Sometime in the next few days or even hours, the “miners” who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are going to take a 50% pay cut—effectively slicing new production of the world’s largest cryptocurrency in half. That could have a lot of implications, from the price of the asset to the bitcoin miners themselves. And, as with everything in the volatile cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. Here’s what you need to know. What is “bitcoin halving”? “Bitcoin halving,” a preprogrammed event that occurs roughly every four years, impacts the production of bitcoin. Miners use farms of noisy ..read more

After hearing countless success stories from crypto investors on social media, Martin Dasko, a 36-year-old money blogger in Toronto, could no longer ignore the hype. His father happened to be an early adopter of the cryptocurrency ether (the native coin of the Ethereum platform). But when Dasko brought up the subject of crypto investing in March 2021, he was met with skepticism. His father responded with quips about crypto’s unsustainable growth and wild swings, and he questioned the lack of regulation and corporate governance. Ignoring his dad’s warnings, Dasko went ahead with his o ..read more

You could consider opening a non-registered account if you’ve reached the contribution limits of your registered accounts, like your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) and tax-free savings account (TFSA). Unlike a registered account, a non-registered account doesn’t offer tax benefits, but it allows you to invest with fewer limits. And there’s a non-registered savings or investment account to suit every need—from the humble savings account to the supercharged margin account. Here’s everything you need to know about registered versus non-registered accounts. What is a non-registered acco ..read more

To mark MoneySense’s 25th anniversary, we dove into the top innovations that have changed personal finance since this magazine was founded in 1999. From new registered accounts and investment products to online services and developments in artificial intelligence, these are some of the biggest—the ones we can hardly imagine living without today. It pays to know! Get FREE MoneySense financial tips, news & advice in your inbox. Subscribe now 1. 1999: The Canada Revenue Agency—then called the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency—introduced Netfile, enabling Canadians to file their tax returns e ..read more

There are more than 1,300 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available for Canadian investors. How do you know which you should choose? Watch this video and use our ETF Screener Tool. Check out this video where Journalist Michael McCullough talks about choosing ETFs on The Wealthy Life with Sybil Verch. MoneySense’s ETF Screener Tool USE TOOL Watch more MoneySense videos: The differences between a TFSA and RRSP Investing in asset allocation ETFs How the Bank of Canada’s interest rate affects you 4 things to consider before putting your money in a TFSA or RRSP The post Video: How to choose E ..read more

Webull has arrived in Canada. The buzzy stock trading platform, which has 11 million customers around the world, announced on January 2 that it was accepting applications for Canadian accounts.  Is Webull available in Canada?  Yes. Webull Corporation, a popular Cayman Islands-owned and -operated digital brokerage, opened for business in Canada in January 2024. Prospective clients are invited to join a waitlist to set up an account at webull.ca. Like some other providers, Webull uses a waitlist to manage the pace of new client onboarding and avoid glitches. Generally after two busines ..read more

If you’ve been following news stories about bitcoin and ethereum, you know that these digital currencies, and the crypto asset class as a whole, have had their ups and downs. Like other types of investments, crypto goes through boom and bust cycles—and from late 2021 to late 2022, it was almost all bad news for Canadian crypto investors, as the total crypto market capitalization plummeted from about $2.7 trillion to about $850 billion (all figures in U.S. dollars). But 2023 has been different. Aside from a few prominent scandals, it’s been a year of resurgence and renewed investor interest. Th ..read more

This has been a banner year for bitcoin (BTC), the world’s first cryptocurrency and still the largest by market capitalization. After languishing at record lows in 2022, the digital coin staged a remarkable recovery in 2023. How high is bitcoin’s price? In 2022, bitcoin struggled against macroeconomic headwinds, including aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes in the U.S. and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Rising interest rates tend to lower investors’ tolerance for risk, which in turn can dampen bitcoin’s appeal. Also, the primary purpose of rate hikes is to tame inflation, whi ..read more

Cryptocurrency investing offers new and exciting opportunities, but it’s also rife with scams and tech-savvy con artists. And since the crypto space remains largely unregulated even in 2023, it’s often difficult to distinguish between genuine investment opportunities and scams. In just the first half of this year, investment scams conned Canadians out of $161 million—most of it lost to cryptocurrency scams, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). “Crypto investments are the top type of investment scams reported to CAFC,” says Jeff Horncastle, the organization’s acting client and co ..read more

The world is in crisis—again. At the time of writing, Israel is planning its ground invasion of Gaza after an attack by Hamas, and Ukraine and Russia remain at war almost two years after their conflict began in February 2022. Sadly, these are not the only wars happening. Regions around the world are in conflict. Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Somalia, Libya and Syria, among others, are dealing with civil war and/or surges in violence. In this article, I will share my best insights to help Canadian investors navigate these uncertain times. Emotions in investing The humanitaria ..read more