Toronto-based FinTech firm Wealthsimple has launched 14 new tokens and cryptocurrencies that are now available to buy and sell on the company’s crypto trading platform.
Wealthsimple Crypto previously allowed users to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum commission-free. This week, the company added peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies and tokens of DeFi protocols. Some of the new coins include Dogecoin, Litecoin, Chainlink, and Uniswap.
Wealthsimple first announced plans to expand into crypto trading in July 2020, and officially launched its crypto offering two months later.
“Last year, Wealthsimple launched its Wealthsimple Crypto platform. It was the first and only regulated crypto exchange in Canada,” the company wrote in a blog post. “The idea was simple: you should be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum, with the same confidence … you buy and sell stocks on Wealthsimple Trade. Crypto has grown by leaps and bounds since then. And now we’ve decided to grow what Wealthsimple Crypto can do, too.”
The company said some of the newly-launched coins have been highly requested by the platform’s users. Dogecoin, one of the new coins, saw a significant uptick in popularity this year, driven, in part, by tech billionaire Elon Musk. In May, Musk’s space exploration firm SpaceX announced a rideshare mission to the Moon that is expected to be completely funded by Dogecoin.
Litecoin, Uniswap, and Chainlink are also among the most popular cryptocurrencies to trade. Chainlink and Uniswap are both built on the Ethereum blockchain, whereas Litecoin is a native asset that once coexisted on the same blockchain as Bitcoin.
Wealthsimple first announced plans to expand into crypto trading in July 2020, and officially launched its crypto offering two months later. In August, the company received conditional approval from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) through its Sandbox program to test the platform for a period of two years.
Wealthsimple Crypto is regulated by 13 provinces and the federal government. The crypto trading platform was the first to be regulated in Canada, as well as the only crypto asset platform to be authorized by the CSA to operate in Canada at the time. All of the platform’s assets are locked in cold storage with Gemini, Wealthsimple’s partner custodian.
“We are very excited that Canadians can now buy and sell 14 new coins on Wealthsimple Crypto, including Uniswap, Aave, Chainlink, Dogecoin, and other top DeFi tokens,” Danish Ajmeri, head of Crypto at Wealthsimple told BetaKit.
“Crypto has gained a lot of momentum in Canada over the past few years,” added Ajmeri. “As the only regulated platform in Canada, we want to be that simple, safe and secure platform that hundreds of thousands of Canadian investors who are interested in crypto can rely on.”
In May, Wealthsimple raised a $750 million round of funding at a post-money valuation of $5 billion CAD. Since then, Wealthsimple has been expanding other areas of its business.
Last month, the company launched its Shariah-compliant exchange-traded fund on the NEO Exchange, which was created to offer investors access to a diversified index of Shariah-compliant stocks.
In its blog post, Wealthsimple said it plans to launch new features for Wealthsimple Crypto in the next few months and is looking to soon add more coins that meet its standards.
Image source Wealthsimple.