Digital-asset regulation has been a hot topic in 2020 and shows no signs of cooling. A recent G7 meeting concluded that the sector faces an ongoing need for regulation. In addition to talking about COVID-19 and economic issues, the group “also discussed ongoing responses to the evolving landscape of crypto assets and other digital assets and national authorities’ work to prevent their use for malign purposes and illicit activities,” according to a public statement from the United States Department of the Treasury on Monday: “There is strong support across the G7 on the need to regulate digital currencies. Ministers and …

Next week, Canadian digital asset investment manager 3iQ will be launching an IPO of an Ethereum exchange-traded trust, The Ether Fund, on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the ticker QETH.U. The maximum offering for the launch is $100 million, and the closing date of the offering will be no later than December 10, 2020. 3iQ counts more than $400 million CAD under management, and maintains a focus on Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. In a press release on Thursday, 3iQ noted that this listing comes with a patriotic backstory. “The concept of Ethereum was developed in Canada in 2013 and …

Timothy Lane, deputy governor of the Bank of Canada and head of research at the bank’s fintech and crypto department, claimed that Canada’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, might see the light of the day “sooner than expected." Lane delivered his remarks in a Tuesday interview on the Bank of Canada’s approach to digital payment systems. According to Lane, the predicted decline in COVID-19-fueled cash transactions has been happening more rapidly than the bank had previously expected. This could trigger the bank to issue a CBDC sooner that it originally planned: “In February, we identified two scenarios that we …

Coinsquare, a crypto exchange that has been under the scrutiny of Canadian regulators following allegations of wash trading, said it will be adding two new members to its board of directors. In a Nov. 25 announcement, the exchange said Nicholas Thadaney and Wendy Rudd are joining its board. Thadaney was President of the Toronto Stock Exchange and Rudd is currently a board member for the Canadian Regulatory Technology Association. The new appointments follow a major change in leadership mid-year. In July, CEO Cole Diamond and President Virgile Rostand stepped down following an agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, …

Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency merchant bank founded by Mike Novogratz, is expanding its crypto offerings in Canada. According to a Nov. 16 announcement, Galaxy Digital has partnered with major Canadian investment company CI Global Asset Management to launch a public Bitcoin (BTC) fund in the country. The CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund is a “closed-end investment fund” that aims to provide unitholders with exposure to Bitcoin. The fund will invest directly in Bitcoin using the fund’s holdings of the token based on prices of the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index, the announcement notes. As part of the new initiative, CI GAM has …

A three-year pilot scheme for an innovative blockchain-based electric vehicle charging platform has received $1 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada, a department of the country’s government. The scheme promises to reduce the cost of electric vehicle charging transactions and enhance power grid efficiency, according to an article on the independent Electric Autonomy Canada platform. The pilot will take place at two multi-tenanted office buildings in downtown Toronto, and is run by electric vehicle charging platform SWTCH Energy and intelligent energy software developer Opus One Solutions. The innovation comes through the understanding that electric vehicles aren’t just alternatively-powered cars, …

While many children dressed as ghosts, goblins and witches last night may have been disappointed to find an inedible thin piece of cardboard left out in a goodie bag, a lucky few recognized the treat as a Bitcoin prize. According to an tweet Saturday from Brad Mills, the crypto user filled a Halloween candy box with more than just chocolates and sweets — he also added $200 in Bitcoin (BTC) gift cards. Mills posted a video of him adding the two gift cards, each worth roughly 0.007 BTC, following the coin’s rise to $14,000 and filmed the reactions of trick-or-treaters …

Global digital asset trading platform INX is expanding its ongoing initial public offering, with listings on exchanges worldwide. In a move to boost the liquidity in its $117 million IPO, INX has applied with the Canadian Securities Exchange to list its security token. The listing application is subject to the approval of the CSE, according to an Oct. 30 announcement from INX. According to INX’s representatives, the company expects to list the INX token on many other global exchanges, but the CSE will be the first. “This will provide dramatically higher access to capital and liquidity on a global scale, …

Canada doesn’t want any "surprises" regarding central bank digital currencies. In a recent interview with Reuters, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem doubled down on the country's contingency-plan approach to CBDCs, stressing that he sees no urgent need to issue one right now. For Macklem, inter-state competition and coordination remains the key question when it comes to CBDC issuance. He told reporters: “If another country has one and we don’t, that could certainly create some problems. So we want to make sure we’re ready. Currencies move across borders, and so we certainly wouldn’t want to be surprised by some other …

Canadian digital asset manager 3iQ has recorded a major milestone fo its public Bitcoin (BTC) fund. The Bitcoin Fund — Canada’s first Bitcoin fund listed on a major stock exchange — has crossed the $100 million market cap threshold, 3iQ announced in an Oct. 20 tweet. Tyler Winklevoss, a major cryptocurrency investor and a co-founder of United States’ Gemini crypto exchange, congratulated 3iQ on the milestone. Big Milestone. The #Bitcoin Fund by @3iq_corp that trades publicly on the Toronto Stock Exchange under $QBTC.U, just passed the $100 million mark. Onward! — Tyler Winklevoss (@tylerwinklevoss) October 21, 2020 As previously reported, …

The Bank of Canada is looking to hire an economist who has a deep knowledge of financial technology and digital currencies, potentially signaling the latest in a series of steps towards a Canadian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). According to the bank’s official page, the economist’s duties will be to monitor and analyze the latest developments related to electronic funds and payments, implement research projects, prepare analytical notes, and work on the “potential development of a CBDC.” The Bank has defined a set of requirements that the applicant must meet, among which are an in-depth knowledge of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and …

Canada's central bank, the Bank of Canada, recently put out a report on the risks and benefits of a central bank digital currency. "An anonymous token-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) would pose particular security risks," the Bank of Canada wrote in its Oct. 5 report. "These risks arise from how balances are aggregated and stored, how CBDC is used for transactions, and how various solutions such as e-wallets, crypto exchanges and banks compete to attract users." Over the past year or so, discussions have picked up and various governments have begun digitizing their currencies in the form of a …