On February 22 this year, considering a series of bankruptcies such as Voyager, Celsius, and FTX,The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced, Crypto asset trading platforms (CTP) operating in Canada must provide a pre-registration commitment (PRU) to strengthen investor protection within 30 days in order to continue operating locally and continue to apply for registration with the Canadian securities regulator.
Canadian Securities Regulatory Commission proposes stricter rules, requiring unregistered CTPs to make some new commitments, such as strengthening commitments to custody and fund segregation of crypto assets held on behalf of Canadian clients; prohibiting unregistered CTPs from staking, rehypothecating, or otherwise using Prohibits any Canadian client from providing margin, credit or other forms of leverage related to crypto asset transactions; prohibits CTP from allowing customers to purchase or deposit stablecoins and trade based on proprietary tokens without CSA’s prior written consent encrypted contracts, etc.
For encrypted trading platforms, more requirements may mean increased compliance costs, and not all platforms are capable of meeting the new regulations. According to the CSA notification at the time,If crypto trading platforms are unable or unwilling to comply with the new rules, they will need to take appropriate steps to opt out existing Canadian users and impose restrictions to prevent Canadian users from accessing their products or services.
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Some people abide by the new regulations and stay in the Canadian market
Among mainstream crypto exchanges, Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Gemini, etc. have chosen to stay in the Canadian market and have submitted pre-registration commitments to regulators.
March 30,Coinbase announces that Coinbase Canada signed an enhanced pre-registration pledge on March 24, and named former Shopify executive Lucas Matheson its Canadian country director. Coinbase has previously set up a technology center in Canada with more than 200 engineers. Coinbase said it will continue to work with policymakers to create a strong crypto regulatory framework for Canadians.
the same day,Kraken says to comply with stricter rules set by CSA, has filed a pre-registration undertaking with the Ontario Securities Commission. It is reported that Kraken has served Canadian users for more than ten years and has more than 250 team members in Canada. Kraken Chief Operating Officer David Ripley called Canada a region "critical to Kraken's mission."
soon inOn March 31, Binance also announced, Binance Canada has submitted pre-registration commitments to multiple regulators outlining how Binance Canada will operate, including the management and custody of user assets, user protection measures, compliance obligations, and other operational matters. Additionally, Binance Canada provided a proposed timeline for the new Canadian-only trading platform in the pre-registration pledge.
another exchangeGemini issued a document on April 12 stating that, which has filed a pre-registration undertaking with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), emphasizing its commitment to the Canadian market.
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Some people choose to leave, but maybe only temporarily?
except as early asKuCoin and Poloniex Banned from Operating in Canada in 2022, the crypto trading platform that has now chosen to leave the Canadian market appears to hope to return someday in the future.
late March,Blockchain.com Announces Suspension of Custody and Trading Services to Customers Residing in Canada. Deribit, OKX also informed customers that they will leave the Canadian market.
inOKX intends to close operations in Canada by mid-2023, withdrawals will be open until June 22. Canadian users must transfer their cryptocurrencies and fiat to other cryptocurrency wallets or linked bank accounts. OKX added that the shutdown is temporary and that it is working with regulators to resolve issues posed by the new rules.
In April,Decentralized derivatives exchange dYdX announces it is gradually reducing user access from Canada. Starting at 17:00 UTC on April 7th (01:00 Beijing time on April 8th), dYdX will stop recruiting new users in Canada, but existing users will still have one week to continue trading. From 17:00 on April 14th UTC (01:00 on April 15th Beijing time), all users in Canada will switch to the liquidation-only mode, and users can withdraw funds at any time. However, the dYdX team stated that if the regulatory environment in Canada changes in the future, it may resume providing services locally.
Also deciding to exit the Canadian market is crypto financial services provider Paxos. April 12,Paxos Issues Email Notifying Canadian Customers, "Paxos has decided to no longer support customers in Canada. Given your Paxos account balance is zero, your account will be disabled on May 9, 2023."
A Paxos spokesperson said, "Paxos is focused on serving enterprise customers. While Canadian customers will no longer be supported in the short term, we will re-evaluate our presence in the region as customer needs evolve."
Whether you choose to stay or leave temporarily, encrypted trading platforms that focus on internationalization strategies will not easily give up the opportunity to expand the market. asKraken previously in the announcementPointing out that according to a 2022 survey by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), 38% of Canadians surveyed believe that crypto assets play a key role in financial services, and 31% of Canadians plan to buy crypto in the next 12 months assets. Additionally, 13% of Canadians already own crypto assets; of those who hold crypto assets, 27% trade at least once a week.
Canada is an attractive market for crypto investors, and the country is likely to continue to be a major player in the crypto market in the years to come.
