Kevin O’Leary-Backed Startup to Acquire Second Canadian Crypto Exchange: Report

WonderFi Technologies – a Vancouver-based tech company that provides access to financial services through DeFi – reportedly plans to purchase the crypto exchange Coinberry for around $30 million. If executed, the initiative will put two out of six registered digital asset trading venues in Canada under the same roof since WonderFi also owns Bitbuy.

WonderFi Pushes Further

Earlier this year, WonderFi – financially backed by crypto bull Kevin O’Leary – bought the Toronto-based crypto exchange Bitbuy Technologies Inc. for approximately $163 million in cash and shares.

According to a recent coverage, the organization wants double down on its endeavors by acquiring Coinberry for nearly $30 million. If greenlighted by regulators and shareholders, the deal will grant WonderFi a total of 160 employees and 750,000 customers.

Experts believe the latest acquisition is a step toward nationwide consolidation for the digital asset sector since Bitbuy and Coinberry are two of the six local exchanges with licenses to operate on Canadian soil.

O’Leary – a popular TV personality and one of the strategic investors at WonderFi – said there are “several more and even bigger” acquisitions on the horizon for the company:

“We’re definitely setting ourselves up to go toe to toe on the global stage. But remember, we’re doing it on a regulated basis, unlike those other players. We are 100 percent operating under the order, and we’re not taking any risks on that.”

Coinberry was founded in 2017. Last year it gained approval from the Canadian watchdogs to offer crypto services and generated over $13 million in revenue. The company’s CEO – Andrei Poliakov – commented on the possible collaboration with WonderFi:

“We have a shared belief with WonderFi that seamless integration and unified access to digital assets is the future and where we want to be positioned.”

Ben Samaroo – CEO of WonderFi – raised hopes that the regulatory process around the acquisition of Coinberry will be smoother than the previous one with Bitbuy.

“Crypto in Canada is so fragmented, where you’ve got all these different platforms, but when you look at that in comparison to some of the global players, they’re really irrelevant. What we’re trying to do is build one singular Canadian player,” he concluded.

O’Leary’s Crypto Vision

Ever since he announced his entrance into bitcoin’s ecosystem, Mr. Wonderful (as his nickname is) has become a keen advocate of the industry. Earlier this year, he argued that investing in the primary digital asset is like investing in giant corporations such as Microsoft or Yahoo.

Last week, he reiterated his viewpoint predicting that BTC will never go to zero as it has emerged as a store of value, just like gold.

Apart from the leading cryptocurrency, O’Leary is also a supporter of some altcoins, as he holds Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX).