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Digital Currency Regulation a ‘Key Focus’ for OSC in 2018-2019April 3, 2018 – In a recent publication, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) released its 2018-2019 Draft Statement of Priorities. The report identifies digital currencies as a “key focus” for the year ahead. According to Maureen Jenson, Chair and CEO of the OSC, the commission will “advance measures to better protect investors, and initiate projects to lighten the regulatory load for businesses.” “The OSC will continue to foster new ways to raise capital and invest, while focusing on potential investor protection issues arising from cryptocurrency and blockchain-related developments,” the OSC stated. “Additionally, the OSC will pursue initiatives to address regulatory burden for public companies and investment funds.” With the OSC now looking to foster innovation in the Cryptoasset space and protect investors from bad actors, other regulatory bodies may follow suit. Read the full article here. |
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Canada’s Hyperblock to Buy Crypto-mining Firm for $106 million CADApril 4, 2018 – Toronto-based firm HyperBlock has announced the acquisition of crypto mining company CryptoGlobal in a $106 million CAD deal. The merger is set to take place in May 2018, and will give Hyperblock absolute control over CryptoGlobal’s operations and assets, including thousands of mining rigs across Canada. Some market participants say the deal is one of the largest acquisitions to have occurred in the cryptoasset space. Commenting on the deal, Hyperblock‘s CEO Sean Walsh said “Combining HyperBlock’s large-scale mining-as-a-service model with CryptoGlobal’s existing mining, custodial storage, and crypto trading businesses creates a strong foundation for both organic growth and growth through acquisition”. Read the full article here. |
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Japanese Exchange Coincheck Acquired by Monex GroupApril 5, 2018 – Japanese financial services provider Monex group has announced it will acquire the cryptoasset exchange Coincheck Inc. The share acquisition is set to take place April 16th at a reported value of $33.5 million USD. Monex Group plans to make Coincheck a wholly owned subsidiary from the consolidated financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. Coincheck founders Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka will step down from their respective posts as CEO and Director of Coincheck, and will stay on as operating officers. Following the announcement, shares in Monex Group surged to a near 10 year high, demonstrating shareholder optimism in the acquisition. Read the full article here. |
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TD Bank May Use Blockchain for Asset TrackingApril 2, 2018 – In a recent patent application release, TD Bank highlights a public distributed ledger that would help point-of-sale computers record their transactions. The patent indicates that these point-of-sale computers would create blocks of data, which would contain information about the assets being sold, such as their current value in different currencies. TD Bank had originally filed this patent in September 2016, but it is unknown if TD has pursued this technology since. The application states that “one advantage of blockchain based ledgers is the public nature of the blockchain architecture that allows anyone in the public to review the content of the ledger and verify ownership. The decentralized blockchain approach also makes the system fairly robust in comparison to centralized server systems by allowing multiple distributed networks to verify the contents of a single ledger. This allows for redundancy and minimizes risk of falsification of ledgers”. Read the full article here. |
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Cryptocurrency Takeaways From the Argentina G20 SummitApril 1, 2018 – Cryptocurrency regulations were a hot-topic discussed in the 2018 G20 Summit in Argentina. As cryptocurrencies progress towards being a standardized method of payment, investors should be aware of the key takeaways from the multilateral group. In July, it is expected that the first proposals for crypto regulations will be presented, but there are some other developments to take note of as well. Some participants at the G20 Summit are arguing that cryptocurrencies could assist governments in broadening welfare policies. Other participants discussed the importance of taxation, crime prevention, and digital identity standards. Read the full list of takeaways here. |
