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Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.
Canada might have just become one of the most restrictive countries when it comes to buying crypto: A new limit introduced by several crypto exchanges means that Canadians can now only buy 30,000 Canadian Dollars worth of alt coins per year.
What does that mean exactly, and why have they done that? Let's dig in together!
Strictly speaking, an Altcoin is any crypto currency that is not Bitcoin. But that definition is somewhat outdated given the dominance of alternatives such as Ethereum. For Canadians, four cryptocurrencies are excluded from the purchase limitation: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, and Litecoin.
This abrupt change comes as major Canadian exchanges are trying to get regulatory approval from Canada's Ontario Securities Commission, short OSC.
The OSC's intention is to protect consumers from speculating on or becoming victims of scams in lesser known Altcoins. And if you look at the history of the crypto market, this is understandable: Many people have recently lost money they couldn't afford to lose by betting too much on the crypto market, specifically Altcoins that promised everything and delivered nothing.
And this change also comes with a mandatory questionnaire that explains the risks to prospective traders.
If you ask us, we have split opinions on this: On one hand, we are all for consumer protection, especially through education. That's why we have built cryptohunt.it - to give you a place where you can build your own knowledge. But limiting things to an arbitrary set of 4 crypto currencies is debatable: Why not include something like Solana, which is in the top 10 by market cap, but Litecoin which is not even in the top 20?
As always, things are more complicated in practice than they seem. We'll let you be the judge on this one!
Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.