Canadian regulatory update: Exchange users can purchase up to $30,000 worth of cryptocurrency annually, catching Vitalik's attention

After registering with securities regulators in Canada and various regions, the cryptocurrency exchange Newton has updated its platform policies. Residents in certain areas now have an annual limit of $30,000 for cryptocurrency purchases. However, this limit does not apply to tokens such as ETH and BTC, which has also caught the attention of the Canadian co-founder of Ethereum.

Securities Regulators Intervene

The exchange's announcement emphasizes that this will impact all Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges, not just Newton. The updated policies are primarily aimed at protecting investors and ensuring they understand the risks associated with cryptocurrency assets.

The policy changes involve the intervention of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), a collective of securities regulators from various provinces and territories in Canada.

Annual Purchase Limits

Platform users must complete a questionnaire to continue trading on the platform, providing Newton with information about users' financial status, risk tolerance, and, depending on their location, potential purchase limits on their platform accounts. This limit does not apply to:

• Bitcoin BTC
• Ethereum ETH
• Litecoin LTC
• Bitcoin Cash BCH

When purchasing other cryptocurrencies, users' purchase limits will be consumed, and selling will release limits, with the maximum limit set at $30,000. Users in the following Canadian provinces will be affected by this policy:

• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Northwest Territories
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

Users in Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and other regions are not subject to the above restrictions.

In reality, these restrictions are only superficial, as users can still withdraw funds through four non-compliant tokens to purchase competitive coins on other CEX and DEX platforms without limits. Some members of the cryptocurrency community have pointed out why Bitcoin Cash is listed as an unlimited asset?

David Hoffman, founder of Bankless, gave an example:

If you buy $20,000 worth of SOL, then you only have $10,000 left in your limit. What exactly is Canada doing?

Ethereum founder Vitalik expressed his satisfaction at seeing the Ethereum community speaking out when they see ETH being treated as a special case, but he is still unclear about the specific implementation of the regulation.