“The FinTech industry has done a great job at positioning Canada high up on the global scale,” Gerald Cotten, CEO of Canadian Bitcoin exchange Quadriga.CA, tells CCN.com.

He adds:

We are quite thrilled to see how our country has been embracing this emerging industry and innovation. Lots of great minds that are following through with an execution.

Canada’s Commissioner of Competition, John Pecman, discussed October 6th, 2016 the link between competition and innovation. The Commissioner suggested new disruptive technologies challenge not an only traditional business but, as well, regulatory models.

“Competitive intensity fosters innovation”, said the Commissioner, who noted that competition forces businesses to be better in a general sense through “competitive intensity.” Curious as to the state of the industry in the nation, the Bureau of Competition in Canada embarked upon a Fintech market study in May, interviewing more than 50 industry stakeholders, including more than 20 Fintech start‑ups.

Mr. Cotten cites Vitalik Buterin, Founder of the Ethereum Project, as one prime example of how Canadians are expanding the possibilities of Blockchain technology.

There are numerous Bitcoin startups in Toronto. QuadrigaCX is among Canada’s leading Bitcoin exchanges, but also a multi-sig wallet with enhanced account security features, funding options, and e-Transfer. QuadrigaCX’s core users are located in Canada, though it does accept international users.

“Our focus [today] is to give BTM owner and operators the ability to communicate with our platform via API, providing them with a steady supply of inventory to service their customers,” Mr. Cotten says.

The MARS Discovery District claims $6.8 billion was invested in fintech in 2014. Mostly going to New York and London. But Toronto attracts much investment, also, and is considered the 9th largest fintech city in the world with hundreds of thousands of employees. Why such “competitive intensity” in Toronto’s fintech scene? According to the Globe and Mail, Toronto is home to more financial institutions of a $50 billion market cap or higher.

Vancouver, according to the number of Bitcoin ATMs in the west coast city (21), seems to attract most of the Bitcoin energy spent in the nation. Lawyer Cameron Addison-Huff takes a skeptical approach to the state of, in particular, Bitcoin in Canada.

Images from Shutterstock.