Crypto pioneer buys Canada's biggest condo in former Trump Tower in Toronto

Toronto

A CRYPTOCURRENCY baron has bought the largest and one of the most expensive condominiums in Canada.

Anthony Di Iorio said in an email he purchased the three-storey penthouse for C$28 million (S$28.6 million) at the St Regis Residences Toronto, the former Trump International Hotel & Tower in the downtown business district.

The unit totals 16,178 square feet and includes a wrap-around patio overlooking the city's skyline at the corner of Bay and Adelaide Streets.

The hotel is owned by InnVest Hotels and operated by Marriott International as the Adelaide Hotel Toronto, and will be rebranded the St Regis once a renovation is completed. The building has both private condo and hotel units.

Mr Di Iorio got into the cryptocurrency craze on the ground floor as a co-founder of Ethereum.

He was active in Toronto's early blockchain community and was on the initial team that put together Ethereum, now the leading alternative to the Bitcoin platform.

Ether, the currency that runs on Ethereum, now has a market value of around US$50 billion compared with Bitcoin's US$115 billion.

Mr Di Iorio now runs Decentral, an "innovation hub" in Toronto focused on blockchain projects. It's the creator of the popular cryptocurrency wallet Jaxx.

Mr Di Iorio may have bought Canada's biggest condo, but it's not the most expensive.

According to Toronto Life magazine, Peter Gilgan, billionaire and chief executive officer of Mattamy Homes, lives in a Four Seasons penthouse in the city that was bought for C$31 million. Another condo was also once sold for C$40 million in Vancouver. BLOOMBERG