Canada’s Quiet Blockchain Revolution: A Tech Legacy Forged in the North

Canada might not be the first country that comes to mind when you think of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Yet, from community meetups in Toronto pubs to world-leading enterprise deployments, Canadians have played a pivotal role in shaping blockchain’s global story. In a narrative that spans grassroots ingenuity, academic support, and entrepreneurial daring, Canada has quietly built a legacy of innovation.

Grassroots Beginnings in the Toronto Crypto Scene

In the early 2010s, long before “Web3” was a buzzword, Canada’s largest city fostered a small but passionate crypto community. One famous gathering took place in November 2012 at a downtown Toronto pub, where local Bitcoin enthusiasts met to swap ideas over pints. The meetup was organized by Anthony Di Iorio – a Toronto entrepreneur who had sold his rental properties to bet on Bitcoin’s future. Among the handful of attendees was a shy University of Waterloo freshman with a keen interest in cryptocurrency: Vitalik Buterin. At the time, Buterin was already co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine and eager to learn from the fledgling community. These humble meetups – often held at Decentral, Di Iorio’s newly founded co-working hub – became the cradle of Canada’s crypto culture. Di Iorio’s Decentral space in downtown Toronto hosted Bitcoin Expos, hackathons and “blockchain parties”, over 100 community-driven events by 2014 alone. The ethos was collaborative and curious; developers, libertarians, and finance geeks huddled together to experiment with this strange new tech called blockchain. In this grassroots cauldron, big ideas were brewing.

By late 2013, one big idea in particular was about to make waves. Vitalik Buterin, the quiet teenager who had cut his teeth at Toronto Bitcoin meetups, circulated a whitepaper for a platform he envisioned as “Bitcoin, but for everything.” That project, initially discussed among friends at Decentral and refined on a backpacking trip, would become Ethereum. Di Iorio immediately recognized its potential. After Vitalik showed him the Ethereum proposal, Di Iorio offered to help fund and build a team around it. In January 2014, he gathered fellow enthusiasts to hear the 19-year-old Buterin present Ethereum’s vision of a “world computer” blockchain that could run smart contracts. The excitement was palpable. Within weeks, a small band of believers – including Di Iorio, Buterin, and Joseph Lubin – coalesced to launch the project, largely out of Toronto apartments and coffee shops. As Lubin later recounted, by early 2014 he had met Buterin and Di Iorio and formally joined the nascent Ethereum effort in its Toronto base. What started as a meetup brainstorm was rapidly becoming a full-fledged movement.

Made-in-Canada Blockchain Breakthroughs: Ethereum, CryptoKitties and More

No blockchain has had a bigger impact than Ethereum, and it traces its roots directly to this Canadian crypto scene. Vitalik Buterin – a Russian-born Canadian who moved to Toronto as a child – published the Ethereum whitepaper at just 19 years old. With support from local collaborators like Di Iorio and Lubin, Ethereum was publicly announced in early 2014 and went on to crowdraise millions. By 2015, Buterin and his co-founders (which included other Canadians) launched the Ethereum blockchain, introducing the world to a platform for decentralized applications. It’s hard to overstate the significance: Ethereum unleashed innovations like smart contracts, decentralized finance, and NFTs, fueling an entire ecosystem that today rivals Bitcoin in influence. And it all germinated in Canadian soil – a testament to how Toronto’s grassroots tech community helped spark a world-changing protocol.

Launched in late 2017 by a Vancouver startup, CryptoKitties was one of the earliest blockchain games and helped introduce non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the world. The game, created by Canadian studio Axiom Zen (later spun off as Dapper Labs), allows players to buy, breed, and trade unique digital cats on Ethereum. In December 2017, CryptoKitties became so popular that it famously congested the entire Ethereum network with kitty trading traffic. This whimsical project – essentially collectible cartoon cats stored as NFTs – demonstrated blockchain’s potential beyond finance and put Canada on the map in the emerging NFT craze. A CryptoKitty even sold for over $100,000 at the peak of the frenzy. Dapper Labs, the Vancouver team behind it, capitalized on the momentum to raise venture funding and build out Flow, a new blockchain custom-built for high-volume games and digital collectibles. They later partnered with the NBA to launch NBA Top Shot, bringing blockchain to basketball fans. In a very real sense, the global explosion of NFT art and gaming can be traced back to this Canadian innovation.

