25% of Canadian Adults Own Crypto as Regulators Push for Stricter Oversight

Canada’s crypto boom: one in four adults now owns digital assets, OSC finds Cryptocurrency ownership in Canada has more than doubled in roughly three years, with 25% of Canadian adults reporting crypto holdings in 2026—up from 10% in 2023—new research from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) shows. The OSC’s online survey of 2,360 Canadian adults, conducted between December 2025 and January 2026, also found 59% of respondents were aware of crypto assets, underscoring rapid mainstream adoption. The jump — a 15-percentage-point increase since 2023 — suggests digital assets are reaching a broader slice of the population even as concerns about fraud, volatility and consumer protections persist. “Crypto markets continue to evolve, and Canadians are participating in them more than ever before,” said Naizam Kanji, executive vice-president of strategic regulation at the OSC. He added the regulator’s research helps identify trends and anticipate risks so rules can protect investors while supporting fair markets. Despite growing ownership, knowledge about platform protections and regulatory status remains limited. Roughly half of crypto owners said they checked whether a platform was registered before opening an account or transacting. That leaves a substantial share using services without confirming regulatory oversight. Respondents also displayed misunderstandings about which crypto products carry insurance, how platforms are regulated, and which transactions can be reversed or recovered—important gaps given that crypto holdings typically lack the same protections as bank deposits and blockchain transfers are often irreversible. The OSC findings arrive as major firms press for a bigger role in Canada’s financial ecosystem. Coinbase is reportedly preparing to bring its “Everything Exchange” strategy to Canada, aiming to combine tokenized stocks, traditional financial products and blockchain services in a single app for local users. Such moves could expand access to blended crypto-traditional offerings but also raise fresh questions about oversight and consumer safeguards. At the same time, Ottawa is moving to limit certain crypto use cases it views as high-risk. In its Spring Economic Update 2026, the federal government proposed a nationwide ban on crypto ATMs, calling the machines a frequent tool for scammers to collect victim funds or process illicit cash. Government investigations cited ATMs as a channel through which fraud victims are instructed to transfer money—payments that can be hard or impossible to recover. A separate bill introduced in March would curb cryptocurrency donations to political groups as part of broader efforts to tighten election-financing rules and reduce foreign interference risks ahead of the next federal election. The net effect could be a split approach: encourage regulated ownership and financial products while restricting channels seen as vulnerable to fraud or covert funding. Canadian concerns mirror those in the United States—regulators south of the border have also emphasized platform registration, fraud disclosures and the distinction between crypto accounts and insured bank deposits—but the two countries continue to build separate rulebooks, so a product available under one regime may not be offered under the other. As adoption accelerates, the OSC’s survey underscores the challenge for policymakers: balance wider market access and innovation with clearer protections and better public education. With one-quarter of Canadians now holding crypto, regulators will likely face growing pressure to close knowledge gaps around registration, insurance and transaction recovery as they refine policy for an expanding and evolving market.