Canada’s WonderFi to Buy Coinberry Crypto Exchange for $31M

After completing the purchase of Bitbuy, Canada crypto platform WonderFi intends to buy crypto trading exchange Coinberry for $30.6 million as the Kevin O’Leary-backed company continues to consolidate its presence in Canada, WonderFi said Monday.

 

The Vancouver-based WonderFi recently closed its $162 million acquisition of Bitbuy, a crypto trading platform in Canada with over 400,000 users. Coinberry currently services more than 220,000 registered Canadian clients. WonderFi expects the all-stock deal for Coinberry to close in Q2.

 

Canada’s crypto market remains fragmented, thus consolidation is key for WonderFi, according to CEO Ben Samaroo. WonderFi is also planning to expand globally this year while diversifying its offerings of digital asset products.

 

Samaroo noted that WonderFi is in the process of expanding Bitbuy’s brand into Australia, while “actively looking” at U.S. expansion later this year.

 

WonderFi Is Quickly Expanding

To round out its product offerings, WonderFi recently announced plans to buy game developer Sun Machine Entertainment for $13.5 million in an effort to gain exposure to play-to-earn gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFT). That deal is also expected to close during Q2.

 

“It’s really another stream to acquire users,” Samaroo said of the Sun Machine deal, noting its potential to reach users who aren’t focused on crypto trading. In turn, those gamers can earn NFTs and claim them through WonderFi’s combined platforms.

 

The company counts O’Leary and FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried as strategic investors.

 

“Compliant access to crypto is what matters and WonderFi has quickly established itself as a leader in Canada. Next stop, global,” said O’Leary in a statement.

 

As a part of the takeover, Coinberry CEO Andrei Poliakov and a Coinberry nominee will be up for election to WonderFi’s board of directors at its next yearly meeting.

 

“We have a shared belief with WonderFi that providing our users with convenient access to crypto wealth building opportunities through a seamless integration and unified access to digital assets is the future and where we are positioning ourselves,” Poliakov said in a release.