As part of its strategy to depart the market, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange dYdX has announced that it will be banning user accounts in Canada over the next week.
dYdX announced its intention to “wind down services” in Canada in a blog post published on April 7. The company stated that it would begin by ceasing the process of onboarding new consumers situated in the nation. On April 14, the exchange will transition all of its current Canadian users into a “close-only mode,” which will only enable them to withdraw monies from their accounts.
According to the exchange, “DYdX is committed to providing transparency around product decisions and democratizing access to financial opportunity.” We have high hopes that the current regulatory environment in Canada will evolve in the next years and make it possible for us to continue our services in that nation.
The decision to take this action came after the Canadian Securities Administrators announced further limits for the registration requirements of cryptocurrency exchanges in the nation. In order to comply with the regulations, platforms have to “prohibit Canadian clients from entering into crypto contracts to buy and sell any crypto asset that is itself a security and/or a derivative.”
Many customers of dYdX and those involved in the cryptocurrency field voiced their disapproval of a campaign that was offered by the decentralized exchange in September 2022. The promotion offered a $25 deposit bonus for validating someone’s identification by utilizing a live webcam picture. The initiative was eventually discontinued by the exchange, which gave the reason as “overwhelming demand” rather than some of the privacy issues that were raised.
