Is Bitcoin Legal In Canada

Is Bitcoin Legal In Canada?

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have provided immense opportunity for Canadians and people worldwide to invest in something that can revolutionize the entire financial industry. Many people have witnessed huge gains in the last decade and bitcoin Canada has been doing pretty well too.

In the initial years after bitcoin was first launched, there was a lot of ambiguity about the laws that would govern them in Canada and other countries. Before wanting to know how to buy bitcoin Canada, the major question was “Is Bitcoin legal in Canada”. However, that is no longer the case.

Is Bitcoin legal?

The short and definite answer is yes. In fact, Canada was the first country in the world to approve any regulation relating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Over the years, the concerned regulators have done an immense amount of research to understand this new technology and its implications.

As a result, in the past couple of years, Canada has been making cryptocurrency regulations more and more clear. They are still continuing their deliberations and constantly monitoring this space and its rapid development. In the future, they are expected to keep refining the laws that have already been passed and they might make new ones also. 

All of this has made Canada a powerful pro-crypto nation and Canadians will benefit in the crypto space due to its positive exposure in the country. They are already among the top in various statistics relating to bitcoin and its ilk. This is evident from the fact that an increasing number of people are learning about how to buy bitcoin Canada.

 

Regulatory Clarity

The regulatory clarity provided by the concerned administrators is really important. For instance, in July of last year, regulators published a notice stating that Canadian crypto exchanges will be legally required to register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FinTRAC) as of June 1, 2020.

The notice also stated that the cryptocurrency exchanges will be required to do Know Your Customer (KYC) for anyone making an account on their platform. Guidelines such as these, established a clear cut rule if anyone wanted to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Canada. This benefits both the businesses as well as retail investors as each party understands how things are supposed to happen.

New Crypto Guidance In 2020

Less than a month ago in January 2020, Canadian regulators issued new crypto guidance. Their aim was to provide clarity to Canadian crypto exchanges when securities law will be applicable to them. Since earlier, it was not always clear when a particular crypto transaction falls under existing securities law, it was important to provide this clarity.

The Canadian Securities Administrators along with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada have been jointly studying crypto platforms and the underlying technology. It is because of their studies that they were able to issue the additional guidelines. Their process of reviewing public comments is still on going, and they might issue additional guidance when they become necessary.

One of the main aspects of these guidelines is that Canadian regulators want Canadians to own their own private keys. As it is a known fact in the crypto world, this is the safest practice and it seems like regulators have the consumers’ interest first and foremost in their minds.

 

Importance From Global Perspective

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had released a set of guidelines for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies last year for its 37 member countries. In the guidelines, they had recommended the different countries in the world to come together to regulate them so that a global regulatory regime can be established.

Since Canada is also a member of the FATF, the recent national guidance pertaining to cryptos are really important. The FATF guidelines will take effect from June 2020 and countries are expected to get everything in order before then. It seems like Canada is already well on its way to do exactly that.

 

Is Bitcoin Legal Tender?

It is important to note that while it is completely legal to buy and sell bitcoin, hold them and even use them for buying goods and services, they have not been given the status of the legal tender. Only the Canadian Dollar has that status. This doesn’t really affect any investors and their crypto transactions. It only means that you won’t be able to pay your taxes or mortgage with bitcoin.

Bitcoin Taxation

Any income you earn is taxable. This is applicable to bitcoin and  also other cryptos. Although there aren’t specific laws about bitcoin profits or how exactly you have to calculate tax on them, it is understood that existing laws need to be adapted to do the calculations.

So, any gains or losses that you make with cryptocurrencies, should be recorded in your annual tax return. If you’re not sure about how you can do that, you can reach out to an expert.

Simplifying Your Crypto Experience

Our exchange was started to help simplify the overall crypto experience for Canadians so that we could bring the immense benefits of cryptocurrencies to the masses. This will ensure financial inclusion for all.

Apart from Bitcoin, there are many other cryptos on our exchange that you can easily buy, sell and hold. You can buy ethereum or buy dash. If you’re looking for more, you could also buy litecoin or buy xrp.

As always, we provide safe, secure and easy ways to get you started on your crypto journey so that you can partake with peace of mind while we carry out all the tough tasks in the background, to make your experience safe and pleasurable.

 

Register and trade with ease. If you want to just buy bitcoin Canada and hold, that’s also very easy with Canada’s best cryptocurrency exchange.

 

***Please ensure to declare any capital gains or reward income to your local taxation authorities to ensure you always remain compliant. Cryptocurrency purchased on illegitimate exchanges that do not run KYC may not be supported and have been listed/traded there without our permission. Investing in cryptocurrencies is a high-risk and volatile

 

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