Ethereum and CryptoKitties are the headliners, but they’re not the only blockchain breakthroughs with Canadian DNA. Decentral, the Toronto hub, was itself responsible for several firsts – including launching Canada’s first two-way Bitcoin ATM and developing the popular Jaxx crypto wallet. The world’s first Bitcoin ATM actually appeared in Vancouver in 2013, converting cash to Bitcoin in a coffee shop and foreshadowing the hands-on experimentation that Canadians embraced. Another example is ERC-721, the Ethereum token standard that underpins NFTs, which was co-authored by engineer Dieter Shirley while working at Axiom Zen in Vancouver (inspired by CryptoKitties’ needs). From early days, Canadian projects combined technical creativity with a sense of fun and community service – a pattern that would continue as blockchain technology matured.

Homegrown Visionaries: Buterin, Lubin, Di Iorio and More

Behind these innovations are individuals whose influence on the blockchain sector has been profound. Many of the field’s most important figures have Canadian roots, starting of course with Vitalik Buterin. Buterin’s family settled in Toronto when he was six, and he grew up to be a math prodigy who fell in love with Bitcoin’s concept as a teenager. He co-founded Bitcoin Magazine at 17, then conceived Ethereum soon after. His Canadian upbringing and education (briefly at the University of Waterloo before he left to focus on Ethereum) provided the backdrop for his revolutionary idea. Today, Buterin is globally renowned as Ethereum’s creator and a thought leader – arguably the most influential mind in crypto – but he has often credited Toronto’s crypto community for nurturing his talents in Ethereum’s early days.

Buterin wasn’t alone. Joseph Lubin, born and raised in Toronto, became one of Ethereum’s key early contributors and financiers. An engineering graduate from Princeton, Lubin had returned to Toronto and by January 2014 had met with Di Iorio and Buterin to discuss this new platform. He was convinced. Lubin not only invested in Ethereum’s development but also helped establish the Ethereum Foundation, initially setting up a nonprofit entity in Toronto to support the project. After Ethereum launched, Lubin founded ConsenSys, a Brooklyn-based blockchain software studio that grew to employ hundreds (including many Canadians) and built vital Ethereum infrastructure. Through ConsenSys, Lubin has arguably done more than anyone to commercialize Ethereum’s technology for real-world business, all while proudly carrying his Canadian identity – he often speaks of Toronto’s role in Ethereum’s genesis.

And then there’s Anthony Di Iorio, the entrepreneurial spark plug who arguably lit the fuse. Di Iorio was an early Bitcoin evangelist who organized Toronto’s first crypto meetups and co-founded the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada to promote the technology. When Vitalik Buterin drafted the Ethereum whitepaper, Di Iorio immediately provided seed funding and assembled the project’s initial team in 2013. He even housed early Ethereum developers in his rental apartments. In many ways, Di Iorio was the bridge between the idealistic coder (Buterin) and the business world – he later served as Ethereum’s first unofficial project manager and helped coordinate its crowdsale. After Ethereum, he returned to focus on Decentral and his wallet startup Jaxx. While perhaps less famous globally than Buterin or Lubin, Anthony Di Iorio’s role as a community builder and backer was crucial to Canada’s blockchain story.

Beyond the “Big Three” of Ethereum, other Canadians have left their mark. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder of Binance (the world’s largest crypto exchange), spent his teenage years in Vancouver after emigrating from China – he even famously worked at a McDonald’s there to save money to buy Bitcoin. Dmitry Buterin (Vitalik’s father), though Russian-born, settled in Canada and was an active early crypto mentor. Ethan Buchman, co-founder of the Cosmos network, hails from Toronto. And Roham Gharegozlou, the CEO of Dapper Labs (CryptoKitties’ parent), is a University of British Columbia alumnus. This pattern is striking: Canadians or Canada-trained talent are at the forefront of numerous top blockchain projects around the globe. Part of it is timing and luck, but it also reflects Canada’s strong education system and open culture of innovation. As Joseph Lubin once noted, Canada punches above its weight in blockchain talent, and many of these innovators keep one foot in their home country even as they conquer the world stage.

