CoinSmart, a new Canadian exchange launched today, allows investors to switch between cryptocurrencies by trading between coins that are not paired with Bitcoin or Ethereum.
During tax time, the exchange also plans to offer a reporting tool to “account for both currency-to-coin and coin-to-coin transactions” and help “determine their taxable income and capital gains.”
The CoinSmart profile on CrunchBase doesn’t currently have any data around funding rounds.
According to the press release, the exchange has the capacity to transact in BTC (Bitcoin), Ethereum (ETH), BCH (Bitcoin Cash), LTC (Litecoin), Dash (DASH), XMR (Monero), and EOS. According to the press release, “additional altcoins [are] planned for roll-out on an ongoing basis.”
This Canadian endeavour was founded by Justin Hartzman, CEO of CoinSmart, who said that Canadians are “under-served” by existing cryptocurrency exchanges.
In a Medium article, Hartzman explained why he launched an exchange, focusing on the frustrations that Canadian crypto-enthusiasts face when trying to trade using Canadian currency, or the barriers that Canadian crypto-novices face when trying to access exchanges.
Eventually, writes Hartzman, CoinSmart will offer the “GetSmart Hub” with content to help CoinSmart users at all different levels of expertise get help.
“As a long-standing cryptocurrency investor, I have experienced first-hand how Canadians are under-served by existing exchanges,” said Hartzman, CEO CoinSmart, in the press release. “Platforms are unnecessarily complex, lack personal touch, and do not provide the tools and service support that consumers deserve. We used these issues as our design motivation and trust that CoinSmart fixes all these concerns allowing any investor —first time or not— to truly feel comfortable and secure.”
