In this Sunny Ray Show episode, Sunny sits down with Flo, founder and CEO of Blockchain North, one of the most recognizable faces in the Canadian Bitcoin and crypto scene. Flo shares his globe spanning backstory, growing up between France and the Netherlands, working investment reporting projects across Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and several African nations, before eventually landing in Canada through an oil sands project in Alberta. He recounts how interviews with Don Tapscott, Jim Harris, and Sam Sieff for his previous venture thefutureeconomy.ca nudged him toward blockchain, leading him to launch what became Blockchain North. The conversation turns to Canada's blockchain potential, with Flo expressing frustration over missed opportunities, from oil and gas to Ethereum, and Quebec's Bitcoin mining moratorium. He explains why he built Blockchain North to give Canada's digital asset industry a national media voice, and reflects on lessons drawn from interviewing over 300 crypto leaders. The episode blends personal history, cultural observations on money, and candid industry commentary.
Blockchain North's founder Flo on Canada's missed Bitcoin moment, his 13 country journey, and 300 crypto interviews later.
You lived in 13 countries and 15 jurisdictions before settling in Canada. Tell us about your travels before Bitcoin.
I was born just outside Paris to a French father and Dutch mother, then studied hotel management in the Netherlands for 10 years. After that I worked in investment reporting, which sent me to Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Thailand, and the Maldives. A project in Gibraltar led me to a Canadian who invited me to work on oil sands in Alberta, and that's how I ended up staying in Canada for the last 13 years.
What common threads did you notice in how different cultures perceive money?
One memory that stands out is collecting $10,000 in cash from HSBC in Indonesia back in 2008 as a trainee, and being so struck by it that I laid the cash on my bed just to see what it represented. Later in Kenya I interviewed the CEO of Safaricom around the time M-Pesa launched, not realizing how much crypto and mobile money would later shape my life.
How did you get into Bitcoin? Was it a single moment or more of a process?
It was progressive, not one moment. I'd dismissed Bitcoin early on, even after seeing a Paris bar accept it years before. Later, running thefutureeconomy.ca and interviewing over 1500 Canadian leaders, three conversations pulled me in: Don Tapscott, Jim Harris, and Sam Sieff of Purpose Invest. Those interviews connected the dots for me and eventually led me to buy my first Bitcoin and Ethereum in January 2021.
Where do you see Canada today when it comes to Bitcoin and digital assets? Falling behind or ahead of the curve?
The word that comes to mind is missed opportunity. I saw the same pattern in oil and gas, where Canada had every advantage but let its destiny get defined elsewhere. Quebec's Bitcoin mining moratorium and the lack of government leaders even talking seriously about blockchain frustrate me. Canada has the resources, connectivity, and talent, but we keep failing to capitalize on our own potential.
Someone recently said Ethereum might have been the biggest company Canada ever produced. What's your take?
That's a line from Alex, and I repeated it in a talk I gave. People compare Ethereum to RIM or BlackBerry, but that's not fair since Ethereum is a platform, not a standalone company. He compares it more to something like the Avro Arrow, a landmark Canadian invention. It really shows how much we undervalue what came out of this country in blockchain.
Tell us about Blockchain North and what your mission is there.
I started it as a Twitter account called CryptoNews Canada after noticing Canada was a blockchain pioneer but had almost no national storytelling or advocacy for the industry. We rebranded to Blockchain North during the Terra Luna and FTX fallout. Early support came from Kate Carrington, the Futurist team, and sponsor Morali, and we've grown into interviewing leaders and running media booths at every major Canadian crypto event since.
You've now interviewed over 300 people. What patterns keep coming up about where the industry is headed?
I actually gave a talk at Futurist called Insights from 200 Crypto CEOs, though once we counted our Twitter Spaces guests too, it turned out to be over 300. There are recurring themes about Canada's untapped potential and the need for stronger national advocacy, though I was just getting into the specific patterns when the conversation moved on.
Building something daring? Sunny talks to founders like this every day. Fifteen minutes to see if your story belongs on the stage.
Claim your pre-interview