Calgary, Canada Refuses to Give Up on Crypto

2022 was a bad year for crypto. Bitcoin and many leading forms of digital currency have crashed, but that doesn’t mean all the crypto companies out there are turning their backs on their respective industries. Several companies in Calgary, Canada – like Bitvo Inc. – still believe crypto has a fighting chance, and they’re refusing to give up on this growing financial arena.

Calgary Has Tried Hard to Incorporate Crypto

Bitvo is a unique firm in that FTX – the now failed crypto exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried – was all set to acquire the Calgary-based trading platform in June. Given that FTX has completely crashed and burned, Bitvo has said the entire deal will not go through, now. It has also said it had no direct links to FTX, nor is it part of the company’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Pamela Draper – president and CEO of Bitvo – said in a statement:

There’s no impact on Bitvo’s operations, or the security of our customers’ funds, as a result of the FTX failure.

Calgary – which is situated in Alberta, Canada – has long tried to position itself as an industry leader. This is ultimately why the government of the region was so willing to work with FTX at one point. Sam Bankman-Fried and many other employees and staff members of the fallen exchange spent time talking to the regulators of Calgary to see how they could build up the exchange’s presence in the area.

In an interview not too long ago, Bankman-Fried said:

We’ve had some fantastic conversations with the government of Alberta, which has been really constructive, and [we’re] trying to take the lead in Canada and around the world for crypto policy and frameworks.

The fall of FTX has certainly led to some ripple effects, and several companies in Canada have felt the heat. Hut 8 – one of the oldest and largest miners in the country – has been hit by the effects of FTX, though it doesn’t feel that the latest bear market is anything to greatly worry about.

Sue Ellis – head of investor relations at Hut 8 – mentioned:

This is not our first bear market. In the last bull market of 2021, we were one of the only guys who were actually setting ourselves up and setting up our balance sheet so that we could weather any sort of storm.

Some Important Factors Are Being Ignored

Koleya Karringten – executive director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium – says that while much of the news surrounding crypto has been negative as of late, there are some hardcore developments that have happened that the media is choosing to ignore. She said:

[The industry is] developing technology that’s capable of being exported internationally and supporting everything from remittance payments to better transparency and a more secure supply chain for everything from pharmaceuticals to our energy industry to agriculture.

Tags: bitcoin, Calgary, canada