WonderFi Completes $30m Acquisition of Canadian Crypto Platform Coinberry
Crypto marketplace WonderFi has completed the $30 million acquisition of Canadian crypto trading platform Coinberry. The acquisition was closed after being admitted to trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange last week.
Following the admission, the company’s shares rose over 9% on the opening day.
According to WonderFi, the deal was approved by Competition Bureau Canada, Ontario Securities Commission and other provincial regulatory boards.
WonderFi also said that future plans to purchase other crypto companies are possible since the crypto sector’s instability continues.
CEO Ben Samaroo said he thinks other nonregulated crypto trading platforms might have similar issues as Voyager Digital as it has had to limit withdrawals following the exposure to troubled hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. In relation to that issue, WonderFi has begun looking at potential deals for nonregulated exchanges both in Canada and globally.
“As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, the crypto market downturn has had a massive impact on the viability of unregulated crypto trading platforms and WonderFi’s value proposition as one of the few regulated crypto businesses makes us well-positioned to continue our growth,” Samaroo said in a statement Monday ahead of the market open.
“This acquisition further solidifies WonderFi as a leader amongst crypto companies in Canada, and along with our acquisition of Bitbuy, establishes a great foundation for our expansion into global markets,” he added.
The acquisition also led to a 20% staff layoff at both WonderFi and Bitbuy – a crypto trading platform acquired by WonderFi in January. The company stated that the cut in jobs was executed to streamline and deliver shared services across compliance, customer service, product engineering and executive functions.
Image source: Shutterstock