Skip to main content

Buy Cardano in Canada

Cardano made simple

Everything you need to know about Cardano and how to start investing in it.

Current Price

This one’s easy: the price the coin or token is trading at right now.

$1.65 CAD

+$0.2099 (14.62%) past 24 hours

Market Cap
The value of the entire supply of a specific cryptocurrency or token. It’s calculated by taking the price of a coin/token and multiplying it by the total number of that coin/token in circulation.
$64,444,701,043.18
Circulating Supply
The amount of coins that have already been created and are available in the market.
$35,815,138,228.43
Total Supply
The total amount of coins currently in existence minus any coins that have been burned or removed from circulation.
$45,000,000,000
24h low - high range
Low-high range over the past 24 hours.
$1.28 - $1.48
7 day low - high range
Low-high range over the past 7 days.
$1.25 - $1.87
52 week low - high range
Low-high range over the past 52 weeks.
0.3521941 - $1.87

Cardano 101

Cardano, also known as ADA, is a blockchain that seeks to rival the market leading platform for programmable cryptocurrencies, Ethereum. Indeed, its leader is Charles Hoskinson, an Ethereum co-founder. Hoskinson left Ethereum following a dispute with co-founder Vitalik Buterin over whether to commercialize Ethereum, which was Hoskinson’s view, or to run it as a non-profit. Hoskinson is also CEO of Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), a software development company that builds on ADA.

Like Ethereum, Cardano supports smart contracts: self-enforcing bits of code that let you automate financial services without the need for intermediaries, like banks.

But Cardano iterates on Ethereum in a couple of key ways. First, it’s a proof-of-stake blockchain (something that Ethereum is moving towards but hasn’t completely reached), meaning that the network grants those with the most coins (rather than the beefiest computers) the right to validate transactions. Cardano’s validation algorithm is called Ouroboros. The Ouroboros algorithm makes Cardano, claims Hoskinson, lighting fast and cheap to use.

Second, Cardano updates its code based on peer-reviewed consensus. A team of academics pore over each submission to make sure that it’s squeaky clean, instead of letting anyone decide how to upgrade the protocol. Hoskinson says that this is more efficient.

Why Wealthsimple Crypto?

Wealthsimple Crypto lets you buy and sell cryptocurrencies all in one easy-to-use app. And as Canada’s first regulated crypto platform, you can trust that your coins are in good hands. How simple is it?

  • 1
    Sign up in minutes right from your phone or laptop
  • 2
    Start trading crypto with as little as $1
  • 3
    No account minimums
  • 4
    No clunky dashboards — just one super simple app
  • 5
    Best of all: you don’t need to be an expert in crypto or blockchain to get started
Get started with Crypto

What can you do with Cardano?

Before September 12, 2021, you couldn’t do an awful lot with Cardano (ADA). You could send it between wallets, like on the Bitcoin blockchain, or stake ADA to secure the Cardano blockchain. You could also use it as a governance token, a kind of voting chip to cast your ballot in proposals to upgrade the network or fund projects.

On September 12, Cardano launched smart contracts—self-enforcing bits of computer code that host decentralized applications, like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance protocols, like non-custodial exchanges and automated lending protocols. These are experimental projects, most of which have not been battle-tested or audited as of this writing, in November 2021

Is Cardano a smart investment?

Crypto carries risks — but generally speaking, our advice (regardless of whether you’re investing in Cardano or stocks) is: never invest what you can’t afford to lose. The smartest way to grow your money long term is with a diversified, low-cost portfolio that tracks the market.

How we keep your Cardano safe

As Canada’s first regulated crypto trading platform, we’re required to meet certain requirements — like using only qualified custodians (like Coinbase Custody) for cold storage.

FYI: Wealthsimple Crypto is not an exchange itself. Instead, we work with multiple exchanges to give you the best Cardano prices.

And to make sure your coins are extra protected, we’ve partnered with Coincover for an extra layer of security.

If you’re holding crypto outside of Wealthsimple, that’s no problem. You can safely transfer your Cardano to your Wealthsimple account in just a few taps.

Other cryptos to explore

More info about Cardano

Want to take a deeper dive? Check out these articles about Cardano and the world of crypto.

Explore all articles on Crypto

Ready to get started?

Download the Wealthsimple Trade app, create your account, and start trading Cardano with just $1. It’s that simple.

Get started

FAQs

Cardano, also known as ADA, is the cryptocurrency that powers the Cardano blockchain. Cardano is a bit like Ethereum, albeit newer, and, claim its creators, faster and more secure. You can earn more of it by pledging coins you already own on the network, or use it in a growing selection of decentralized finance protocols.

As of November 1, 2021, there are 32 billion ADA tokens in circulation out of a maximum supply of 45 billion. You can earn new ADA coins by staking your ADA within a staking pool (a little like how you can “mine” Bitcoin, albeit without powerful computers). Like Bitcoin, the supply is fixed and no more ADA can be issued after all 45 billion tokens are in circulation. Cardano’s blockchain also lets people create tokens, just like Ethereum. These are backed by ADA staking but are otherwise entirely separate.

A handful of companies accept ADA as a form of payment, but they are few and far between (a lot of cannabis shops and internet companies). Aside from them, you can use ADA to cover the cost of sending transactions on the network, just like gas fees on Ethereum or transaction costs on Bitcoin. You can also use ADA within Cardano’s growing network of decentralized finance smart contracts, and you can stake it as a governance token to vote on how upgrades are handled and how funds are disbursed to projects that grow the ecosystem. Lastly, you can stake it within the Cardano protocol to earn more ADA.

Yep! When you open a Wealthsimple Crypto account, you can get started with anywhere from $1 to $1,500 instantly.

Generally speaking, the CRA treats cryptocurrencies as a commodity. Here’s what they say:

Any income from transactions involving cryptocurrency is generally treated as business income or as a capital gain, depending on the circumstances. Similarly, if earnings qualify as business income or as a capital gain then any losses are treated as business losses or capital losses.

Always keep solid records of any Cardano transactions. If you use Wealthsimple Crypto to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, we’ll generate some of those tax documents for you.

Cardano’s current market cap is $64,444,701,043.00.

The current price for Cardano in Canadian dollars is $1.65.

Buying Cardano with Wealthsimple is, well, simple. The first thing you need to do is open and fund a Crypto account in the Wealthsimple Trade app. You can connect your bank account and add up to $1,500 instantly.

From there, follow these steps:

  1. Tap the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of your screen
  2. Type in Cardano
  3. Tap Buy
  4. Enter the dollar value of cryptocurrency you'd like to buy and tap Continue
  5. Review the order details and tap Confirm order

You can choose between two different order types when buying Cardano. A market order lets you buy or sell crypto immediately at the best available price at the time. A limit order lets you buy or sell crypto at a specific price or better.

You can withdraw funds from the cash balance in your Crypto account and move those funds to your bank account. Withdrawals typically take around 2 - 3 business days.

A crypto wallet — often called a “hot wallet” — is a location for holding crypto “on-chain” (i.e. linked to the blockchain versus off-chain cold storage.) Many users use wallet applications to help them manage their blockchain addresses, since each chain uses its own addresses.