When Dean Skurka joined BitBuy in 2018, the platform had only four employees, thousands of users and a trading volume of around $25 million. Fast forward to today, Skurka is currently overseeing Wonderfi. It combines multiple Canadian exchanges, boasts 1.7 million accounts and protects its $2 billion client assets.
But Skulka doesn’t just sit in the domestic empire. He is building outside.
Dean Skurka is a speaker at Toronto Consensus 2025 May 14-16.
During his conversation with Coindesk, Wonderfi president and CEO Dean Skurka detailed the next chapter of his company. Working with ZKSYNC, we will launch a Layer 2 blockchain and expand it to Australia. He also discussed the outlook for a centralized exchange and how the Canadian crypto landscape is changing.
This is an edited abbreviation of his conversation with Coindesk ahead of his appearance at Consensus 2025 in Toronto.
In February, the central exchange said it would launch a Layer 2 blockchain based on ZKSYNC to connect users to Decentralized Finance (DEFI).
“When we think about the long-term trends across the industry, we see a very strong synergy between central exchanges, user-issued or assets occurring, and giving a seamless bridge to everything that’s happening in the chain today.”
According to Skurka, Wonderfi runs the trading platform, and the knowledge of regulatory reliability, asset base gives it an edge over the numerous ranges of other layer 2 that connect Defi.
Skurka says that unlike other rival Layer 2 chains fired in Splashy Token incentives and VC hype, Wonderfi’s approach is more grounded and lasting. It plans to promote long-term use through builder incentives, hackathons and ecosystem support.
Skurka sees decentralized exchanges as competitors of central exchanges, rather than seeing them as extensions. Centralized exchange provides a bridge for first-time users to move from buying and selling crypto on a regulated, trusted platform to on-chain activities that open up more innovative new products that exist in the crypto ecosystem.
“(Intensive Exchange) is building components that allow users to interact seamlessly in the chain, but at the same time, they are building the functionality of the exchange to make it look similar to traditional financial services products.
Wonderfi is the dominant exchange in Canada, allowing us to observe how the crypto landscape is changing across countries.
Canada has a strong history of codes. Both etereum and the first spot Bitcoin ETF were born there. It was also one of the first countries to have a regulatory framework for crypto trading platforms.
“Some of the more innovative products and services that exist within this space have moved offshore or outside of Canada due to lack of clarity about these products and services,” he said, referring to products such as Defi Applications, Layer 2 Blockchain and Derivatives.
Wonderfi aims to change it after working closely with Canadian regulators to develop trading and staking guidelines.
“We can work with regulators to give comfort to some of these newer, more innovative products and services. And we hope that it will encourage entrepreneurs, builders and developers to truly stay in Canada and build products with confidence,” added Skurka.
And as the US is now more open to crypto and many exchange trade funds and is open to investors, Canada’s mindset is also beginning to change. A largely retail-dominated platform, Wonderfi is currently attracting interest from Canadian institutional investors, including private equity who want to be exposed to family offices and digital assets.
“I think it was a huge change last year. It’s something (institutional profit) that we’re expecting to really accelerate over the next few years,” Skurka says.
Skurka has not stopped in Canada. He is looking to expand the company’s reach into other regions, which began in Australia. Skulka explains that it has “clear and concise regulations” and a strong crypto adoption rate.
“Australia was a really good market for us to target first. From there, we’re really looking for other markets,” says Skurka.
Like the 24/7 nature of Crypto, CEO work in this fast-paced industry never takes place.
In the case of Skurka, that’s exactly what keeps him at night: volatility – something that shapes the perceptions and emotions of the industry.
“Maybe it’s only short-term volatility that really impacts the outlook for your business and affects the morale of your users, staff and teams. And that’s what we really see as we get the best balance possible,” Skurka said.
But having been in the industry since 2018 and navigating the extremes of ups and downs, he has learned to ride volatility.
“I think we have a really good handle on that. And there’s a really strong team that understands the 24-hour nature of this business, the volatility of this business, and we’re in a really good place,” added Skurka.
