Crypto exchange Gemini to close all customer accounts in Canada
Sep 29, 2024

The Winklevoss-founded crypto exchange Gemini is set to close all customer accounts in Canada by the end of 2024.

In a Sept. 30 email sent out to Canadian users of the exchange, Gemini said it would close all accounts in Canada on Dec. 31 and told users they have 90 days to withdraw assets from the platform.

“Effective December 31, 2024, Gemini will close all customer accounts in Canada with limited exceptions. As a result, we will be closing your Gemini account,” the exchange wrote in its email.

Crypto exchange Gemini to close all customer accounts in Canada

Gemini’s move comes months after the country’s financial regulators introduced rules for crypto exchanges and trading platforms operating on Canadian soil.

On Feb. 22, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a notice requiring all crypto asset trading platforms to sign a legally binding pre-registration undertaking (PRU) to continue operating in the country.

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Among several restrictions, exchanges are prohibited from allowing Canadian clients to buy or deposit stablecoins without prior approval from the CSA.

“In light of recent insolvencies involving a number of CTPs, including Voyager Digital, Celsius Network, the FTX group of companies, BlockFi, and Genesis Global (collectively recent CTP insolvency events), we are introducing important new investor protection provisions into the standard form of PRU,” wrote the CSA.

Related: Gemini urges CFTC to withdraw proposed rule on event contracts

Major international crypto exchanges reacted differently to the new regulatory regime.

Gemini was quick to adhere to the new requirements, filing its pre-registration on April 13 as a spokesperson said that Canada was “one of the most important and developed markets in the Americas” and had played an “essential role in Gemini’s international expansion.“

Cointelegraph contacted Gemini for comment concerning the closure of Canadian accounts, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Kraken and Binance also said after the rules were announced that they had filed the pre-registrations required to continue operations in the country.

Still, Binance later reconsidered and on May 12 announced its departure.

Other exchanges, including OKX , dYdX , Paxos and Bybit also left the Canadian market following the introduction of the new rules.

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