Institutions and Academia: Building a Blockchain Ecosystem

Canada’s blockchain success isn’t only about renegades and startups – established institutions have also played a supportive role. Notably, in 2017 tech author Don Tapscott and his son Alex (both Canadian) founded the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) in Toronto. The BRI is a global think-tank that convenes business leaders, policymakers and academics to study blockchain strategies and use-cases. With over 70 research projects spanning financial services, supply chains, healthcare and more, the BRI has helped put rigour and credibility behind blockchain technology. It’s no coincidence that the BRI was born in Canada – Don Tapscott had co-authored the bestseller Blockchain Revolution, and he saw an opportunity for Canada to lead in thought leadership. Based in Toronto, the BRI brought together public and private sector partners (even the Bank of Canada is a founding member) to ensure Canada remained at the cutting edge of blockchain research.

Major Canadian universities also jumped in early. The University of British Columbia (UBC) established one of the world’s first interdisciplinary academic programs for blockchain. In 2019, UBC launched Canada’s first graduate blockchain training path for Master’s and PhD students, aiming to develop talent and tackle real-world blockchain applications. This program – supported by corporate partners and research grants – trains students in areas like health, clean energy, and regulatory technology, recognizing that blockchain expertise spans far more than computer science. “The initiative will allow students to develop skills around emerging technologies that are in high demand,” said Dr. Victoria Lemieux, a UBC professor and founder of the Blockchain@UBC research cluster. By officially integrating blockchain into its curriculum, UBC set an example that others followed.

In Central Canada, York University’s BlockchainHub and other Ontario colleges took a more entrepreneurial approach. York’s Lassonde School of Engineering established The Blockchain Hub, an innovation centre offering courses, workshops and even a certification program for Ethereum developers, all with the goal of bridging education and commercialization. Meanwhile, George Brown College in Toronto became the first Canadian institution to offer a dedicated Blockchain Development certificate program. Focused on hands-on skills like smart contract coding and blockchain architecture, the one-year program was developed in partnership with industry players (such as ConsenSys and local startup ChainSafe) to ensure relevance. Graduates would be equipped to fill the growing demand for blockchain developers – exactly the kind of talent pipeline Canada needed to retain its early lead. From the Ivy-covered halls of the University of Waterloo (where cryptography research abounds) to the polytechnic institutes training the next generation of coders, Canada’s academic sector has embraced blockchain across the board. This institutional support system gave legitimacy to the field and helped more traditional industries start paying attention.

Enterprise Trailblazers: Blockchain in Business, Canadian-Style

Often overlooked in the hype of cryptocurrencies are the quieter success stories of blockchain being applied to solve real business problems. And here too, Canada has been an innovator. A prime example is Walmart Canada’s blockchain-based freight and payment network, an ambitious project that many in the industry point to as a model use-case. Faced with a logistics nightmare – reconciling invoices from over 70 third-party trucking companies – Walmart’s Canadian division turned to blockchain to streamline the process. Together with Toronto tech firm DLT Labs, Walmart Canada built a system where every shipment’s data is tracked on a shared ledger, and invoices are generated automatically with agreed-upon data in real time. Launched in 2019, this solution virtually eliminated costly invoice disputes and slashed payment times. In effect, Walmart Canada quietly rolled out one of the world’s largest industrial blockchain applications in daily operation, proving that the technology can bring tangible efficiencies in supply chain management.

Another groundbreaking pilot took place in the halls of healthcare. The University Health Network (UHN) – a major Toronto hospital network – collaborated with IBM and others on a blockchain platform to give patients more control over their medical data. In Canada’s single-payer health system, patient records are siloed across various providers, making it hard for individuals to access or share their information. UHN’s project aimed to leverage blockchain for managing patient consent: allowing patients to securely grant and revoke access to their health records to different providers through a tamper-proof ledger. “It’s difficult for patients to have a unified view of all of their data across different organizations,” noted UHN executive director David Wiljer, underscoring the need for a new approach. Using a blockchain, UHN could enable a patient-controlled health record that spans multiple clinics and hospitals, with every access request logged transparently. The pilot – one of the first of its kind in the world – demonstrated how blockchain might improve data sharing in a privacy-sensitive, regulated domain like healthcare.

Canadian enterprises and institutions have explored blockchain in many other arenas as well. In fintech, Canada’s major banks were among the earliest to experiment with distributed ledgers for interbank payments (more on Project Jasper shortly). In 2016, the TMX Group (owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange) participated in trials for using blockchain to clear and settle securities trades. The Canadian Securities Exchange even announced plans to launch a clearing platform for tokenized securities. In government services, SecureKey’s Verified.Me – a digital identity network backed by Canadian banks and the federal government – uses a blockchain-inspired infrastructure to let citizens verify their identity across institutions securely. And in the energy sector, companies have piloted blockchain for tracking renewable energy credits and managing the grid. While not all these projects made it past the prototype stage, they underscore a pattern: Canadian companies have often been willing to be first movers in testing blockchain’s practical value.

