Bybit becomes latest crypto exchange to exit Canada

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit said May 30 that it intends to halt all services and products being offered in Canada until further notice due to the regulatory developments in the country.

Bybit said Canadian nationals and residents of the country would no longer be able to open new accounts with the exchange starting May 31.

“In light of recent regulatory development, Bybit has made the difficult but necessary decision to pause the availability of our products and services.”

Services to end

Meanwhile, existing customers can continue to use Bybit services and products until July 31, at which point the exchange will end support for all its services in the country.

Customers will not be able to increase their positions after the deadline, but they will still have access to their funds and will be able to withdraw them or reduce their position.

Bybit added that Canadian customers will have until September 30 to wind down their positions, and failure to do so will result in the automatic liquidation of any and all open positions in margin products and derivative contracts.

The Canadian exodus

Bybit is the latest exchange to exit the Canadian market after the country moved to impose new regulations for the crypto industry in February and gave exchanges an ultimatum to comply or leave.

Under the new rules, exchanges are not allowed to offer any form of leverage — including margin or credit. Additionally, exchanges are prohibited from allowing the purchase or deposit of stablecoins without prior written consent from regulators.

The de-facto ban on stablecoins and leverage services is the primary driver behind the exodus of exchanges from the country.

Earlier in May, Binance announced a similar halting of services for Canadian customers and said the regulatory landscape meant operating in the country was no longer “tenable” for the exchange.

Binance said at the time:

“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.”

Similarly, OKX announced it would temporarily cease operations in the Canadian market in March. A month later, in April, dydx and Paxos also announced that they would no longer offer services in Canada.

All three of them cited the new regulatory guidance as the prime reason behind their decision.

Meanwhile, some exchanges are taking the compliance route and have welcomed more regulation for the crypto sector, even if it is restrictive.

Coinbase and Kraken have both reaffirmed their intent to continue operating in Canada and said they would comply with the new regulatory framework despite its drawbacks.

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