Canadians allocate over $1b in WonderFi’s two crypto exchanges

Coinsquare and Bitbuy have apparently become two dominant crypto platforms in Canada, with over $1 billion in combined client cash and crypto under custody.

In a press release on Dec. 6, 2023 WonderFi said its subsidiaries — Coinsquare and Bitbuy — experienced a combined 16% increase in November 2023 compared to October 2023. The both platforms have also recorded a 54% increase in total trading volume during November, compared to the “average monthly total trading volume in the third quarter,” the report says.

Dean Skurka, President and Chief Executive Officer of WonderFi, says the firm is encouraged by “improving industry conditions” as the total number of clients’ assets under custody increased in November 2023 by more than $300 million compared to Q3, 2023.

In January 2023, crypto.news reported that WonderFi had about 650,000 customers and $258 million in funds under control as of November 2022, while Coinsquare — which was not acquired by that time — reported having about 500,000 users.

A few months later, in April 2023, WonderFi, Coinsquare and CoinSmart announced their merger to create Canada’s largest regulated crypto asset trading platform with over 1.6 million registered users.

Meanwhile, a report from the Ontario Securities Commission indicates that over 75% of respondents regret investing in cryptocurrencies. While the number of Canadians able to provide a basic definition of cryptocurrency has grown from 51% in 2022 to 54% in 2023, only 34% of them now believe cryptocurrency will play a “key role in the future,” compared to 49% in 2022.

However, despite the pessimism, 39% of respondents said their crypto portfolio was profitable compared to the initial investment, which is only slightly lower than in 2022 (46%). And the average value of such a portfolio has risen sharply from $52,975 in 2022 to $82,998 in 2023.