What’s notable is how collaborative many of these initiatives have been. The Canadian approach often involves coalitions of stakeholders – businesses, regulators, tech providers, and academia – working together on limited pilots to learn by doing. For example, the Walmart Canada freight project involved close coordination with trucking firms to ensure the solution fit their workflows. The UHN health data pilot brought together a hospital, a provincial e-health agency, a technology giant (IBM), and the Blockchain Research Institute to pool expertise. This spirit of partnership and pragmatism – versus the more “move fast and break things” startup ethos of Silicon Valley – has been a hallmark of Canada’s enterprise blockchain efforts. It may be less flashy, but it has yielded some of the more mature deployments in the blockchain space to date.

Public Sector Pioneers: From Project Jasper to Policy Challenges

Even Canada’s government and regulators got an early start with blockchain. Back in 2016, the Bank of Canada (Canada’s central bank) and national payment system operator Payments Canada teamed up with fintech partners on Project Jasper, one of the world’s first central bank-led DLT experiments. This was a bold move – it marked the first time a major central bank participated directly in a blockchain trial alongside private banks. The goal was to reimagine the wholesale payments system (the backbone that settles large transactions between banks) using a shared distributed ledger. Over multiple phases, Project Jasper built prototypes on different platforms (first Ethereum, then R3’s Corda) to settle interbank payments and even tokenized securities. By 2017, a Jasper report found that while a DLT-based system might not yet beat the existing systems for core payments efficiency, it could open doors for integration of assets and cross-border transactions in the future. Jasper Phase III successfully demonstrated equity settlement on blockchain in collaboration with TMX Group, and Phase IV paired up with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Ubin to test cross-border CBDC transfers. In short, Canada’s central bank was hands-on with blockchain long before most peers, earning international recognition (a Central Banking “Pioneer Award” in 2018) for its proactive research. While these were just experiments, they signaled that Canada’s financial authorities were keen to understand the tech’s implications.

On the regulatory front, Canada initially adopted a cautious but not hostile stance in the early crypto years. The Bank of Canada and federal government did not move to ban or heavily restrict cryptocurrencies; in fact, as of 2018 Canada still did not legally classify cryptocurrencies as “money”, meaning some crypto activities fell outside traditional currency regulations. This light-touch approach (relative to countries like China) made Canada somewhat attractive for crypto startups and, notably, crypto miners (who we’ll discuss soon). Canadian securities regulators were among the first to publish guidance on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and to allow Bitcoin-based financial products. Famously, Canada became the first country to approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange in early 2021. This was a milestone globally and suggested Canada’s openness to integrating crypto into mainstream finance under the right conditions.

However, as the blockchain sector matured, Canada’s regulatory environment began to show fractures that some say have contributed to the country losing its edge in commercialization. Unlike smaller jurisdictions with a single regulator, Canada’s oversight of digital assets is fragmented across multiple agencies – including federal bodies like FINTRAC (for anti-money laundering) and provincial securities regulators like the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). These agencies often worked in parallel with overlapping mandates. The result was a “patchwork” of rules and guidance that companies found increasingly confusing to navigate. For instance, when the OSC cracked down on unregistered crypto exchanges in 2021, some major platforms (Binance, Bybit, etc.) pulled out of the Ontario market entirely, while others like Kraken complied by geofencing certain services. What was once seen as a crypto-friendly environment started to feel uncertain and restrictive to entrepreneurs. Startups struggled to reconcile differing provincial rules, and delays in policy-making led to prolonged uncertainty that deterred investment.

Warnings bells were ringing. Industry advocates pointed out that Canada was at risk of a “brain drain” in blockchain – losing talent and companies to jurisdictions with clearer, more supportive frameworks. Other countries (from the EU to Singapore) were moving faster to establish comprehensive crypto regulations or sandboxes, whereas Canada’s approach was often reactive and case-by-case. The federal government had launched some consultations on digital currencies, but there was no overarching national strategy for crypto innovation. In the meantime, Canadian crypto startups often found it easier to raise money and grow in the U.S. or abroad, where larger markets and venture capital were available. Ironically, even the Canadian-founded Ethereum project ended up being largely developed out of Switzerland (where the Ethereum Foundation moved) and the U.S. (where ConsenSys is based), in part due to more favorable regulatory and funding climates there. As one analysis put it, Canada’s early start gave it a lead, but that momentum has slowed, and without action the country could be left behind in the next phase of the blockchain economy.

