Coinbase wants to become an ‘Everything Exchange’ for Canadians, new CEO says

Eric Richmond, country director and CEO of Coinbase Canada, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the company's strategy in Canada.

Coinbase says it’s looking beyond cryptocurrency trading as it works to build a platform where Canadians can have all their financial assets in one place.

The priority is to bring what the company calls the “Everything Exchange” to the Canadian market, Eric Richmond, country director and CEO of Coinbase Canada told BNN Bloomberg.

The crypto currency exchange platform initially launched the initiative in the U.S. to allow users to trade crypto, U.S. stocks, ETFs, derivatives, and prediction markets from a single interface.

“If you think about our current financial sector and system today, it really is due for an upgrade. And Coinbase believes we have a new technology here that can really help with that, and that’s blockchain and the technology that underpins crypto today,” says Richmond.

While the company has not released a hard launch date for the Canadian market, Richmond notes they are actively working toward it by collaborating closely with Canadian regulators.

“I think chapter one of Coinbase in Canada was really about being a crypto exchange,” he says.

“But now phase two of that is the Everything Exchange. How do we create that one place for Canadians to have their entire financial experience in one app that’s underpinned by this technology that makes things frictionless, seamless, and 24/7?”

Tokenized stocks are another priority

Coinbase says it plans on releasing tokenized stocks for its non U.S. customers this month. It says the tokenized stocks bring real stock ownership to the blockchain, which includes dividend payout and shareholder rights.

“I think this is something that’s really unique and novel and exciting,” says Richmond.

He says the company envisions products that could provide the same shareholder and voting rights and “basically looks and acts and feels like traditional equity.”

“It provides access to more individuals to certain types of stocks. It enhances collateral management, and so there’s a lot of positives there,” he says.

Tokenization would not necessarily require publicly traded companies to issue their own blockchain-based shares, says Richmond.

“It can come through a dealer or a broker rather than being tokenized through the issuer itself wanting to put its own stock on the blockchain,” says Richmond.

“There are companies that want to be involved in that as well,” he says.

Canadian stablecoin approval could unlock new products

Coinbase primarily supports the U.S stablecoin, USD Coin, that maintains a 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar.

The platform does not currently list a major Canadian dollar stablecoin because no Canadian token has met the strict listing standards required by Canadian regulators for the platform.

Like the U.S. stablecoin, the Canadian digital token would be designed to maintain a fixed value relative to the Canadian dollar.

• The first regulated Canadian digital dollar is here, and ready to compete with the U.S. market

“That’s what the Stablecoin Act is really about: to ensure that we regulate stablecoins as payments, not as investments here in the country, so people can be comfortable and feel confident when they’re interacting in a Canadian dollar stablecoin,” says Richmond.

“It makes it easy for someone to send funds from here to another jurisdiction. It makes things seamless. It’s cheap. It instantly settles,” says Richmond.

He points to a rapid growth in transaction activity, saying there was US$1.8 trillion in stablecoin volume in June, up 125 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

He also says it’s “tough for regulars to keep up with a lot of the innovation that’s happening” but is optimistic seeing the government’s progress on stablecoin legislation.

Competition for Canadian investors

Coinbase’s expansion would place the company in closer competition with conventional brokerages, such as Robinhood.

Richmond says there is room for multiple companies as Canadians seek alternatives to financial services.

“Rising tide lifts all boats,” says Richmond.

“I think people are starting to realize the fact that banks close at 4 p.m., or the markets close at 4 p.m., or that wires can take days to settle, or that access for high-net-worth individuals to certain products are gated for just those high-net-worth individuals.”

Over the next year, Richmond said he wants Coinbase to give Canadians a platform where they have more product choice.