Strict regulation in Canada is also fine! Coinbase prefers Canadian practices over those in the United States.

In February of this year, Canada implemented strict regulatory rules on the cryptocurrency industry, leading to the exit of several major cryptocurrency exchanges from the Canadian market, including the leading centralized exchange Binance. However, for Coinbase, compared to the less visible regulatory rules in the United States, the clear industry regulations in Canada seem to be more favorable.

Strict Regulation in Canada Doesn't Drive Everyone Away

According to previous reports, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a notice on February 22 this year, outlining several rules related to Crypto Asset Trading Platforms (CTPs).

However, these rules seem to be too strict, leading to the departure of several exchanges, including Binance, OKX, Deribit, and Blockchain.com.

For Coinbase, the unclear regulatory rules in the United States have left it unsure about compliance, and it even received a Wells notice from the SEC in March this year. The clear framework in Canada is seen as more conducive to business development.

Coinbase: Praises Canada's Regulatory Approach

In an interview with Nana Murugesan, Coinbase's Vice President of International and Business Development, by CoinDesk, he explicitly stated his preference for Canada's approach.

"We see regulators taking two approaches: one is through engagement, and the other is through enforcement. The latter is hard to comply with because you don't know what the rules are. But in Canada, regulators are definitely in the former camp, engaging, and we like that."

Following Canada's tightened regulations this year, Coinbase complied with the rules in March by signing the PRC Pre-Registration Undertakings and is now regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission. Currently, Coinbase has around 200 engineers in Canada.

Furthermore, Nana mentioned that Coinbase plans to support a new payment method in Canada, which is Interac, aiming to make the exchange between fiat and cryptocurrency smoother for Canadian users.

Note: Interac is Canada's bank payment network that connects local financial institutions, individuals, and businesses to facilitate electronic payment systems.