To be fair, Canadian regulators have legitimate concerns: protecting consumers from scams, preventing money laundering, and managing systemic risks. And they haven’t shied away from enforcement – for example, after the notorious collapse of the QuadrigaCX exchange (a Canadian platform) in 2019, there was a push to apply stricter oversight to crypto trading platforms to avoid a repeat of that fiasco. In recent years, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) introduced rules requiring crypto exchanges to register and to restrict offerings like margin trading or certain crypto assets (such as stablecoins deemed securities). Banks, too, have been conservative – many Canadian crypto businesses long complained of difficulty obtaining basic banking services, as domestic banks were wary of the industry. These cautious policies arguably limited some of the excesses seen elsewhere during the 2021 crypto bubble, but they may also have curtailed some legitimate innovation. It’s a classic Canadian balancing act: prudent regulation versus fostering cutting-edge industry. As we’ll see next, one area where Canada’s lenient stance did encourage growth – crypto mining – has now raised its own set of questions.

Bitcoin Mining: Cold Climate, Hotspot for Hashpower

One of the most tangible ways Canada left its mark on the blockchain world is by becoming a powerhouse of Bitcoin mining. The country’s vast land, cool climate, and abundant cheap energy (particularly hydroelectric power) made it a magnet for mining operations, especially after 2017 when Bitcoin’s price and mining demand surged. By 2018, provincial utilities like Hydro-Québec were inundated with requests from cryptocurrency miners – Quebec alone received applications for about 9,000 megawatts (9 GW) of power, equal to nearly a quarter of the province’s total generating capacity. The interest was so high that Quebec temporarily had to raise electricity rates for new crypto miners and later implemented a quota system to manage the load. The attraction was clear: Quebec offered some of North America’s lowest electricity prices (around 5 cents per kWh for industrial users), a cool environment reducing cooling costs, and at the time, relatively permissive regulations. In essence, Canada checked all the boxes for profitable mining – it’s no wonder mining farms sprouted from the old factories of Quebec to the plains of Alberta.

Canada’s cold climate and affordable power made it an attractive hub for crypto mining operations. One of the early leaders was Hut 8 Mining, a Toronto-headquartered company aptly named after Alan Turing’s codebreaking Hut 8. In 2018, Hut 8 opened a massive mining site in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, securing a 10-year deal for 42 MW of power from the local natural gas plant. Rows of shipping-container-sized “Blockbox” data centers were deployed on a 10-acre plot, each filled with hundreds of whirring mining rigs competing to solve Bitcoin’s cryptographic puzzles. At launch, Hut 8’s Alberta facilities (Medicine Hat and a second in Drumheller) made it Canada’s largest bitcoin miner, and among the biggest globally. The company rapidly expanded capacity and in subsequent years went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, marketing itself as proof of Canada’s prowess in digital asset infrastructure. Hut 8’s success also underscored the symbiosis at play – the company benefited from Alberta’s energy surplus and business-friendly climate, while the city of Medicine Hat welcomed the jobs and revenue from an innovative new industry.

Hut 8 was far from alone. In Quebec, homegrown startup Bitfarms established multiple mining farms tapping into the province’s hydro dams. Vancouver-based HIVE Blockchain (formerly Hive) similarly launched mining operations in Quebec and Europe, emphasizing use of green energy. Meanwhile, international players set up shop in Canada too: after China banned crypto mining in 2021, some displaced miners relocated their equipment to Alberta, Manitoba, and British Columbia. At its peak, Canada was estimated to account for a significant share of global Bitcoin mining – often ranked in the top 5 countries by hash rate (though exact figures fluctuate). The community even saw mining as a strategic opportunity for Canada to leverage its energy resources in a new way.

