Newly-Qualified Crypto Custodian Balance Aims to Bring ETF Assets Held in the U.S. Back to Canada

Recently, Canadian cryptocurrency custodian Balance announced that it has obtained qualified custodian status in the country. CEO George Bordianu believes that it is time to bring back Canada’s ETF assets from sub-custody arrangements in the United States with Coinbase and Gemini. Balance, as a well-established custodian in Canada, aims to simplify the process and reduce costs for asset managers, encouraging more ETFs and mutual funds to be created in Canada. Bordianu highlights that Balance does not rely on third-party technology for custody partnerships, instead relying on their own robust technology stack. The broader issue at hand is the growth of the crypto sector in Canada, with the country needing to build its own infrastructure to handle the increasing number of tokenized assets and stablecoins. Bordianu compares this to the Toronto Stock Exchange relying on a foreign infrastructure for clearing and settling transactions, emphasizing the need for Canada to have its own infrastructure in place.