Lawmaker Advocates for Canada to Attract Crypto Investment

A Canadian lawmaker is recommending the country’s finance minister establish a cryptocurrency framework to attract investors worldwide.

Parliament Member Michelle Rempel Garner has introduced “Encouraging Growth of the Cryptoasset Sector Act.” The measure represents Canada’s first legislative entrance into the burgeoning crypto sector.

“Canada should be attracting billions of dollars of investment in this fast growing industry,” Garner said in a statement Wednesday (Feb. 9). “However, we’ve seen Canada lose cryptoasset talent, innovators and business to other leading jurisdictions like the European Union and the United States.”

If enacted, the law would require Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland to consult with industry experts to develop a regulatory framework to boost innovation around cryptocurrencies. It would also compel the finance minister to report on the framework and introduce legislation within three years.

“Right now, we’re seeing government officials start to regularly discuss and set policy related to cryptoassets,” Garner said. “At the same time, many officials aren’t deeply familiar with what cryptoassets are, or how they function.”

Any crypto policy should focus on lowering barriers of entry into the sector while protecting those working in the space, minimizing the administrative burden and promoting innovation, she added.

“These things only happen if cryptoasset innovators are driving policy and have a framework to encourage growth and investment,” she said. “This is what we need to encourage the cryptoasset sector to grow.”

Audit and consulting giant KPMG’s Canadian division recently announced that it had invested some of its corporate cash in cryptocurrency, joining a list that includes payment firm Block, automaker Tesla and bitcoin investor MicroStrategy.

See also: Banks, Asset Managers, Corporates Climb Back on the Bitcoin Bandwagon

The allocation includes bitcoin and ethereum, as well as carbon offsets to maintain a net-zero carbon transaction to deliver on the firm’s stated environmental, social and governance commitments.