Prospects for retail crypto trading in Canada are looking good, and a convergence of factors, including the local regulatory environment, is likely to continue driving market growth.
“We have certainly seen retail come back,” Dean Skurka, CEO of Canadian crypto asset platform WonderFi, told Cointelegraph’s Sam Bourgi at the Collision event in Toronto.
Canada experiences lucky convergence for crypto
Skurka said the convergence of the interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada, leading to greater discretionary spending by the public, along with strong interest in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds that put crypto “in favorable standing [with] a broader audience” and the expected impact of the BTC halving promise a strong retail market.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Skurka said, but indicators of public receptiveness to crypto are there. New signups spiked at WonderFi along with the all-time high price for BTC, he noted. He expected to see it in the next six to 12 months.
WonderFi, which had early backing from billionaire celebrity Kevin O’Leary, has acquired an impressive stable of crypto firms that it plans to combine into a single entity, thanks to its merger with Coinsquare in July 2023. That firm is regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.
WonderFi has also acquired Bitbuy and Coinberry. It reached $1 billion in assets under management at the end of 2023.
WonderFi looks abroad and appreciates home
Canadian regulators have addressed staking and the crypto spot market, and Skurka predicted crypto derivatives — such as futures — to be the next to be regulated. As WonderFi begins implementing plans to expand into the Asia-Pacific region, it has gained new perspective on the Canadian regulatory environment.
Canadian regulators “further ahead” compared with their Asia Pacific colleagues, Skurka said. The firm’s experience with Canadian regulators will inform its actions in APAC markets. WonderFi will make public its activities in APAC within months.
Other industry figures have shown less enthusiasm for Canadian regulation. Rules introduced by the Canadian Securities Administrators in February 2023 led to the withdrawal of several crypto firms from the country.
Related: Canada’s regulatory clarity is bringing institutions to crypto — WonderFi CEO
