Key takeaways:
- The Ontario Securities Commission received a pre-registration undertaking from the crypto exchange Gemini on April 12.
- All crypto exchanges intending to operate in Canada must complete the undertaking required to become a restricted dealer there.
The Ontario Securities Commission, which regulates the capital markets in the most populous province in Canada, received a pre-registration undertaking from the crypto exchange Gemini on April 12. All crypto exchanges intending to operate in Canada must complete the undertaking required to become a restricted dealer there. Gemini’s director of strategy and business development, Cynthia Del Pozo Garcia, wrote:
“As one of the most important and developed markets in the Americas, Canada has played an essential role in Gemini’s international expansion. “
Del Pozo Garcia claims that Gemini is in possession of many licenses globally, including those for state-issued money transmitters, the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, and the Central Bank of Ireland. The director stated, “In connection with our licenses, Gemini is subject to bank examinations performed by the New York Department of Financial Services and must pass annual audits of our financial accounts.
All trading platforms for digital assets were required to execute a pre-registration undertaking that was legally binding on February 22 to continue operating in Canada by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). In addition to other limitations, exchanges cannot accept deposits or purchases of stablecoins from Canadian customers without first receiving CSA clearance. The warning stated, in part:
“In light of recent insolvencies involving a number of CTPs, including Voyager Digital, Celsius Network, the FTX group of companies, BlockFi and Genesis Global (collectively recent CTP insolvency events), we are introducing important new investor protection provisions into the standard form of PRU. “
The cryptocurrency exchange OKX has stated it would stop operating in Canada by June 2023 because the new restrictions went into force.
Paxos, a fintech business, said it would leave Canada due to regulatory uncertainties. Paxos advised customers to withdraw their remaining funds as quickly as possible, despite promising their money would “remain safely” in their accounts. Customers can only withdraw from their Paxos accounts as of June 2, following the company’s announcement informing them of the change.
There has been a claim that Binance and Kraken have submitted the pre-registration undertaking necessary to carry on with operations in the country since then, but both have denied this.
