Publicly traded Canadian holding firm GoverMedia Plus Canada will acquire U.K.-based crypto exchange EXMO per a recently signed a Letter of Intent (LOI), according to a joint announcement published Nov. 13. The LOI reportedly enables GoverMedia to exclusively negotiate the transaction within the next 180 days. Upon the completion of the transaction, the joined entity will continue to conduct business on the EXMO platform and will be listed on a stock exchange. According to the announcement, the acquisition deal will “comply with all necessary legal and regulatory requirements” after observing due diligence measures. The LOI implies that the final structure …

A subsidiary of Canadian financial institution VersaBank confirmed it had finished beta testing of a “digital vault” for storing cryptocurrency in a press release Nov. 8. VersaVault, which announced its so-called “digital safety deposit box” in February, is aiming to attract crypto exchanges and funds as clients for the new tool. The product provides cryptocurrency storage on servers dotted throughout the world, the deposit box element lying in the fact the bank itself can neither brute force the digital ‘boxes’ nor know their contents. “While many are considering ideas and plans for a digital safety deposit box, we have designed …

Canadian blockchain and cryptocurrency company DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. has energized its new crypto mining facility, according to an announcement published Nov. 8. DMG states that the facility will start at 60 megawatts, and can expand its capacity up to 85 megawatts. DMG Blockchain Solutions initially revealed its plans to launch the station in July, stating that their crypto mining operation will be implemented on an industrial scale with direct support from the local government and electricity providers. The station will purportedly increase DMG’s hosting capability by more than 20 times. Per the recent statement, the 27,000 square foot crypto …

Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Hut 8 has reported record revenue in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, according to the company’s quarterly financial report published Nov. 8. Hut 8, which claims to be “the largest” public crypto mining company by operating capacity and market capitalization, has revealed its financial results for Q3 of this year, stating that its revenue reached a record high $13.5 million for Q3, and $27.7 million for the nine months ending on Sep. 30. Revenue increased by 126 percent compared to the previous quarter revenue of $5.9 million. Hut 8 attributed the increase to its …

Dapper Labs, developer of the world’s most used blockchain app CryptoKitties, has received $15 million in another financing round, global news agency PR Newswire reported on Nov. 1. The new funding will help the Canada-founded Dapper Labs to expand it services on a local and global scale, as well as to address infrastructure issues and to boost mainstream adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to the press release, the company is planning to set up a subsidiary in the U.S. headed by execs from video gaming firms Unity and Disney. Led by Venrock, the official venture capital arm of …

Bitcoin is “anything but” a useful store of value, former U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen stated in a speech Monday, Canadian financial news outlet Kitco reported Oct. 29. Speaking during an interview at the 2018 Canada FinTech Forum in Montreal, Yellen – who rose to fame in the cryptocurrency community last year as the target of the now infamous ‘Buy Bitcoin’ session at a House Financial Services Committee meeting – doubled down on her previous criticism of the asset. “It has long been thought that for something to be a useful currency, it needs to be a stable source …

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has become the latest entity to trial a blockchain shipping solution developed by IBM and Maersk, a press release confirmed Thursday, Oct. 25. TradeLens, which creators unveiled in August this year after a 2017 pilot, aims to simplify logistics processes. The first such border agency to investigate the platform, CBSA will now “determine what role the platform could play in its business processes,” the release explains. “TradeLens could create a singular, trusted digital supply chain for all shipments entering Canada. The TradeLens pilot gives us an opportunity to not only find process efficiencies and …

On October 20, The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) deputy governor, Masayoshi Amamiya, repeated his negative stance towards central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC), claiming that such digital currencies are unlikely to improve the existing monetary systems. The concept of CBDC, or national cryptocurrencies, has attracted many governments across the world. Some of them have already rolled out their virtual currencies, some keep researching their economical impact, while others — like Japan — have decided to dismiss the idea altogether. Here’s what the concept entails, and why major governments choose to implement or deny it. What’s a CBDC? CBDCs, or national digital …

Canada’s largest airline Air Canada has announced its participation on a blockchain-based travel distribution platform developed by Swiss blockchain startup Winding Tree, according to a press release published Oct. 24. Air Canada was established in 1937 and provides scheduled and charter passengers and cargo air transportation. In 2017, Air Canada carried 48.1 million passengers, with an increase by 7.3 percent compared with 2016, per the company’s 2017 annual report. Air Canada has signed a letter of intent to participate in a decentralized open-source travel distribution platform developed by blockchain travel ecosystem Winding Tree. Through the integration of a new blockchain …

A major Canadian commercial bank will use blockchain to simplify the process banks use to issue transactions, a press release confirmed Oct. 21. In partnership with IT and business consulting services firm CGI and blockchain startup Skuchain, the National Bank of Canada (NBC) plans to leverage smart contracts in order to replace current email-based procedures. Its solution consists of a combination of CGI’s Trade360 trade finance platform and Skuchain’s smart contract creation software, based on the latter’s blockchain platform Brackets. Together, it will “improve processing times, reduce risks and help strengthen the bank's customer relationships,” the release claims. “This pilot …

Canada-based blockchain and crypto company DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (DMG) has announced the development of a global supply chain management platform for the legal cannabis industry, according to an announcement published Oct. 17. As reported by Canada’s national public news and information service CBC, the country’s government officially legalized recreational marijuana as of today. Cannabis was previously available only for medicinal use within the country. According to Health Canada, there are currently over 120 licensed cannabis producers in Canada, where one of the top producers has already stated that labor shortages and supply chain issues could lead to scarcity soon …

Canada’s largest digital currency exchange QuadrigaCX is blaming legal action from a major bank for delays when customers cash out funds, the Globe and Mail reported Oct. 8. Vancouver-based crypto exchange QuadrigaCX was launched in 2013 and is known as the first exchange in Canada to be licensed by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). At press time, Quadriga’s daily trading volume is around $600,000 per CoinMarketCap. Quadriga reportedly states that it has been experiencing difficulties accessing $21.6 million of its funds since January when the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze five accounts belonging …