Toronto: Where America Talks Crypto
I’ve been to a lot of weird conferences.
One time, I went to a health summit in San Diego that turned out to be mostly about “becoming immortal.”
The motto: “Live long enough to live forever.”
There was a guy talking about cryogenically freezing yourself so you could one day colonize Mars.
In 2017, I went to a crypto conference at the Aspen Institute.
One guy told me Bitcoin was a gift from aliens from the future. He was barefoot the entire time. Wearing a Rolex.
At a crypto conference in Prague, I interviewed the President of the crypto-friendly Liberland… the world’s newest self-proclaimed nation.
(It was basically the Burning Man of geopolitics.)
But Consensus 2025 in Toronto? It’s one of the least weird conferences I’ve been to.
There’s no “rah rah” mania. No guys in banana suits screaming about NFTs. (That’s ETHDenver.) No TikTok dancers shilling rug pulls.
Instead? Bankers. Builders. Bureaucrats. Big Tech. And—yes—even the Trumps.
But we’ll get to that.
When the Spotlight Misses the Stage
It wasn’t just ironic—it was blatant: this was an American crypto conference wearing a Canadian nametag.
As soon as you enter the conference, here’s the elevators:
Everyone’s excited about what’s happening in the US.
Canada, on the other hand? It’s still living through the regulatory chill of America’s literal yesteryear.
Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio, said most Canadian crypto entrepreneurs have left because they couldn’t get clear guidance.
That’s exactly what U.S. builders said during the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” spree under Gary Gensler.
Although Ethereum was conceived here in Toronto in 2013, they moved their HQ to Zug, Switzerland. They wanted to launch in Canada, but the regulatory environment was too uncertain.
Alas, little has changed in Canada since…
While everything has changed in America.
The Shifting Landscape in America
Ari Redbord of TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company, put it like this: “We’re moving away from regulation by enforcement and toward targeting actual bad actors.”
Translation: less Gensler, more common sense.
Currently, according to Ari, about 1% of crypto activity is illicit.
That’s what TRM Labs has discovered. Not 80%. Not even 10%. Just 1%. And that 1% includes North Korea’s entire cybercrime GDP.
Meanwhile, TRM Labs is quietly working with every U.S. federal law enforcement agency.
Instead of going after developers who write DeFi code, they’re going after ransomware, pig-butchering scams (don’t Google it at night), and rogue states like North Korea laundering Bitcoin.
We’re watching something weird happen: America is suddenly the most pro-crypto country in the world.
Yes, it’s the election. But, said one speaker, it’s also economic survival. And it’s also just time.
But, on the same token…
According to TRM, regulators are using blockchain analytics to police crypto better than they ever policed banks.
So there’s also that.
Oh Right… the Trumps Showed Up
Eric Trump shared the stage with Hut 8 CEO Asher Genuis.
They launched something called “American Bitcoin.” (Not to be confused with American Airlines, American Gladiators, or American Idol.)
They want to mine bitcoin on U.S. soil using ultra-cheap energy.
They say they can currently mine Bitcoin for $38,000 while the rest of the world is buying at $100,000. If that’s true, they’re not just mining—they’re printing.
Eric’s takeaway? “Real estate is hard to sell. Bitcoin isn’t.”
Crypto is Becoming an Adult
In 2017, crypto was a toddler with a sugar high.
In 2021, it was a teenager throwing a rave in your garage.
In 2025, it’s becoming an adult. Not fully there. Still messes up. Still gets scammed sometimes.
But it shows up. Pays taxes. Talks to regulators. Builds products people actually use.
And that?
That’s the spark that kicks off a historic wealth transfer.
