An eighteen-year-old from Montreal is facing four criminal charges connected to a $50 million SIM-swapping scam targeting cryptocurrency holders, Infosecurity Magazine reported on Jan. 17. The hacker, Samy Bensaci, is accused by Canadian authorities of being part of a ring that stole millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from American and Canadian holders. The theft is said to have occurred in spring of 2018, with Québec police representative Hugo Fournier saying that the hackers were responsible for the theft of "$50 million from our neighbors to the south and $300,000 in Canada." Among the purported victims were Don and Alex Tapscott, …

Canadian authorities have issued new guidance to determine which digital currency trading platforms fall under derivatives law. The Canadian Securities Administration (CSA) explained new provisions in the “Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets” published on Jan. 16. In general, the agency drew a line between trading platforms that make an immediate delivery of a crypto assets to its users, and those that hold the transaction of crypto assets until the user makes a later request. To what exchanges do securities laws apply? Following an analysis of trading techniques on different platforms, …

Canadian tech company DMG Blockchain Solutions has installed 1,000 new Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines at its Christina Lake mining-as-a-service facility in British Columbia. Per a Jan. 6 press release, DMG has purchased the new miners from Chinese mining giant Bitmain, with the total power consumption of approximately 1.5 megawatts. Initially announced in December of last year, the newly installed mining equipment will serve a U.S.-based client, whose name was not revealed in the release. DMG operates as an industrial scale crypto mine hosting company, allowing clients to mine crypto through equipment stationed at its facilities in Northwest Canada. DMG’s crypto …

Cryptocurrency investment is among the top five investor threats for 2020, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). The NASAA, the oldest international investor protection organization, has officially announced the top five products or schemes likely to defraud investors in the coming year. In order to provide the report, the authority surveyed state and provincial securities regulators across the United States, Canada and Mexico. NASAA warns against crypto and Ponzi schemes Released on Dec. 23, the report includes the top five schemes that are likely to trap investors in 2020, based on investor complaints, ongoing investigations as well …

Canadian law firm Miller Thomson has made a request to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to conduct an exhumation and post-mortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten, the deceased owner of the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX. On Dec. 13, the Miller Thomson lawyers explained in a letter to the RCMP that the request to exhume and examine Cotten’s body was appropriate given the “questionable circumstances surrounding Mr. Cotten’s death and the significant losses” sustained by users of the cryptocurrency exchange. Victims need clarity on whether Gerald Cotten is in fact deceased The law firm further points to …

Israeli-based fintech and cryptocurrency firm Simplex now supports two new fiat currencies — the Japanese yen (JPY) and the Canadian dollar (CAD). Following the addition, users at some of Simplex’s partner exchanges such as Binance will be able to buy crypto via credit cards using JPY and CAD, industry publication The Block reports Dec. 9. Not all Simplex’s partner exchanges will be supporting JPY and CAD by default Cointelegraph contacted both Simplex and Binance in order to confirm the news. Simplex’s spokesperson confirmed the report, noting that the company’s partners are now able to allow their users to buy crypto …

Canada-based cryptocurrency mining company Great North Data has submitted a bankruptcy filing, purportedly due to insolvency. As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Dec. 4, Great North Data — which operated crypto mining facilities in Labrador City and Happy Valley-Goose Bay — filed bankruptcy documents in late November, listing CA$13.2 million ($10 million) in liabilities, while having only CA$4.6 ($3.5 million) million in assets. Liabilities to the state With that, Great North Data reportedly owes CA$313,718 ($238,080) to the Newfoundland and Labrador government's Business Investment Corporation, which the company secured for building, land, machinery and equipment. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities …

Portag3 Ventures, a Canadian venture capital (VC) firm, has closed a second fund with around $320 million to invest in fintech startup companies globally. On Dec. 3, TechCrunch reported that the VC company received final commitments from institutional and strategic investors totaling $320 million. The funds will allow the company to make early-stage investments in promising fintech startups around the world, with a particular focus on regions like Canada, the United States, Europe and certain markets in the Asia-Pacific region. “Build global champions” Portag3 Ventures CEO Adam Felesky reportedly said that the company is on a mission “to build global …

The Zcash Foundation, the firm behind privacy-centric cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC), has donated $40,000 to a Canadian private messaging developer. The Open Privacy Research Society, a non-profit group working on Cwtch, a decentralized metadata-resistant messenger, has received 1,044 ZEC from Zcash, the organization announced on Dec. 3. As described by Open Privacy, Cwtch is a platform for building decentralized infrastructure based on metadata-resistant communication applications. Derived from a Welsh word meaning “a hug that creates a safe space,” Cwtch is an extension of the metadata-resistant protocol Ricochet to support “asynchronous multi-peer group communications via discardable, untrusted, anonymous infrastructure.” Open Privacy integrates …

Canadian investment fund manager 3iQ hopes to attract Canadian retail investors with its regulated, publicly-traded Bitcoin (BTC) fund. In a press release on Nov. 28, 3iQ announced that it had filed a preliminary prospectus for its close-end Bitcoin fund, which is expected to be available on the Toronto Stock Exchange later this year. 3iQ chief executive Fred Pye told Cointelegraph: “We expect to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange in late December or early January. As a part of our next steps, we’re hoping to get Canada’s big banks on board. We’re hoping that two or three of Canada’s biggest …

Two thieves at a Canadian grocery store swiped $4,000 from a Bitcoin (BTC) ATM but forgot to check the second canister, leaving $50,000 behind. According to a local media report published on Nov. 20, the robbery took place around 4 a.m. on Nov. 19 at the “Simply Delicious Food Market” in Vernon, British Columbia. Police “confident” they’ll catch perpetrators CCTV footage of Bitcoin ATM robbery at “Simply Delicious Food Market” in Vernon. Source: Castanet With police reportedly on the scene just 15 minutes after the store’s security systems were triggered, the two men escaped in time and remain at large …

The cryptocurrency mining operations of mining firm Bitfarms are still expanding despite complaints of the residents of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec. Local news outlet CityNews reported on Nov. 20 that residents living near the site of the firm’s mining operations are complaining about the allegedly intolerable sound and vibrations originating from the facility. The complaints of the population The firm’s executives claim that the noise problems will be solved by a 23-meter wall around its mining farm, but residents are not convinced. Marcel Cyr, a resident living across the river from the facility notes that — while residents are …