The region of Calgary, Canada is doing all it can to attract cryptocurrency businesses.
Calgary Tries to Rebrand Itself as a Crypto Haven
Crypto is often known as the “Wild West” of the financial world, and to be fair, regions like Canada – given its history with Quadriga CX and similar ventures – doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to digital currency ventures. Thus, it looks like the country is trying to reshape its reputation and bring its ever-growing digital asset industry in order.
Calgary officials have stated that they are looking to make the area a major hub for crypto fans in North America. They feel that crypto brings heavy innovation to the table and that it’s the technology of the future. Jobs Minister Dough Schweitzer commented in a recent interview that the region of Calgary is gaining quite a bit of interest amongst crypto companies, and that while the industry is still quite young, he sees it going very far.
He stated:
It’s still very much in its infancy in Alberta, but I think there’s an opportunity for Alberta to play a leadership role in Canada by creating a home for these venture companies.
The area is already home to a wide array of digital currency mining businesses given its vast open spaces and cheap electricity prices. In addition, Calgary has seen a wide array of custody and storage businesses designed for crypto users begin to pop up. Emile Scheffel – vice-president of Brane Inc. – said that Calgary was the best place for the company, which is now looking to establish a whole new crypto division called Brane Trust.
Scheffel commented in a statement:
I would say Alberta is close to unique, from what we’ve seen, in terms of how focused they are on attracting innovative financial technology companies. When we first reached out to regulators in Alberta about our ambitions, they were knowledgeable about cryptocurrency, already. They had the necessary expertise to be able to do this.
One of the company’s main services will be the custody of bitcoin, Ethereum, and other leading cryptocurrencies for institutional clients like asset managers and banks.
Too Much Regulation?
Brian Mosoff – CEO of Ether Capital in Toronto – recently helped launch the country’s first bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2021 with the help of Purpose Investments. He says that right now, the biggest challenge to crypto growth in Canada is the amount of regulation that flows throughout the country. He says there are too many rules, and this ultimately puts a damper on crypto companies’ abilities to expand. He says:
Are they commodities? Are they securities? We don’t even have an exchange that can compete on an international level. It’s about creating a culture and environment for all those groups of people who are inspired by (cryptocurrency) to migrate into that jurisdiction.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/calgary-canada-wants-to-be-a-major-crypto-hub/