Canadian stock exchange operator TMX Group announced that its subsidiary, Shorcan DCN, has entered into an agreement with Paycase Financial to launch a cryptocurrency brokerage service, a press release stated March 22.

TMX Group is best known as the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Paycase Financial is a decentralized financial services provider based out of Toronto. The new initiative is planned to launch in the second quarter of 2018 and will establish a cryptocurrency brokerage platform focusing on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

With this partnership, Shorcan DCN intends to combine its expertise of financial services in Canadian markets with Paycase's cryptocurrency data aggregation platform. Additionally, BMO Financial Group has agreed to provide Shorcan DCN with banking services as part of the payment and settlement infrastructure.

Shorcan President Peter Conroy shared his thoughts about the partnership:

"We are excited to enter in to this agreement with Paycase, an industry leader with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. We look forward to putting in the necessary collaborative work in the days ahead as we strive to make Shorcan DCN a lasting success."

John Lee, Managing Director of Enterprise Innovation & Product Development at TMX Group added:

"As new technologies continue to reshape the global financial industry, we continue to explore new ways to evolve our business to address client needs in both traditional and non-traditional markets."

Some financial institutions in Canada are more skeptical of cryptocurrencies. Last month, Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank banned customers from buying crypto with credit cards issued by the bank. A representative of TD states that the ban was designed to protect customers “as well as the bank.”