Coinsquare is often referred to as Canada’s Coinbase. While it is not the largest Canadian exchange by daily trading volume (coming in a close second to LakeBTC), Coinsquare has some of the boldest ambitions in the Canadian cryptocurrency market. In recent months the company helped co-launch a cryptocurrency ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange—an achievement that many U.S. exchanges have yet to attain.
Recently, Coinsquare acquired BlockEQ, a feature-rich wallet built on the Stellar blockchain. The BlockEQ team has maintained close social and business connections with Coinsquare since the wallet’s inception, making the acquisition a natural fit. Coinsquare has not released a complete list of the features customers can expect following the CAD 12 million acquisition, but based on BlockEQ’s capabilities, users can look forward to meaningful enhancements.
What Can Coinsquare Do With BlockEQ and Stellar?
Stellar Lumens (XLM) Value Decrease
At its core, BlockEQ is a Stellar wallet that provides the basic functions you would expect: secure storage, sending, and receiving of Stellar Lumens (XLM). But BlockEQ offers more than simple custody of a single token.
Stellar operates not only as a currency platform but also as a decentralized digital asset exchange. Any asset issued on the Stellar network can be added to BlockEQ, enabling users to trade those assets directly with one another in a peer-to-peer, decentralized environment. This on-chain exchange functionality is one of Stellar’s distinguishing features.
That decentralized trading environment is particularly interesting for a centralized exchange like Coinsquare. Observers of the Stellar ecosystem are optimistic that BlockEQ’s acquisition by a company with experience in traditional securities markets—highlighted by the Toronto Stock Exchange ETF—could help bridge assets on Stellar with more conventional markets. This move potentially brings Stellar Lumens (XLM) and Stellar-issued assets a step closer to broader, regulated trading venues.
Earlier this year, Coinsquare announced intentions to pursue a public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, targeting a CAD 150 million valuation. The sharp downturn in cryptocurrency markets beginning in January 2018, however, stalled those plans and market conditions have yet to restore confidence to the level required for an immediate IPO.
Even if a public listing is not imminent, Coinsquare’s strategy and investments indicate where some of the company’s long-term objectives lie. For supporters of Stellar—whether they value its fast, low-cost cross-border payments or its decentralized digital asset marketplace—this acquisition represents progress toward real-world adoption and greater integration between blockchain-native assets and traditional financial infrastructure.
Only time will tell whether Coinsquare’s integration of BlockEQ will mark a meaningful milestone for Stellar or simply a short-term development. Regardless, it’s encouraging to see continued adoption and development around Stellar, even in periods when market prices are low.
Featured image source: Flickr