Consensus Toronto 2025 Coverage, CT2025, Opinion Canadian voters, who go to the polls April 28, have proven that they need their authorities to behave on crypto, says Dean Skurka, CEO & President of WonderFi. The query is whether or not politicians will comply with the U.S. and Europe in making a extra beneficial atmosphere for blockchain growth. 

With Canada’s federal election lower than one week away, Canadians are intently watching how political leaders intend to handle digital belongings. Millions of Canadians maintain, use, or work in crypto, making it a rising point of interest for financial progress and innovation. This politically prominent and growing community is shaping conversations about the way forward for finance, with voters signaling cautious openness, to not ban or ignore crypto, however to responsibly combine it into Canada’s monetary system with clear protections, accountability, and forward-looking coverage.

Dean Skurka is a speaker at Consensus 2025, in Toronto May 15, showing with Kevin O’Leary on Mainstage.

Canada’s management in digital belongings isn’t theoretical. It has developed by means of first-of-its-kind milestones, homegrown innovation, and significant regulatory developments, together with:

• Canada put in the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in Toronto in 2013;
• Ethereum, co-founded by Canadian Vitalik Buterin, started in Canada in 2015;
• Vancouver’s Dapper Labs launched groundbreaking NFT platforms like NBA Top Shot, which launched in 2020;
• The Ontario Securities Commission and Canadian Securities Administration launched a novel regulatory framework for crypto buying and selling platforms in 2021; and
• Regulatory initiatives equivalent to Alberta’s fintech sandbox and blockchain innovation hubs actively help trade progress, which launched round 2022.

Voter Momentum and Public Sentiment

The pro-crypto voter base is giant, numerous, knowledgeable, and engaged. According to a survey bu Nanos Research for the Canadian Web3 Council:

• Younger Canadians and people with direct funding expertise are inclined to view crypto favourably, indicating a generational and experiential shift in sentiment.
• 60% of Canadians surveyed help the federal authorities working with trade consultants to develop cryptocurrency laws and defend public curiosity. Only about one in 5 surveyed had been opposed.
• 48% of Canadians say the federal government ought to implement a technique for a “more accessible, inclusive, and effective financial ecosystem” that features digital belongings.

This engaged voter base, the bulk being underneath 50, represents a major political drive. The election and subsequent administration supply policymakers an opportunity to help voters’ eagerness for readability round Canada’s digital future.

In 2022, the (pro-crypto) Conservative chief Pierre Poilievre made headlines for advocating monetary freedom by means of Bitcoin and decentralized finance, calling for much less management from politicians and bankers and extra energy within the fingers of people. He stated he wished to make Canada “the blockchain capital of the world,” permitting individuals to “opt out” of inflation by utilizing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Read extra: Nik De – Previewing the Canadian Election’s Crypto Angle

By distinction, former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, representing the Liberal Party, whereas supportive of digital innovation, stays skeptical of the concept that cryptocurrencies like stablecoins will essentially reshape the financial system. He has argued that central financial institution digital currencies (CBDCs) could be a safer, extra secure basis for digital cash.

“Stablecoins are ultimately only an appendage to the conventional monetary system and not a game changer. CBDCs would reduce the risks of digital money and form the foundation of a more stable, programmable financial future,” he wrote in 2021.

Meanwhile, NDP chief Jagmeet Singh has openly criticized crypto’s volatility, citing the monetary losses suffered by Canadians who purchased into digital belongings as a hedge in opposition to inflation.

“We have a leader of the opposition who thinks he can magically opt out of inflation by buying cryptocurrency, which ended up tanking and hurting people,” he stated in 2022.

The profitable candidate from this upcoming election has an opportunity to translate these different views into coherent platform frameworks and improve Canada’s place as a forward-thinking and tech-driven economic system.

Global Signals: Local Opportunity

The European Union has carried out the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, providing clear crypto laws.

The U.S. is enjoying catchup following the election of Donald Trump final November. The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has superior the “Stable Act of 2025,” a major step towards establishing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. And bipartisan efforts just like the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act suggest to exempt small crypto transactions underneath $200 from capital beneficial properties taxes. Congressional leaders at the moment are engaged on a complete “market structure” invoice for crypto and regulators are open-minded about working with firms to adapt present legal guidelines to fashionable wants.

Canada is well-positioned to do the identical. With the fitting insurance policies, we will proceed to draw main expertise, preserve homegrown firms right here, and strengthen our world voice in Web3.

The alternative is ours.

Why Policy Clarity Matters

Clarity on digital asset coverage will have an effect on how Canadians save, make investments, and transact; whether or not new jobs and industries are constructed right here or overseas; and whether or not our nation will lead or comply with in a quickly rising digital sector.

Digital belongings supply tangible advantages like quicker, cheaper remittances for newcomers supporting households abroad, extra accessible monetary instruments for underserved communities, and diversified funding alternate options in occasions of financial uncertainty. Beyond private finance, blockchain know-how has actual potential to modernize Canada’s monetary infrastructure, improve anti-fraud efforts, and enhance transparency in sectors like provide chain administration and authorities providers.

The Canadian Web3 Council has referred to as for integrating blockchain into Canada’s broader innovation technique, urging federal help for expertise growth, funding, and the creation of a nationwide blockchain technique. They advocate for clear frameworks round decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoin regulation, and for Canada to take a management function in world digital asset coverage conversations.

The Role of Industry & Community

The accountability of highlighting crypto’s significance largely falls on the trade itself. Initiatives like Stand with Crypto Canada (a nationwide advocacy marketing campaign supported by WonderFi and 9 different main firms) are actively educating voters and policymakers in regards to the financial advantages of clear crypto regulation.

Similarly, Blockchain North’s Voices for Canadian Crypto campaign, that includes distinguished thought leaders, helps unify trade voices, emphasizing the necessity for proactive coverage conversations with leaders.

We have expertise. We have the infrastructure. And we’ve momentum.

Now, we’d like leaders who see crypto not as a passing pattern, however as a strong alternative to gas Canada’s economic system and empower a brand new era of builders, traders, and innovators.

The digital economic system is right here. The solely query is: will Canada lead?

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