Gemini Is the Latest Exchange to Leave Canada, Following Binance and OKX

Crypto exchange Gemini has joined Binance and OKX by leaving the Canadian market.

The news comes after the Canadian regulator announced a basket of new restrictions on crypto exchanges back in February 2023, enforcing far stricter standards when it comes to custody of funds and providing leverage.

Under the new rules, crypto exchanges will also need to provide daily batches of financial data to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and will need explicit permission to offer customers stablecoins.

Gemini, founded and operated by the Winklevoss twins, will close all Canadian accounts on December 31. Gemini called on users to withdraw their cash and crypto before then.

Binance Downplays Canadian Securities Regulator Investigation After Leaving Country

The world’s biggest crypto exchange continues to find itself in hot water. Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission hit Binance with an investigation order last month, documents show.  According to a filing with the Capital Markets Tribunal, Binance was going to be investigated to see if it had tried to skirt round securities laws.  Binance days later announced that it was leaving the country due to “new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits.” The exchange asked the Securities Commi...

The exchange did not provide a reason for leaving the Canadian market, though the move does put them in good company alongside some of the world’s largest exchanges.

Binance announced a similar move in May 2023, citing “new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges” which it said made the Canadian market “no longer tenable” for the company.

Crypto exchange OKX announced in March 2023 that it was leaving Canada, telling users to withdraw their cash and crypto by June 2023. Stablecoin firm Paxos also left Canada in response to the ban, as did crypto exchange Bybit in May 2023.

Though Gemini may be leaving the country of its own accord, many other crypto firms haven't been so lucky in the past. Canada has previously shown its willingness to kick out firms that don’t meet its compliance requirements.

KuCoin and Poloniex were both banned in Canada in 2022 as a result of failing to meet the requirements of Canadian securities law as set out by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

Bybit Announces Exit From Canada

Crypto exchange Bybit has announced its decision to “pause” its Canadian operations, citing recent regulatory changes. The platform is the latest in a string of crypto firms to pull out of the country, following similar moves from Binance earlier this month and OKX in March. Canada has cracked down on the crypto sector in recent months, introducing a pre-registration process and banning leveraged trading. “It has always been Bybit's primary objective to operate our business in compliance with al...

Despite Gemini and many of the largest players having left the market, Canadians still have a selection of usable exchanges including Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitget.

The CSA claimed it’s tightening up the rules on exchanges was in the interest of protecting customers, citing many of 2022 crypto winter’s most prominent insolvencies such as FTX, BlockFi, Voyager, and Genesis.

The regulator recently pushed back the deadline for complying with the regulations on crypto exchanges until the end of 2024, from the original date in October, to give firms more time to comply with the requirements.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.