Toronto Stock Exchange enters the cryptocurrency market.
TMX Group Ltd., which owns the 166 year-old Toronto Stock Exchange, announced on March 22, 2018 that it would launch a cryptocurrency platform and thereby enter the burgeoning market for virtual currencies. According to the TMX press release, Shorcan Brokers Ltd., a subsidiary of TMX, will build this first exchange-owned brokerage platform for cryptocurrency investors, compile data on cryptocurrencies and publish relevant performance benchmarks.
The new cryptocurrency platform will involve Shorcan partnering with Paycase Financial Corp., a Toronto-based cryptocurrency payment company, and one of the major domestic Canadian banks will provide payment and settlement services. The platform is to be named “Shorcan Digital Currency Network” and should be online in the second quarter of 2018.
It is expected that the new cryptocurrency platform will focus initially on the two most heavily traded cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and Ether, with room to expand if clients demand more currencies or services.
In the United States, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange began trading futures contracts and other derivative products tracking cryptocurrencies on their exchanges as of December 2017.
By Ana Badour, Heidi Gordon and Shauvik Shah, McCarthy Tétrault
Occasional Contributors
