Bitbuy and Coinsquare, two leading crypto exchanges based in Canada, have collectively surpassed 1 billion Canadian dollars (approximately $736 million USD) in assets under management (AUM).
This milestone, announced on December 6 by their parent company WonderFi, marks a significant increase from the 695 million CAD (about $512 million USD) in client cash and digital asset deposits reported in the third quarter.
The announcement highlighted notable growth metrics for the platforms. In November, there was a 16% rise in monthly active users compared to October, alongside a 54% surge in total trading volume.
In July 2023, Bitbuy and Coinsquare underwent a merger with WonderFi, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. This merger, backed by Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful,” expanded the collective user base to 1.6 million Canadians across all subsidiaries.
Regulatory compliance has been a key focus for both exchanges. In November 2021, Bitbuy achieved the status of a fully regulated crypto exchange in Canada, licensed by the Ontario Securities Commission. Similarly, in October 2022, Coinsquare became the first Canadian crypto exchange to receive broker-dealer status from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
For the third quarter of 2023, WonderFi reported a combined revenue of 9.9 million CAD (around $7.3 million USD) and announced that it became cash-flow positive in October.
Canadian regulations now mandate all crypto exchanges operating within the country to either register or sign a legally binding undertaking while awaiting licensing. This has led to prominent offshore exchanges like Binance, ByBit, and OKX ceasing operations in Canada in compliance with the new rules. Additionally, in February, Canadian regulators started requiring crypto exchanges to delist unapproved stablecoins, although USD Coin (USDC) was exempted. Following this directive, exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase delisted Tether (USDT) and other stablecoins for their Canadian users.
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