 2023. Between March and December that year, an attacker pulled personal information on a small number of customers through an employee’s work device, including names, email and home addresses, birth dates and account balances, and later some data from a third-party tool it uses for customer communications. Shakepay says no bank accounts, crypto wallets, custodians, customer logins or ID documents were compromised.

It found the activity on December 13, told the first group of affected customers the next day, paused withdrawals for some of them until they passed extra checks, and fired the employee for not following its security policies. It now asks some customers to confirm their identity with a face scan before sensitive actions like crypto withdrawals.

On the regulatory side, FINTRAC’s penalty list (opens in a new tab), which keeps notices for five years, doesn’t name Shakepay, and the January 2025 decision records that it wasn’t in default of securities law anywhere in Canada.

What about the money you keep out of crypto?

Lodavo publishes this site and makes a prize-linked savings app. We don’t hold deposits, and Shakepay doesn’t pay for placement here.

So the custody question above doesn’t apply to Lodavo, because your savings stay in your own bank account. Lodavo gives you a reason to keep adding to them. Every $25 you’ve set aside in Canadian dollars earns a free ticket in our weekly cash draw, and you could win up to $10,000 without ever being out a dollar.

If you’d like to check us the way this page checks Shakepay, is Lodavo safe and legit does exactly that, and our security page has the technical detail.

So, is Shakepay safe?

Yes. Shakepay Inc. is a CIRO-regulated investment dealer and a CIPF member, it’s based in Montreal and has been running since 2015, and its own documents say where each kind of balance is held and what protects it.

What you’re protected against depends on the balance. CIPF covers your cash balance if Shakepay fails, up to $1 million. CDIC covers Savings up to $100,000 if a member institution holding it fails. No fund covers bitcoin or ether, which is why it matters that most of it sits in cold storage at Coinbase Custody as your property, and that Shakepay can’t lend it out or pledge it. And nothing covers a fall in bitcoin’s price, which is the risk you’re really taking when you buy.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.