However, the rapid growth of mining did spark debate and some pushback. Critics pointed out that large crypto mines, while providing some local economic benefits, don’t create many jobs once built and can strain electrical grids. In late 2022, concerns over energy usage led Hydro-Québec to announce a temporary moratorium on new mining projects, citing the need to prioritize power for other uses. Similarly, in 2023 the province of New Brunswick quietly issued a moratorium on new crypto mine connections after a spike in proposals, and even considered a permanent ban. British Columbia’s BC Hydro did the same, pausing new crypto mining requests to preserve electricity for its clean economy goals. These actions reflect a realization: while Canada’s environment enabled mining to flourish, the sustainability and opportunity cost of dedicating so much energy to Proof-of-Work computation is controversial. Nonetheless, many mining firms in Canada have begun pivoting to use more renewable energy and even repurposing their facilities for high-performance computing tasks (like AI) during off-peak times, to demonstrate flexibility and social license.

In summary, the mining chapter of Canada’s blockchain story is a tale of comparative advantage – cheap, green power and cold air – fueling a new digital gold rush. Companies like Hut 8 became emblematic of this, showcasing how Canadian innovation isn’t just in software ideas but also in real-world infrastructure for the blockchain era. As Hut 8’s head of investor relations put it, “without Medicine Hat, we wouldn’t have been able to build these operations to the point we could grow internationally”. Canada gave many mining entrepreneurs their start. Going forward, the country faces the task of balancing this success with its broader climate and economic priorities, a challenge being grappled with by policymakers in Quebec and beyond.

Challenges and the Road Ahead: Can Canada Retain Its Blockchain Edge?

Canada’s blockchain journey so far is a study in contrasts. It’s the birthplace of world-changing ideas – Ethereum’s decentralized platform, the NFT movement via CryptoKitties, one of the first central bank digital currency experiments, and more. Its cities nurtured visionaries and builders who went on to make global impact. And its institutions and companies pioneered practical blockchain uses in finance, supply chains, and healthcare, often before anyone else. In many ways, Canada achieved what one might call “innovation per capita” in blockchain that is off the charts. This is a legacy Canadians can be proud of: a quiet blockchain revolution that punched above its weight.

Yet, there is an undercurrent of introspection (and some frustration) among Canada’s blockchain community today. Despite the early head start, Canada has sometimes struggled to fully commercialize and retain the benefits of its homegrown innovations. Vitalik Buterin and many Ethereum alumni moved overseas to launch their ventures. Dapper Labs, while still with offices in Vancouver, raised much of its capital from Silicon Valley and expanded globally. Several promising Canadian crypto startups have reincorporated elsewhere to seek larger markets or clearer regulations. The talent pipeline that universities created often finds its way to companies in the US, Europe or Asia, where compensation and opportunity can be greater. In short, Canada has, at times, been the inventive lab where ideas are born – only to see others scale them into big businesses abroad.

Fragmented and uncertain regulation is frequently cited as one reason. As discussed, the lack of a unified national framework has been a deterrent to some investors and entrepreneurs. Canada’s once-leading position had eroded due to “a maze of conflicting rules and unclear expectations” for digital assets. Another issue is the relative scarcity of domestic venture capital for scaling blockchain companies; Canada’s startup ecosystem is healthy but smaller, and many crypto ventures have had to court foreign investment (which sometimes pulls them out of Canada). There’s also the matter of mindset – Canadian business culture has historically been prudent and banking-dominated, which can make it challenging for disruptive fintech upstarts to gain local adoption. For instance, Canadian banks, while researching blockchain, were slow to partner with or bank crypto firms, pushing a lot of the action to less regulated corners or abroad.

The Canadian government is waking up to these challenges. Calls grew louder for a more coordinated strategy to keep Canada competitive in blockchain and Web3. Proponents argue for measures like clearer guidance on crypto taxation, reasonable compliance pathways for exchanges and startups, and even incentives to keep talent from leaving – such as tax credits for tech entrepreneurs or fast-tracked visas to bring in global blockchain experts.

Ultimately, Canada’s blockchain story is still being written. The country’s early contributions have left an indelible mark: the world runs on ideas and technology that were, in no small part, made in Canada. The community that formed in Toronto over a decade ago helped unleash a decentralized revolution that continues to unfold. Today, new Canadian startups are exploring frontiers from decentralized identity to carbon credit tracking on blockchain, building on the foundation laid by their predecessors. If Canada can harmonize its regulations, nurture its startups, and leverage its unique strengths (such as abundant clean energy and a highly educated workforce), it stands every chance to remain a significant player in the blockchain realm.