Coinsquare chief operating officer shares thoughts on being the first regulated crypto dealer exchange in Canada
It's a story that still haunts the early generation of Canadian crypto users to this day. Four years prior, Gerald Cotten, co-founder of Canada's then-largest cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, died under mysterious circumstances in India. But, before his passing, Cotten took virtual keys for digital wallets and moved them into cold storage, leading to the permanent loss of $190 million in user funds.
The incident triggered a crisis of confidence in the country's emerging crypto sector and made regulators deeply skeptical of blockchain technology. However, old wounds eventually heal. Fast forward to today, and Coinsquare has taken over to become one of Canada's largest crypto exchanges, with $8 billion in cumulative trading volume since 2014.
In an interview with Cointelegraph business editor Sam Bourgi, Coinsquare chief operating offic Eric Richmond explained that a regulatory framework now exists to prevent similar incidents in the future:
As the regulation only came into force recently, all crypto exchanges are given a two-year exemption where they must register with the IIROC during this period. Currently, Coinsquare is the only firm in the space that is IIROCregistered. Similarly, the company has a strict set of rules in place when it comes to listing new tokens to ensure its users do not fall victim to scams:
Canadian regulators have taken a harsh stance on exchanges allegedly not abiding by the new rules. In March, Binance ceased operations in the province of Ontario and admitted to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) that it was unregistered there. Similarly, the OSC took enforcement action against cryptocurrency exchanges KuCoin and Bybit, claiming a violation of securities laws.
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