Voyager - Crypto Start-Up Makes Reverse Takeover onto the TSX

Voyager, a cryptocurrency brokerage start up, completed a reverse takeover and is trading on the TSX as of February 11, 2019. The new entity formed under the reverse takeover is Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd. (“Voyager”).

The company allows retail and institutional investors to buy and sell crypto across a range of exchanges through a mobile app. Voyager uses a smart order routing system ensuring they get the best prices available.

Voyager does not charge its customers a commission. Instead, they make a spread, but only in situations when it executes orders at levels “better than quoted at time of order submission, resulting in price improvement for the customer and revenue for Voyager,” according to chief marketing officer Steve Capone.

They are currently in beta testing, with only a handful of users, but according to the CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, the number of people on the waiting list is in “the six figures”. Voyager is incentivising early customers by offering $15 in complementary bitcoin.

In addition to attracting customers at the consumer level, about half a dozen institutional broker-dealers and trading platforms have signed up to use Voyager’s API to deliver crypto trading to their customer base.

Voyager has also signed up 10 exchanges and market makers and claims to be in talks with many more. They have obtained money transmission licenses in 10 U.S. states, with applications pending in approximately 30 more.

Voyager’s successful reverse takeover demonstrates some of the potential advantages that trading on the TSX brings, in this case, increased capital and public confidence. According to Coindesk, Ehrlich plans to grow the company with new capital that will be available through the issuance of shares on the TSX and hopes that being listed on the TSX will help build trust with clients since the company will now have to make quarterly and annual disclosures as part of its compliance with Canadian securities regulations.

Author: Daniel Seidman