In an interview with Reuters on June 9th, 2022, Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada talked about the problems of the growing demand for Cryptocurrency assets in Canada. One of her concerns is that a lot of people investing in products like Bitcoin may not necessarily understand the risk and little regulation of their crypto investments.
Crypto assets are permeating into the finance system
In the extensive conversation with Reuters, Rogers noted that the crypto space is still quite small compared to the predicted future; ‘but it is growing rapidly and it is largely unregulated. She strongly suggests that delay is dangerous, and regulatory controls should be put in place as soon as possible.
As it stands, assets pertaining to cryptocurrencies are slowly making their way into inclusion in the financial system of Canada, and Rogers believes that it only increases the risk of shocks and might bring an unpleasant effect to the entire financial system.
According to her; ‘these are somewhat like banking assets, somewhat like capital markets. One of the challenges is to figure out how they fit in the current regime, and if they don’t fit, how do we adjust the regime so that they will fit’.
An overview of the Cryptocurrency market in Canada
Just this week, the Bank of Canada reported a boom in the global value of crypto assets and Canada’s share of it. The market peaked at a whopping $3 trillion, from $200 billion in 2020 and the Canadians who now own about 13% share of bitcoin in 2021, own just 5% in the prior year.
From estimates by researchers, 3.2% of Canada’s entire population are holders of at least one cryptocurrency. That’s a figure of about 1.2 million people. Millennials are the leading asset owners when it comes to crypto as they constitute 31.68% of the entire crypto holders in Canada.
The latest edition of Canada’s domestic survey on Bitcoin ownership revealed a growth from the ages of 35 and up by 1.7%. Crypto exchanges are also legally recognized in Canada.
