World’s Biggest Crypto Exchange Binance is Leaving Canada

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced its decision to withdraw from the Canadian market, joining a growing list of crypto businesses taking similar steps it says.

“We appreciate the regulators who collaborated with us to address the needs of Canadian users,” said Binance on Friday. “Canada, being the home country of our founder, holds sentimental value for us, and we had high hopes for its blockchain industry.”

Binance founder and CEO who goes by CZ, or Changpeng Zhao, is Canadian.

Binance’s decision comes on the heels of new guidelines provided to crypto exchanges pertaining to stablecoins and investor limits. These new rules, unfortunately, render the Canadian market unfeasible for Binance at present it says.

“Despite our efforts to explore all viable alternatives to protect our Canadian users, it has become evident that no suitable options remain,” said Binance.

Binance will soon send comprehensive information via email to its remaining Canadian users, explaining the implications of this decision on their accounts. Despite disagreeing with the new regulations, the company is eager to continue engaging with Canadian authorities in hopes of developing a comprehensive and thoughtful regulatory framework.

“We are confident in our eventual return to the Canadian market,” the spokesperson affirmed, “a time when Canadian users will once more enjoy the freedom to access a broad range of digital assets.”

In recent times, Canada has ramped up regulations for cryptocurrency trading platforms, introducing a new pre-registration process as part of stringent measures. The Ontario Securities Commission restricted Binance from the province back in 2022.

Binance also sent an email out to Canadian customers today, which you can read below:

Dear Binancian,

We regret to inform you that Binance will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace. Albeit a small market, it held sentimental value for us as the home country of our founder. We had high hopes for the rest of the Canadian blockchain industry. 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. We put off this decision as long as we could to explore other reasonable avenues to protect our Canadian users, but it has become apparent that there are none.

We ask the existing Canadian customers to close any open positions by September 30, 2023. From October 1st, 2023, Canadian customers will be put into liquidation only mode. This means that you will no longer be able to use any product on the platform, except to reduce, redeem or close open positions and withdraw funds and cryptocurrencies from the exchange. Your funds will remain safe in your account until you withdraw them. You will be able to withdraw your cryptocurrencies to your self-custody wallet or your cryptocurrency account on another exchange.

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. We are confident that we will someday return to the market when Canadian users once again have the freedom to access a broader suite of digital assets.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this change. If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Customer Service.

Thank you,

Binance

For those seeking a place to buy and sell cryptocurrency in Canada that has been approved by regulators, Toronto’s Wealthsimple is one option.