A 53-year-old billionaire and entrepreneur Michael Novogratz can, at last, breathe a sigh of relief because his crypto-merchant bank Galaxy Digital LP has been finally approved by the Canadian regulator and will start trading in Toronto TSX Venture Exchange, Bloomberg reports
Galaxy waited for a long time for this approval. It took approximately eight months for Canadian regulators to give a green light for the bank. It looks like one of the reasons for this delay is the method Galaxy chose when entering the Canadian market. Merging with a shell company, which was listed on Toronto junior exchange via reverse take over, a method which is widely used by crypto mining companies when entering the Canadian market. The original launch date was expected in April, but regulators decided to take a more careful look to fully understand the nature of the business.
Novogratz said “there was a surge of companies that listed in Canada and they all traded really poorly… I think the regulators got a little bit more nervous and said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, let’s make sure we know what we’re seeing here’".
He also said that if he knew it would take this long and the market would behave like it does now, he would have stayed as a private bank instead of going public so early. Still, he says “But I don’t think it’s a mistake."
Novogratz strongly believes in the power of blockchain to change the financial world as we know it.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Approval requires a due diligence process by which regulators maintain market integrity.
The case of Galaxy Digital is a good example for other merchant banks or companies if they want to enter the Canadian market.
Novogratz believes in the future of blockchain and evolution of the finance, this move will mark a milestone on this journey.
Let’s not forget that just last week it was discussed that Galaxy Digital LP had recorded a $134 million loss during the first quarter of 2018.
For the upcoming weeks, Novogratz keeps his expectations quite realistic. He knows that shares will not be able to trade with the January prices since bitcoin is now trading under $7,800.