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- The Ontario Securities Commission published a Statement of Allegations against Bybit last week, prompting Binance’s withdrawal (OSC)
- OSC had previously issued statements of allegations against two other crypto exchanges, Poloniex and KuCoin, in the previous 30 days
- The OSC warned crypto-asset trading platforms that if they wanted to operate in the province, they needed to contact OSC staff or risk being shut down
Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, will no longer operate in the Canadian province of Ontario. The decision comes as a result of ongoing regulatory pressure on digital asset trading platforms, which has already had an impact on the operations of a number of exchanges. As a result, Binance followed the jury’s decision and issued a small announcement to their users. Every person from the Ontario region should close their Binance exchange position, according to Binance exchange. They also implied that users should move all of their funds to their desired location.
Binance banned from from Ontario
Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by daily volume, has informed customers about a change that affects crypto traders in Ontario. The company announced this week that the Canadian province has been designated as a restricted jurisdiction.
Binance explains the move in a press release as part of its ongoing compliance efforts. Binance has updated its Terms of Service to state that Ontario (Canada) has become a restricted jurisdiction, effective 2021-06-26 at 3:59:59 AM (UTC), according to the exchange, which added: Regrettably, Binance can no longer service Ontario-based users. The platform advised cryptocurrency traders in Canada’s most populous region to close all active positions by December 31, 2021.
Securities regulators are putting pressure on exchanges
The Ontario Securities Commission has been targeting digital asset trading platforms in the province in recent weeks and months. The regulator wants them to follow the region’s securities laws, which require registration, which Binance is likely to avoid.
The OSC warned crypto exchanges in March that if they did not contact its staff by April 19 to discuss compliance, they would face legal action. In terms of securities regulation, the commission considers crypto platforms that provide access to Ontario residents to be local operators. Many people have already been caught in the crossfire.
The OSC accused Bybit, a BVI-registered company, of offering Ontarians the opportunity to trade securities and derivatives in the form of crypto-asset products this week. The regulator claimed earlier this month that Kucoin’s two trading platforms were in violation of securities laws. In May, the commission stated that Poloniex, based in Seychelles, had failed to contact it in a timely manner.
Bitmex, a crypto derivatives exchange, followed Binance’s lead and left Ontario in August. From September 2020, the platform, which was not a registered operator in the province, announced that it would restrict access to Ontario users. The move was explained by Bitmex as a result of OSC restrictions.
However, Ontario regulators aren’t the only ones who have scrutinized Binance’s activities in their jurisdiction. The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) issued a warning on Friday that Binance could be operating without a license in the country. The warning comes after the Bank of Japan’s governor slammed Bitcoin as a speculative asset earlier this year.
Users in Japan and Canada who are concerned that service will be discontinued in their countries can take comfort in the fact that trading for some American users has continued on the main Binance site for months, despite requests for users to migrate to Binance US. Furthermore, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao admitted that Americans devise intelligent ways to get around the geofence.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
