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New York-based fintech Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure platform, is to withdraw from Canada citing regulatory uncertainty.
Customer accounts without funds will be closed on 9 May, while from 2 June customers will no longer be able to transact from their Paxos account, aside from withdrawing funds.
In a statement, Paxos says: “Paxos will continue to assess its readiness to re-enter the Canadian market in cooperation with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) at a future date.”
Customers will still be able to access their funds after the deadline, Paxos says, “but there will be an additional process and longer waiting periods”.
Last month, cryptocurrency and derivatives exchange OKX announced it will also pull out of Canada following the introduction of new crypto regulations in the country.
The exchange said existing Canadian users must close open options, margins, perpetual and futures positions, as well as withdraw fiat or tokens by 2 June.
In February, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which regulates Canada’s capital markets, laid out the investor protections it expects from cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in the country.
The CSA says crypto exchanges must have enhanced protections for the custody and segregation of crypto assets for Canadian clients and are prohibited from offering margin, credit or other forms of leverage. All cryptocurrency exchanges must also register with Canadian regulators before onboarding users in the country.