Canada's 3 Largest Crypto Companies Decide To Merger

Canada's three leading crypto exchange companies will join forces. (Photo; Doc. Crypto-currenties)

JAKARTA - Three major crypto asset exchanges from Canada, namely WonderFi, Coinsquare, and CoinSmart, announced a business merger deal to merge their separate companies.

In this merger, the combined company will provide one of the largest crypto asset trading platforms regulated in the world, as well as various products and services to Canadians, including trading of retail and institutional crypto assets, staking products, processing of B2B crypto payments (business-to-business), and betting on sports and games.

This merger is a strategic step for the three companies to strengthen their position in Canada's increasingly competitive and regulated crypto asset market. By combining their resources and expertise, the combined company will be able to offer a better, safer, and more affordable customer experience.

In addition, joint companies will also be able to take advantage of the operational synergy and cost efficiency generated from this merger. Since 2017, the combined company has made transactions of more than 17 billion US dollars (Rp253.5 trillion) and has more than 600 million US dollars (Rp8.9 trillion) in assets under surveillance, with a user base registered of more than 1.65 million Canadians.

The merger of these three companies comes months after Coinsquare withdrew from its plans to buy CoinSmart due to rumors of a merger negotiations with WonderFi. However, CoinSmart finally agreed with Coinsquare's actions and said it would pursue compensation in court.

Interim WonderFi chairman and CEO Dean Skurka said, "With this merger, we have a scale to become market leaders in Canada, a strong balance sheet that will allow for expansion, and a clear path to profitability."

Coinsquare became Canada's first crypto asset trading platform to be listed as a securities trader and gain membership in Canada's Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC), which is currently known as Canada's New Self Regulatory Organization, in October 2022.

WonderFi will issue about 270 million common shares to Coinsquare investors and about 119 million common shares to CoinSmart shareholders as part of the deal. After the merger is complete, Coinsquare shareholders will control 43 percent of the combined company, owners of WonderFi 38 percent, and shareholders of CoinSmart 19 percent.

This merger is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2023 after obtaining approval from regulators and shareholders of each company. The joint company will continue to operate on the WonderFi brand and will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) with the WFI symbol.