The Challenge
Cryptocurrency adoption in Canada was being held back by a simple problem: there was no platform that regulators, banks, and everyday users could all trust at the same time. NDAX wanted to fill that gap and set the standard for the Canadian crypto industry, but doing that required building something more serious than a typical exchange.
The existing platform wasn’t positioned to engage with financial institutions or meet the compliance requirements of Canadian regulators. It lacked the depth of UX that would make digital asset ownership feel safe and approachable to the average Canadian. And without a real mobile app, NDAX was limited to users willing to trade on desktop, a significant ceiling for a consumer-facing product.
The challenge wasn’t just technical. It was about earning trust on multiple fronts simultaneously: regulatory, institutional, and consumer.
Our Approach
SpaceDev took on both the web frontend and the mobile experience from the ground up. For the web, we redesigned and rebuilt the platform using TypeScript and Angular 8 with a Node.js/Express backend and MongoDB, ensuring every layer of the stack was structured to meet the demands of a regulated financial environment.
The integration with AlphaPoint, the leading white-label cryptocurrency exchange software, was central to the project. Getting this right meant that NDAX could maintain a solid, compliant connection to Canada’s banking institutions while accurately representing user data and saving account activity in real time. This wasn’t a simple API connection; it required careful coordination to ensure information integrity across the full transaction lifecycle.
For mobile, we built a dedicated React Native app rather than a responsive wrapper. The goal was a native experience that gave users everything they needed (account access, buying, selling, trading, staking, and earnings) in an interface that felt reliable and secure. UX/UI design was handled in Figma, with a deliberate focus on clarity and reducing friction in flows that touch real money.
Results
The impact was clear and measurable. After the new platform launched, monthly new user registrations jumped from roughly 50 to roughly 200. More importantly, the rate of users completing the verification process (converting from registered to active) rose from 50% to 80%. That second number matters more than the first: it means the platform was working as intended, giving users enough confidence to complete the steps required to actually trade.
NDAX’s structure also played into this: client funds are held in segregated Canadian bank accounts, legally separate from the company’s operating capital. That model, combined with a platform that looked and felt like it belonged in the Canadian financial system, gave both regulators and users reasons to trust it. The partnership continued for two years of ongoing product development and scalability work after the initial MVP.
Tech Stack
The platform was built on TypeScript and Angular 8 for the frontend, with Node.js and Express on the backend and MongoDB as the primary data store. The mobile app was built in React Native, shared across iOS and Android. AlphaPoint served as the exchange engine layer connecting NDAX to the Canadian banking system. Design was done in Figma.
