Canadian Crypto Exchange Coinsquare BuyCoin squares BlockEQ Wallet for $9 Million

Coinsquare, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada, has acquired BlockEQ, Stellar’s non-custodial crypto wallet, in a bid to expand its offerings beyond just digital asset trading, the company announced in a press release on December 6, 2018.

“Coinbase of Canada” Acquires BlockEQ

While many still speculate about how long the bearish market will last, some companies in the crypto industries have decided to take proactive steps to beat the unfavorable crypto climate.

Coinsquare, one of the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges that have come out of Canada, has acquired BlockEQ, a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to store XLM and other tokens that run on the Stellar network.

According to the company’s press release, the acquisition was closed for CAD 12 million, or around USD 9 million, allowing the company to start working on projects that will boost connectivity between exchange users and their digital assets.

The Toronto-based company currently ranks as the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country that offers trading pairs in Canadian Dollars. Coinsquare also reports around $7 million in daily trading volume, making it the 73rd largest exchange in the world.

The acquisition marks the first time Coinsquare has bought out a smaller company in the blockchain space and could be a precedent to more acquisitions in the future. However, the Coinsquare noted that this would not impact the day-to-day operations at BlockEQ, as the company will retain its autonomy and freedom to work on its core products, operating as a subsidiary of Coinsquare.

BlockEQ the First Step of Coinsquare’s Expansion Plan

The acquisition of BlockEQ helped Coinsquare establish a strong foundation in the Stellar ecosystem, which the company plans on leveraging to “provide new products and services using the Stellar Network.”

Speaking on the news, Cole Diamond, CEO of Coinsquare, said:

“They are one of Canada’s best tech teams, and the product they’ve built is immensely valuable. That combination in partnership with Coinsquare’s technology and team means that we have the opportunity to build amazing things for the cryptocurrency community in Canada and far beyond.”

Satraj Bambra, CEO of BlockEQ, said that the company is excited to be working under the Coinsquare umbrella. Bambra explained that Coinsquare was the company that initially inspired them to enter the cryptocurrency space and that the partnership seemed like a natural step forward for the young company. The two will be working towards launching a considerable number of crypto assets together, most notably the upcoming Coinsquare Stable Coin.

And while this marks a huge step for BlockEQ, this is just the last in a line of projects Coinsquare has undertaken in its bid to become a global crypto exchange. According to Finance Magnates, the company plans to spread its operation into the European Union by the end of the year.

Back in July 2018, Coinsquare announced that it would be partnering with blockchain investment bank DLTa 21 to open a new cryptocurrency exchange in Japan.