Crypto Canada: From ETFs to ICOs, Visiting the Country of Wolverine and Vitalik

Even if you ignore that Wolverine - the toughest of all the X-Men - is Canadian, you should revise this worn-out cliché, considering how this realm of the Commonwealth seems to march to a faster pace than the United States in the race for cryptocurrency adoption.

The pioneer First Block Capital, is working on new vehicles, announced under the names of FBC Active Blockchain Opportunities ETF and FBC Cryptocurrency Index Fund.If an ETF could be considered the holy grail in terms of legitimizing digital assets within the regulated financial system - and therefore news about them is often more eye-catching - then Canada has demonstrated that it has many other crypto-arrows in its quiver.

A crypto-aware country Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been part of the Canadian landscape for many years.

Since 2017, Toronto, the capital of Ontario, has also been the headquarters of the Blockchain Research Institute, but even some very well-established Canadian institutions - such as the Bank of Canada or the Competition Bureau Canada - have demonstrated a strong degree of interest and acceptance for the potential of the blockchain and of digital currencies.

The Canadian tax system too, even if not very forgiving, has been fully aware of cryptocurrencies since 2013, when the Canada Revenue Agency established its basic rules on the topic: If digital assets are held and traded as a capital asset, the possible profit is taxed as a capital gain.

The country is extraordinarily well-endowed in term of hydro-power generation capability, and Canada - especially regions such as Quebec - enjoys the lowest electricity rates in North America.

Cheap electricity drove Bitmain to Quebec and is what literally fuels the competition between the Chinese mining giant and its local rival Hut 8.Therefore, it's not surprising that research published by the Bank of Canada in July 2018 indicated that Canadian citizens' level of awareness in regard to cryptocurrencies rose from 77 percent in 2016 to 93 percent in 2017.

Playing safe in the sandbox The Canadian approach to ICOs is indicated by elements such as a lightly regulated general framework, incentives for startups and innovation, and decentralization and coordination on the part of different authorities working at the federal and provincial levels.

The last point is probably the key element in terms of shaping the features of the Canadian perspective toward regulation: Canada is a federation of 10 provinces and three territories, and the Canadian Securities Administration defines itself merely as "An umbrella organization of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators whose objective is to improve, coordinate and harmonize regulation." This brings a plurality of slightly different regulatory frameworks.

The following shift from FOMO to FUD and some witch-hunt style statements against ICOs and cryptos, showed that, maybe, Canada has some lessons to teach us all.