The Finance committee of Canada’s lower house wants the cryptocurrency trade to be in compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) regulations.
In its report reviewing the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, the committee, headed by Malpeque MP Wayne Easter, said that cryptocurrency exchanges should be considered money service businesses (MSBs) for activities involving the exchange of cryptocurrencies to fiat.
With exchanges considered as MSBs, “any persons or entities dealing in virtual currencies will need to implement a full AML/ATF compliance program and register with FINTRAC [Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada],” the committee report read.
The desired regulations, according to the committee, would provide authorities with the identity of users of cryptocurrency wallets, upon demand. This will “[e]nsure that bitcoin purchases of real estate and cash cards are properly tracked and subjected to AML regulation,” the report read, adding that “[l]aw enforcement bodies must be able to properly identify and track illegal crypto-wallet hacking and failures to report capital gains.”
The committee noted, based on witness testimony, that “lawyers and real estate agents do not check their clients against sanctions list, and that no list of ML/TF bad actors is readily accessible in Canada apart from that provided by Global Affairs Canada, which is of limited use to the AML regime.” On the other hand, the UK government was said to provide a list for which reporting entities were required to screen clients.
It was also stated that “some witnesses” claimed an estimated 80% of cryptocurrency’s value “could be linked to the proceeds of illegal activities.” This is significantly higher than the findings of blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace, whose report showed that in 2018, as of September 29, 4.7% of total BTC received in countries with weak regulations were from illegal operations.
The Finance committee said that “while the risk of cryptocurrencies being used to launder money is low, it is a very high risk for being used as a payment method for criminal activity.”
The UK’s Treasury committee, in a report released last September, cited the same concerns of cryptocurrencies being used by criminals, while also warning of the volatility in cryptocurrency markets that puts investors’ savings at risk.
Canada has been a favored location for cryptocurrency miners, due to its relatively low-cost energy sources. DMG Blockchain Solutions’ 85-megawatt mining facility just began operations this month in its 34-acre property in British Columbia.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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An Israel-based cryptocurrency mining Company, Bitfarms, is going public. According to a report by the Calcalistech Israeli financial news outlet from earlier this week, Bitfarms has filed a preliminary prospectus with Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in hopes of being able to eventually launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the country.
Bitfarms was previously known as Blockchain Mining and was listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange five days ago. That move came after the company had seen a steady run-up of shares that spanned 13 months and which saw the company’s stock price climb around 6,500%.
According to the company’s CEO, Wes Fulford, Canada has “one of the most active public markets” in the blockchain industry. He added that the company ultimately decided on Canada after determining that it had one of the most “crypto-friendly” legislations in the world.
The mining company has a strong preference for IPOs over initial coin offerings (ICO). It announced this past January that it would introduce American Depository Receipts on NASDAQ and that it was also considering a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange by June. It subsequently backed off the plans slightly, instead beginning to offer ordinary shares on OTCQX, the top level of the ADR program, in July.
The firm was previously nothing more than a shelf company called Natural Resources Holdings. In October of last year, its owners cleared off the dust and launched the mining farm through a merger deal with Canada’s Backbone Hosting Solutions. That merger produced a stock boost and renewed interest in the company.
Known then as Blockchain Mining, the company’s luck continued to increase. At almost the same time, the Israeli Securities Authority began a crackdown on cryptocurrency firms in order to prevent them from being listed on stock markets. However, the firm survived the move and continued to be traded publicly with a lot less competition.
Bitfarm maintains four mining farms in Quebec. It concentrates its efforts on Bitcoin Core (BTC), Bitcoin BCH, Litecoin (LTC), Ether (ETH) and DASH. When it released its first public financial statement this past August, it reported net revenue of $22.3 million for the first six month of the year. Of that amount, $4.9 million was net profit. The company asserted that it had mined 1,923 BTC, 2,222 BCH, 3,324 LTC, 567 ETH and 220 DASH.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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Several weeks ago, Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX claimed that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze a number of accounts connected to the firm, worth C$25.7 million (US$19 million) and US$69,000.
The CIBC claimed that it was unable to determine who legally owned the funds, and asked the court to rule on whether the bank can seize the funds to determine whether they belong to Quadriga, its affected customers, or the firm’s payment processor.
On November 9, Judge Glenn Hainey of the Ontario Superior Court ruled in favor of the bank, noting that the owner of the funds is not clearly established. This means that Quadriga’s disputed funds must be turned over to the Accountant of the Superior Court “to await the outcome of a proceeding in this court, on notice to the Depositors, to determine entitlement to the Disputed Funds.”
