Canadian Binance Clients Urged to Withdraw Funds

In a recent announcement Binance.com, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has made the decision to withdraw from the Canadian market due to new regulatory guidance. The company stated that it is joining other prominent crypto exchange businesses [Bitmex, OKX, Paxful, ByBit] in proactively exiting the Canadian marketplace, citing the new regulations related to stablecoins and investor limits as the primary reason(s) for the decision to pack it in.

Binance expressed its efforts to explore alternative solutions to protect its Canadian users but ended up deciding there were no good options at the present time. The transition followed similar actions taken by other crypto exchanges which retreated from Canada earlier in the year in reaction to these regulatory roadblocks.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) brought in a new set of rules in February (2023) that required crypto-exchanges to implement enhanced protections for the custody and segregation of crypto-assets, refrain from offering margin trading or other forms of leverage and register with Canadian regulators. While Binance disagrees with the new guidance, the company aims to engage with Canadian regulators to establish a well thought out regulatory framework.

To make the transition smooth for Canadian users — Binance has deployed an email notification instructing their clients to close their open positions by Sept. 30th 2023. Beyond this date - Canadian clients’ will be put into "liquidation only mode" as described by Binance. The exchange is instructing users to take action promptly and withdraw their cryptocurrencies from the platform.

Canadian clients looking for immediate liquidity of their BTC or ETH — MyBTC.ca/sell provides a convenient service for selling these assets that need to be offloaded from Binance by the 09/30/2023 deadline. Binance Canada users are being told to trade their alternative digital assets within their Binance trading accounts for BTC or ETH which are compatible assets which can then be sold on MyBTC.ca. Those funds are then able to be withdrawn and transferred to their bank accounts in Canadian dollars via Interac e-Transfer or bank transfer for larger amounts.

As Binance bids farewell to its Canadian users, they emphasize their ongoing commitment to engaging with Canadian regulators and hopes for the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory framework that supports the growth and innovation of the crypto industry in Canada in the future. MyBTC.ca will be available to service those Binance customers who want to actualize their crypto investments into CAD between now and the deadline at the end of September.