- Canada recently established very strict crypto laws which makes it very difficult for exchanges and any crypto companies to operate in Canada
- Binance is the latest in a string of departures from CEO Changpeng Zhao’s home country, but it promises to keep working with regulators.
- Multiple exchanges have pulled out their operations from Canada and many more crypto entities.
Binance will withdraw from the Canadian market, the cryptocurrency exchange announced on Twitter on May 12. It called its withdrawal “proactive” as new guidance issued by Canadian regulators continues to take a toll on the country’s crypto industry.
Binance is joining some of its smaller competitors in the Canadian exodus brought on by the introduction of rules by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) on Feb. 22 that required them to file new preregistration undertakings and adhere to added restrictions.
Although Binance had reportedly filed a new preregistration undertaking, it explained in a tweet:
“Unfortunately, new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges makes the Canada market no longer tenable for Binance at this time.”
The new CSA rules prohibit firms “from permitting Canadian clients to enter into crypto contracts to buy and sell any crypto asset that is itself a security and a derivative” and define stablecoins as a security.
OKX pulled out of the Canadian market in March. It was followed in April by the decentralized exchange dYdX and blockchain fintech Paxos.
Binance sent its Canadian users an email that instructed them to close their open positions by Sept. 30, 2023. “From Oct. 1, 2023, Canadian customers will be put into liquidation-only mode,” it warned. The exchange added:
“While we do not agree with the new guidance, we hope to continue to engage with Canadian regulators aimed at a thoughtful, comprehensive regulatory framework.”
Binance operated in all Canadian provinces and territories except Ontario, which it withdrew from in March 2022 after a lengthy disagreement with the province’s regulators.
All are preserved for Canadian cryptophiles, however. Kraken filed the new preregistration undertaking in March and stated its commitment to staying in Canada. The CSA lists 11 platforms “Authorized to Do Business with Canadians.”