On Quadriga’s claim that CIBC “wrongfully froze” their accounts, Hainey said, “I am not in a position on this record to make any determination as to CIBC’s possible liability for doing so. Accordingly, it would be inappropriate for me to extinguish any liability that CIBC may have for freezing the accounts in the absence of an evidentiary record that establishes that CIBC has no liability.”
As reported by Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX has not been able to access its funds since January, after CIBC froze five accounts belonging to the exchange’s payment processor, Costodian Inc., and its sole officer and director Jose Reyes.
According to the CIBC, there is no clear information as to whether the money belongs to the 388 users who deposited the funds, the custodian, or the exchange itself.
CIBC reported that these accounts received $51.8 million between December 4, 2017 and February 20, 2018, from Quadriga users. Some funds were later withdrawn, leaving about $21.6 million in the accounts. This and more factors caused the banks to freeze the accounts to determine who owned the accounts. Upon taking the matter to court, CIBC request that the funds be held until the rightful owner was identified.
While commenting on the matter, Gerald Cotton, CEO QuadrigaCX, told Globe and Mail that the company is considering their next step. He added that they are still waiting to hear from the courts whether CIBC acted appropriately in freezing their accounts.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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DMG Blockchain Solution Inc., a Canadian blockchain and cryptocurrency company, has energized its new cryptocurrency mining facility in Western Canada, an area known for its abundant hydroelectric power.
In a statement, DMG announced that its flagship facility will start with 60 megawatts (MW), although the facility can be expanded to 85MW. The company first revealed its plans to launch the facility in July, noting that its crypto mining operation was going to be implemented on an industrial scale with support from the authorities and power providers.
DMG Blockchain Solution offers many services and products, including Mining as a Service (MaaS), where it manages cryptocurrency mining on behalf of third parties. This new substation is expected to increase DMG’s hosting capability by more than 20 times. At this new facility, DMG can host more than 30,000 units of industry-standard crypto miners.
The company runs its crypto mining facilities as a hybrid. This means that it serves its clients and uses the facilities to mine its own cryptocurrencies. The company claims that this approach helps them to maximize their operations compared to companies that use ‘the pure mining model.’
DMG is considered to be one of the largest crypto mining operations in North America. The 27,000 square foot crypto MaaS occupies 34 acres of land. The facility is currently using clean hydroelectric power. Despite using energy that could power 50,000 houses, officials said it won’t have an impact on the power needed for local consumption.
Canada has become an attractive location for cryptocurrency mining as it provides affordable power to the miners. This has caused an increase in crypto mining activities in the region. In June, major Canadian electricity provider Hydro-Québec proposed new rules to regulate power consumption by companies in the blockchain space. Hydro-Québec seeks to allocate up to 500MW, in addition to 120MW of already existing initiatives. The power supplier claimed it has received requests to purchase power from more than 100 organizations with a total energy consumption exceeding 10TW hours.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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Toronto-listed Hut 8 Mining Corp. reported a cryptocurrency mining profit of CAD8.9 million ($6.7 million), and revenue of CAD17.7 million ($13.4 million) in the third quarter.
The company, which claims to be the largest public cryptocurrency mining company by operational capacity and market capitalization, said in its report that it had a mining profit margin of 51%, with site operating costs amounting to CAD8.7 million ($6.6 million).
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was CAD7.2 million ($5.5 million). It had a net loss of CAD11.4 million ($8.6 million), or CAD0.14 ($0.11) per share. Operations made for 1,978 BTC mined, at a cost of $3,394 per coin, “making Hut 8 among the lowest-cost miners of [BTC] in the world,” it said.
According to Hut 8, the third quarter was the first period impacted by operations at its facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta, which led to the company’s largest revenue for a single quarter. “Efficiency of the ASIC chips used to mine [BTC] is expected to increase during the colder months in Alberta, leading to improved performance in Q4 when compared to Q3,” the miner said. The Medicine Hat facility has 56 BlockBox datacenters operating at a maximum of 67.2 megawatts (MW) and 500 Petahashes per second.
It also has a facility in Drumheller, Alberta, with maximum operating power capacity of 18.7 MW.
Revenue for the first nine months of the year was CAD36.4 million, with mining profit of CAD22.7 million ($17.2 million), a 62% profit margin. Adjusted EBITDA for January to September was CAD18.7 million ($14.2 million).
Hut 8 explained the lower margin for the third quarter as a result of increased competition from other miners, and to a lesser degree, higher power costs.
Hut 8 CEO Andrew Kiguel noted that the heat wave during the summer in Alberta led to increased prices of electricity. “We are actively managing our exposure to market prices through a number of different means. Despite this, Hut 8 achieved record revenue for Q3 and strong overall margins.”
According to the company, since it began mining operations in December of last year, it has mined more than 4,200 BTC.
Hut 8 has an exclusive arrangement with the Bitfury Group, which allows the miner “to construct, optimize and manage data centres in low-cost and attractive jurisdictions.”
Bloomberg recently reported that Bitfury is considering ways to raise funds, including an initial public offering (IPO), which if it takes place in Europe, would be the largest listing in the continent, and would reportedly increase the company’s value to $3 billion-$5 billion in the next couple of years.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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The St. Francis Xavier University, located in Nova Scotia, Canada, has found itself targeted by a cryptocurrency mining malware—also known as cryptojacking—forcing the institution to shut down its entire network.
On Monday, GlobalNews.ca reported that the university shuttered its operation for four days last week while its administration looks for ways to remove the malware. The cryptojacking attack started last November 1 when the malware infiltrated the university’s network, and began mining an unknown cryptocurrency using the educational institution’s processing power. Upon detecting the malware, officials shut down its entire network which has caused things to come to a standstill.
The University released an official statement on November 4, explaining that the attack has not caused any harm to members of the university and no sensitive information had been stolen. The university added that it would restore its network once its IT experts are done fixing the security breach. Some services, however, have been restored, including access to email, Wi-Fi, debit transactions, the school’s online course system, shared storage space and drives on the St. FX network, according to St. Francis Xavier University.
To protect themselves from possible harm, the university asked all members from their facility to change their password.
Miners have resulted in cryptojacking activities to avoid the high cost that comes with cryptocurrency mining. This has caused unsuspecting computer users, both personal and industrial, to suffer this cost on behalf of the miners. Crytojackers use malware to penetrate computers or networks that have high processing powers. The user through ads and extensions installs most of the malware unknowingly.
Once installed the malware helps the cryptojackers to mine currencies using the users processing power and electricity. To mine more coins, some miners have targeted large institutions like the St. Francis Xavier University to access the largely available power. They are also targeting government websites with high traffic to mining their coins.
These cryptojackers are making vast sums of money from their operations. To avoid being detected by the authorities, cryptocjackers are developing new ways to prevent their malware from being notices. Last month, some miners were using fake Adobe flash update which they used as Trojan horses to install crypto mining software into user computers.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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The cryptocurrency community in Canada is lost for words after MapleChange, a small crypto exchange based in Alberta, went offline.
The crypto exchange took to Twitter over the weekend to announce that unknown hackers had withdrawn “all the funds” from the platform. MapleChange claimed a bug was the reason for the alleged hack, and said it has to close down even its social media accounts “because we have no more funds to pay anyone back.”
Due to a bug, some people have managed to withdraw all the funds from our exchange. We are in the process of a thorough investigation for this. We are extremely sorry that it has to come to end like this. Until the investigation is over, we cannot refund anything.
— MapleChange (@MapleChangeEx) October 28, 2018
Several hours after going off the grid, the exchange announced on its Twitter account that it “simply turned off our accounts temporarily to think this solution through.” However, MapleChange said it’s unable to refund all of its users’ funds, but the exchange said it “will be opening wallets to whatever we have left so people can (hopefully) withdraw their funds.”
It is still unclear how many people have been affected by the “hack” and how much the exchange has lost. What’s evident, however, is that the incident has all the signs of an exit scam—especially given its decision to delete all of its social media accounts, albeit temporarily.
An in-depth look at MapleChange also revealed that unlike other professional operations, the platform was registered at GoDaddy by one Flavius P. No other information is available about the company, which bills itself on Twitter as “a high-quality, responsive and swift trading platform based in Canada.”
It’s also worth noting that the alleged hack appeared to have occurred at a time when MapleChange was having a lot of traffic. According to reports, MapleChange was doing quite well in the last couple of weeks. If indeed this was a scam, to say that the people involved have made away with a large sum of money is a huge understatement.
Irrelevant of what the media has spewed out about us, I'd like to bring to light our point of view, should you choose to believe it or not. We have NEVER had 919BTC in our wallet, the picture that displayed so showed the volume abuse caused by the hackers.
— MapleChange (@MapleChangeEx) October 29, 2018
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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With the recent legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, the tracking of the industry through blockchain technology comes at just the right time.
Toronto-listed DMG Blockchain Solutions announced that it was in the process of creating a supply chain management platform specifically for the trade of cannabis, with deployment to be limited to Canada prior to global expansion.
DMG CEO Dan Reitzik said, “We want to be the first to offer an enterprise grade solution in partnership with leading technology providers and cannabis producers, processors and distributors. The first use of blockchain was Bitcoin, but the perfect use is supply chain management for controlled products such as cannabis.”
