Over the course of the last decade, cryptocurrencies have grown
from the interest of a few online enthusiasts to a globally
recognized medium of exchange valued in the trillions of dollars.
But while Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin have become household
names, the legal rules that apply to cryptocurrency remain unclear
and unsettled. In this article, we outline some of the recent
developments in Canadian jurisprudence related to the legal
treatment of cryptocurrencies.
Background
In general terms, cryptocurrencies are a kind
of digital asset or 'token' that functions on the
blockchain. Blockchain is a distributed ledger
technology, meaning that every time a transaction occurs on a
blockchain system, each component of that system independently
checks the validity of every other component. Blockchain and
cryptocurrency have been pitched as revolutionary in part because
this allows for decentralized, 'trustless' transactions,
without the need for central