Binance withdraws from Canada due to regulatory environment

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency trading platform, announced Friday it is leaving Canada due to the regulatory environment.

The company said on Twitter it "will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace."

"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," it added.

Binance said although Canada was a relatively small market, it held sentimental value for the company since it was the home country of the firm's founder Changpeng Zhao, who was born in China but immigrated with his family to Canada when he was 12 years old.

"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," it said.

Binance noted that the firm's remaining users in Canada are receiving emails with detailed information on how the decision will affect their personal accounts.

Canadian Securities Administrators in February announced new guidance that prohibit users in crypto trading platforms to buy or deposit stablecoins without its regulatory approval.