In addition to having the titles of the world’s first Bitcoin ATM and world’s first reversed take-over transaction in the blockchain industry, Canada has once again secured its leadership with yet another world’s first title in the blockchain industry. This time the historical milestone was set by Cascadia Consumer Electronics Corp. (CSE: CK) (“Cascadia”), a publicly listed Canadian company in transition to the blockchain and fintech sectors. Cascadia announced the completion of 425 bitcoin private placement, valued at US$ 6.12 million in total, on December 29, 2017, just one short week after its initial announcement of such a plan.

“This lightning speed of execution is in line with the pace of development in the blockchain industry. This also showcases the high level of enthusiasm and support of the industry investors. Cascadia will be able to accelerate our transition and expansion into the blockchain and fintech sectors, pending the approval from CSE on our proposed business change,” said Rachel Wang, CEO of Cascadia in the company’s press release announcing the completion of the private placement. According to Cascadia’s public filing, a few well-known Asian institutional investors specialized in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors, such as FBG Capital, BitCapital, ChainFunder, Qtum, Nebulas, aelf, and BTCtrade, participated in this round of Cascadia’s private placement.

In recent years, many new start-ups are using ICOs (or “Initial Coin Offerings”) to raise the necessary capital. However, cryptocurrencies seem not very commonly used or accepted in the traditional capital market. This is really the first time that there has been a cross-over between the new fintech sector and the traditional capital market, proving that these two are not necessarily mutually exclusive and that in the foreseeable future, it is likely to see more innovative and creative transactions with both involved.