Toronto-based WonderFi is looking to diversify its business beyond cryptocurrency and expand into multi-asset trading with the help of Australian FinTech firm Eightcap.
WonderFi has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to form a new partnership with Eightcap, a regulated foreign exchange and contracts for difference (CFD) broker.
Through Eightcap, WonderFi aims to give users of its regulated crypto exchanges, Bitbuy and Coinsquare, access to derivatives across a range of financial markets, including foreign exchange, major indices, oil, metals, and select individual stocks in Canada and Australia.
This expansion remains subject to WonderFi securing definitive agreements and regulatory approval.
WonderFi intends to offer these products as CFDs with the help of Embedded, Eightcap’s trading-as-a-service solution. CFDs are regulated over-the-counter derivatives that allow users to speculate on asset price movements without owning the underlying assets. The company hopes to begin rolling out these capabilities in the second half of 2025.
According to WonderFi, Eightcap will act as the trading technology and liquidity provider for Bitbuy and Coinsquare in both countries.
This expansion remains subject to WonderFi entering definitive agreements with Eightcap and securing regulatory approval in both Canada and Australia.
WonderFi senior vice-president of communications, Charlie Aikenhead, told BetaKit that this is part of a push to position WonderFi as a leader in not just crypto, but digital asset trading overall.
“Our users trust us with billions in assets, and we’re leveraging that trust to build a next-generation FinTech platform that competes not just with crypto exchanges, but with Canada’s largest trading platforms,” Aikenhead argued.
In a statement, Eightcap’s chief commercial officer Patrick Murphy described this collaboration as “another major step forward in bridging decentralized finance … and traditional finance.”
WonderFi, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WNDR, owns two of Canada’s most popular crypto exchanges in Bitbuy and Coinsquare, as well as crypto payments platform SmartPay and a stake in crypto custodian Tetra Trust.
RELATED: WonderFi and Kraken Canada each break $2-billion CAD mark for assets under custody
Today, WonderFi has 1.7 million total registered users and $2.4 billion in client assets under custody, after crossing the $2-billion mark last year.
To date, WonderFi’s focus has been on crypto spot trading and staking. WonderFi initially explored stock trading in 2022, as a hedge against crypto market volatility, rolling out the capability for Bitbuy users that year.
But Aikenhead told BetaKit that the company encountered regulatory challenges related to fractional share settlements in Canada. By working with Eightcap, the firm hopes to overcome those roadblocks, at a time when Aikenhead said “demand for diversified trading options has never been higher.”
“The reality is that market conditions shift, and by offering equities, ETFs, and other assets alongside crypto, we create a more stable revenue stream that isn’t dependent on one asset class,” Aikenhead said. “This isn’t just about hedging volatility; it’s about scaling into a multi-billion-dollar opportunity by expanding our total addressable market.”
Aikenhead said WonderFi decided to work with Eightcap versus building these capabilities in-house given the time to market and cost efficiency associated with doing so. “Eightcap’s technology allows us to launch a high-performance, scalable solution quickly without diverting resources from our core crypto business,” he said.
RELATED: WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka kidnapped, released after reportedly paying $1-million ransom
WonderFi expanded to Australia last year after acquiring a local crypto trading licence.
This LOI with Eightcap comes months after WonderFi president and CEO Dean Skurka was kidnapped in Toronto in November 2024. He was released, unharmed, after reportedly paying a $1-million ransom electronically.
At the time, WonderFi confirmed to BetaKit that Skurka was safe, that the company was co-operating with the Toronto Police Service on their active investigation into the incident, and that its client funds and data were unaffected.
Aikenhead said that Skurka is doing well now, and noted that WonderFi has made a number of changes since then, including hiring security personnel, but had no other updates it could share at this time regarding the incident.
UPDATE (03/07/25): This story has been updated to include additional information and commentary from WonderFi.
Feature image courtesy of WonderFi.
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Crypto firm aims to work with Australian FinTech partner to give Bitbuy and Coinsquare users access to derivatives.
The post WonderFi plots expansion beyond crypto into multi-asset trading with Eightcap first appeared on BetaKit.
