Canada is quickly becoming a very popular country for cryptocurrency activity. Not only is there a growing interest in setting up mining operations there, but the competition among trading platforms is heating up as well. CoinField, one of the local exchanges, has big expansion plans for 2018.
CoinField Goes big in Canada
One has to acknowledge that there is very little information out there regarding cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada. A few years ago, major platforms were competing for the top spot. Since then, there have been some acquisitions and mergers, as well as other companies simply shutting down. This has created a sort of power vacuum which is waiting to be filled.
It seems a lot of Canadian Bitcoin enthusiasts currently rely on OTC trading. The overall weekly volume on LocalBitcoins Canada has spiked in recent weeks, indicating a growing demand for exposure to cryptocurrency volatility. This also means that local exchanges and trading platforms will need to step up their game if they want to remain even remotely competitive.
For CoinField, one of the lesser-known exchanges in Canada, its future direction is pretty clear. It will need to add more currencies in an effort to attract new customers and bolster its overall trading volume. While virtually every exchange around the world offers access to Bitcoin and Ethereum, there’s a lot more to the cryptocurrency ecosystem than just those coins.
As such, it is good to see the company look beyond the more traditional currencies. According to a press release, the firm will add ten additional currencies throughout 2018. Which currencies those may be remains a mystery as of right now. The final list will be made public at some point next month. It will be rather interesting to see which coins the users of this platform want to see added, as they will determine how the company improves its offerings.
CoinField CEO Babak Bob Ras commented as follows:
We are fully aware which coins are the most desirable [for the] Canadian crypto community and our team [is working] around the clock to bring these new coins [to] Canada for the first time. However, in order to stay compliant with the regulations, before we list any additions to our expansive portfolio, we have to analyze and evaluate the coins to make sure the ones we are listing are ‘commodities’ as we do not list any ‘securities’ on our platform.
That seems to indicate most ICO tokens are completely out of the question for the time being. Given the regulatory scrutiny that ICO tokens are facing all over the world, it only makes sense that most trading platforms want to avoid legal repercussions. CoinField also maintains very strict AML and KYC procedures in an effort to become the top exchange in Canada. Only time will tell whether it will be successful in doing so.