He said Canada’s push to be the global supplier of cannabis would be aided with the company’s blockchain platform, “by way of product traceability for rapid recalls, ensuring a legal source of product, enhancing product safety, as well as facilitating and automating legal and taxation compliance.”
Among the components of DMG’s supply chain management are the use of smart contracts, and mechanisms for automatic product recall when needed.
Medicinal cannabis has been available to different degrees among the country’s provinces, since 2001. Recreational use was finally implemented this week.
The legal pot industry shares a similarity with the cryptocurrency industry, in that traditional banks have been reluctant to deal with businesses involved with such products. With the placing of transactions on blockchain, growers, transporters, and dispensaries’ actions are better tracked to ensure legitimacy of the trade. This is in part the idea behind IBM’s “from seed to sale” proposal released last year, in response to British Columbia’s request for input on how to best regulate the industry.
Financial services firm Deloitte said that in Canada alone, the legal trade could make for a $23-billion market, with sales of recreational cannabis alone projected at $4.9 billion-$8.7 billion a year.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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The mainstream financial world has been outwardly hostile towards cryptocurrencies for some time. Banks in Canada have exemplified this attitude in recent months, withdrawing essential banking services from cryptocurrency businesses while continuing to ratchet up their anti-crypto rhetoric.
Some analysts say this is in response to the direct threat posed to banks and traditional fiat banking systems by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which offer fast international payments, low transaction fees and absolute security without the need for banks or other centralised institutions.
Now, in the latest example of banks taking exception to promising crypto businesses, press reports have revealed that Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX has been facing a freeze on assets worth as much as $28 million.
According to The Globe and Mail, the firm has been unable to access its account funds since January of this year. With the backing of local courts, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze a number of accounts connected to the firm, on allegations that it was unable to determine who legally owned the funds.
Subsequently, the bank has asked to court to rule on whether the bank can seize the funds to determine whether they belong to Quadriga, its affected customers, or the firm’s payment processor.
In response to the attacks on their assets, Quadriga has responded robustly, accusing the bank of an orchestrated attempt to squeeze their business for its affiliations with the cryptocurrency sector.
According to legal representatives for the exchange, the implication that Quadriga was involved in unsavoury businesses practices is untrue and “highly offensive.”
“This court should not succumb to the bank’s unsubstantiated and highly offensive speculation that there must be shady dealings afoot because Quadriga’s business is a trading platform for individuals trading in cryptocurrencies.”
In an email sent to customers impacted by the freeze, Quadriga said a “Canadian banking cartel” was intentionally making life difficult for them, and other crypto businesses, to encourage adoption in Canada.
This incident is but the latest in a series of similar swipes at the cryptocurrency sector from banks, both in Canada and further afield.
However, with Quadriga rival Coinsquare recently establishing a formal banking relationship with one of the country’s biggest banks, there remains some optimism that this attitude might be beginning to change, in favour of supporting the development of the nascent crypto sector there.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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While most financial institutions shun creating a working relationship with cryptocurrency entities, a few are more open to the idea and realize the role digital currency plays in the evolving financial world. Such is the case with one of Canada’s “Big 5” banks, which recently embraced crypto trading platform Coinsquare. The move is reportedly one of the first examples of a partnership between a bank and a crypto company in Canada.
Coinsquare announced the new partnership in a press release at the end of last week, but didn’t specify which of the five banks was involved. The endeavor will make it easier for Coinsquare’s users to deposit and withdraw funds, as well as serve as a foundation for the company to grow internationally.
Coinsquare CEO Cole Diamond said, “This is a tremendous boost not only for Coinsquare but for the entire Canadian cryptocurrency industry. At Coinsquare, our motto has always been to ‘Do Digital Currency Right’. This announcement is one of many examples of how institutional third party partners put their faith in our approach to the cryptocurrency business. We’re thrilled to start a relationship with a major Canadian bank and we’re excited for what it means for our users.”
One of the actions that helped the exchange secure its financial partnership is its recently completed independent audit. It was the first time since 2014 that the company has been audited by an outside firm and the results were significant in boosting the level of confidence seen by the company. Coinsquare is now one of only a handful of crypto trading platforms in the world to have completed an organization-wide audit by an outside company.
Ken Tsang, Coinsquare’s CFO, added, “Successfully completing an audit and starting a relationship with a top-tier bank helps us push forward on our vision to be the most trusted cryptocurrency platform in the world.”
Coinsquare has continued to grow rapidly this year and has received positive accolades for its platform. In a LinkedIn poll earlier this month, it was recognized as the second most sought after startup, based on data that the site collected from its entire user base. LinkedIn also referred to the company as the fastest growing startup in its ranking.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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