By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 4th, 2023
Besides targeting only regulated outfits to acquire, WonderFi will not be making immediate changes to the apps of the platforms it just gained control over.
WonderFi Technologies, a Canadian Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform has announced its plans to acquire Coinberry, one of the six regulated digital assets trading platforms in Canada for the sum of $38.3 million. The deal is awaiting approval from the relevant authorities and is expected to be finalized before the end of the second quarter of this year.
Backed by Shark Tank star, Kevin O’Leary and FTX Derivatives Exchange’s Chief Executive Officer, Sam Bankman-Fried, WonderFi has charted a very ambitious growth curve in recent times with its targeted acquisitions. Back in January, WonderFi completed the acquisition of First Ledger Corp, the parent company of the Bitbuy cryptocurrency exchange for $162 million.
The agreement will add at least 220,000 users to the WonderFi ecosystem, as well as $100 million in tangible assets. The latest Coinberry target will see the exchange’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrei Poliakov, and another independent member become a part of WonderFi’s board.
“This acquisition further establishes WonderFi as a leader amongst crypto companies in Canada, and along with our acquisition of Bitbuy, establishes a great framework for our expansion into the global markets in 2022,” WonderFi CEO Ben Samaroo said in a statement.
O’Leary ascertained that WonderFi’s latest moves are the firm’s efforts to compete on the global stage affirming that there will be “several more and even bigger” acquisitions in the near future.
“WonderFi’s management team continues to execute on accretive acquisitions, and this is an extremely important one,” O’Leary said, “because it shows the speed and vision behind WonderFi’s plan.”
WonderFi DeFi Acquisitions Occurring within the Confines of the Law
It is not unusual for digital asset platforms to hit a brick wall with both local and national regulators, and in a bid to wade off any similar occurrence, the Shark Tank star affirmed that WonderFi’s moves are notably within the confines of the law.
Besides targeting only regulated outfits to acquire, WonderFi will not be making immediate changes to the apps of the platforms it just gained control over. While users of Bitbuy and Coinberry – if the deal pulls through – should expect changes over time, it will not be such that it will go against the provisions of the law.
The approval of the Bitbuy platform in March came with a number of conditions, one of which is to limit the access to the app in provinces where official licensing has not been received. In response to these demands, the Bitbuy exchange is only accessible to users in British Columbia and Alberta as efforts to secure licensing from others are intensified.
The support from Kevin O’Leary is one of a kind. First a Bitcoin (BTC) skeptic, O’Leary has grown to be a major advocate for all things crypto as he now believes investing in digital assets is similar to investing in software giants like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB).