Crypto Community in Canada Not Satisfied with its Current State

By Kapil Gauhar

Capital market regulators of Canada have plans to establish a new set of rules for addressing the risks involved with digital currency trading platforms. This gauge followed after the unanticipated death of a CEO and founder of cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga, Gerald Cotton.

Ultimately, cryptocurrency assets worth one hundred and forty-five million dollars (145,000,000) are now either frozen or missing.

On March 14th, a joint consultation paper was published whereby the Canadian Investment Industry Regulatory Organization and the Securities Administration discussed the need for legislation which addressed novel features and risks surrounding crypto exchanges.

Cotton passed away on December 9th, 2018, in India before having the opportunity to reveal the keys to one hundred and ninety million Canadian dollars (CAD 190,000,000) worth of cold wallets. Upon a request by Quadriga, the firm was awarded with the creditor protection from 115,000 of their users. This incident has disclosed a gap in regulations as well as legislation surrounding the crypto industry in Canada while bringing up questions about accountability in case of a loss.

In spite of the fact that many legal experts are not sure about the jurisdiction of securities regulators over the assets mentioned above, calls for regulation by industrialist as well as stakeholders have enhanced by many folds amid the last couple of months. These incidents usually come when virtual asset technology has successfully captured the attention of the regulators, investors and the government all over the world.

The value of cryptocurrencies had reached to eight hundred billion dollars ($8bln) as of early 2018, and in spite of a decline in their value due to the market instability, the interest in this tech is growing by leaps and bounds.