The slow adoption of stablecoins in Canada has some local crypto industry observers concerned that the country is falling behind.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) classified stablecoins as “securities and/or derivatives” in December 2022 after the FTX debacle that shook markets and turned many lawmakers against the crypto industry.
Regulating stablecoins as a security has seen few local stablecoin issuers arise, but in the United States and the European Union, softening regulations have seen significant growth in the stablecoin market. This makes Canada, observers say, less competitive with other jurisdictions.
Of particular concern is the perceived gap in peer-to-peer (P2P) payments in Canada, which stablecoins are uniquely qualified to fill.
Stablecoins globally have grown significantly over the last five years. Source: DefiLlamaLocal law constrains stablecoin growth and threatens dollar
In 2022, as the crypto market reeled from the collapse of FTX and the implosion of the Terra stablecoin system, regulators