Bitcoin trash-talker “Mr. Wonderul” has invested in the Canadian crypto Exchange Bitbuy through his startup, WonderFi.  Covered: Mr. Wonderful’s WonderFi Investment Trashing Bitcoin for DeFi What This Means for WonderFi Mr. Wonderful’s WonderFi Investment Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank business magnate turned crypto bull has taken another major step into digital assets by snapping up […] The post BREAKING: Kevin O’Leary’s WonderFi Buys Largest Canadian Crypto Exchange appeared first on CryptosRus.

BREAKING: Kevin O’Leary’s WonderFi Buys Largest Canadian Crypto Exchange

Bitcoin trash-talker “Mr. Wonderul” has invested in the Canadian crypto Exchange Bitbuy through his startup, WonderFi. 

Covered:

  • Mr. Wonderful’s WonderFi Investment
  • Trashing Bitcoin for DeFi
  • What This Means for WonderFi

Mr. Wonderful’s WonderFi Investment

Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank business magnate turned crypto bull has taken another major step into digital assets by snapping up the large Canadian crypto-exchange, Bitbuy. Kevin O’Leary and his WonderFi tech startup have purchased a large Canadian crypto exchange Bitbuy for around $206 million, according to Yahoo Finance.

The deal is between O’Leary’s WonderFi Technologies and First Ledger Corp. The platform will “create a unified platform” to buy crypto, but notably includes a plan to give users access to DeFi. This is likely to bolster O’Leary’s WonderFi platform, which is sort of a centralized way to access DeFi.

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried is actually a strategic advisor for WonderFi, which launched in 2021. O’Leary spoke on the announcement saying: “This is a combination of two management teams with excellent execution skills that now have the bandwidth, assets, and licenses to provide an institutional-grade compliant crypto platform.”

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credit: bitbuy

Trashing Bitcoin for DeFi

In a wild about-face, O’Leary went from calling Bitcoin trash to saying last month that 10% of his entire holdings are crypto assets. This led to O’Leary attempting to get involved with DeFi through a regulated approach, which is WonderFi.

He went as far as to say that “DeFi will force financial middlemen to find new jobs – maybe shining shoes.” This approach to DeFi, through a FinTech, Silicon Valley lens is a unique one. Many critics argue that WonderFi will simply become the new middleman.

O’Leary also has an interesting take that banks will “will wait for others to develop the technology” before “snapping up DeFi companies in a “massive consolidation.” This type of concept of DeFi implies O’Leary is betting on centralization taking hold. If banks “snap up” DeFi “companies”, then DeFi won’t exist at all.

Nevertheless, O’Leary’s bullishness on crypto is clear with the purchase of BitBuy. It is in fact the largest exchange in Canada, founded in 2016. It became an officially sanctioned crypto broker in November of 2021.

What This Means for WonderFi

WonderFi will now have access to “375,000 Canadian clients, with more than $4.4 billion transacted through the platform.” According to WonderFi’s CEO, having a licensed marketplace is a “crucial gateway” to digital assets, stating that WonderFi seeks to “facilitate a robust end-to-end, unified client experience.”

WonderFi (WONDF) technologies trades on the NEO stock exchange in Canada and is trading up nearly 6% on the news. This purchase is an indication that billionaires like O’Leary are becoming more and more bullish on crypto.

All that said, the trend towards institutional adoption is happening at a rapid pace.

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The post BREAKING: Kevin O’Leary’s WonderFi Buys Largest Canadian Crypto Exchange appeared first on CryptosRus.