The cryptocurrency exchange WonderFi, backed by cryptocurrency investor and billionaire Kevin O’Leary, has confirmed that it is in preliminary talks with Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Coinsquare about a possible merger.
In a January 12 statement, WonderFi responded to a Bloomberg report suggesting that the two exchanges were in “advanced merger talks.” to “create a Canadian cryptocurrency giant.”
WonderFi clarified that the talks were “preliminary” at this stage, adding that it cannot guarantee a deal will be reached.
“In response to speculation in the press, the company acknowledges that it has held preliminary discussions with various third parties regarding both potential acquisitions and the acquired company, which is consistent with past practice and with the company’s overall acquisition strategy. company.”
“These discussions are preliminary in nature and are ongoing, and there can be no assurance that an agreement or agreements will be reached.or that the terms of a transaction are agreed upon or that a transaction is completed,” he said.
WonderFi is based in Vancouver, Canada and Coinsquare in Toronto.
According to a Bloomberg report on January 12, Although Coinsquare does not disclose its managed assets, it has an estimated 500,000 users on its platform.
A possible merger of both companies could give rise to a combined entity with 1.15 million users, which would make it the largest exchange in Canada.
WonderFi is one of the few publicly traded exchanges in Canada and has seen its share price rise nearly 30% in the last 24 hours following merger speculation.
The news of the possible merger of the two exchanges comes just days after Coinsquare ended an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of a subsidiary of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSmart.a deal CoinSmart announced on Sept. 22 that would have received $3 million in cash and more than $26 million in Coinsquare shares as payment.
WonderFi also had a busy year of acquisitions in 2022: acquired the parent company of Canadian crypto exchange Bitbuy for $162 million and crypto exchange Coinberry for $38 million.
In an interview at the time, O’Leary had mentioned that there would be “several more and even larger acquisitions” on the way.
Recentlyon September 1, acquired North American blockchain development company Blockchain Foundry, which has just launched a non-fungible technology (NFT) minting platform and marketplace, as well as a Web3 learning platform.
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