TORONTO — The Ontario Securities Commission says cryptocurrency exchange Binance has agreed to stop facilitating trades for Ontario account holders, after making similar promises last year but continuing to operate in the country.
The new promise was made in an undertaking with the regulator on Wednesday and is legally enforceable.
The undertaking also includes promises to cease opening new Ontario accounts and provide fee waivers and reimbursements to some users as it winds down business in the province.
It comes after Binance announced last June that it would withdraw services from the province, following a March 2021 order forcing cryptocurrency platforms to register with the OSC or face enforcement action.
The OSC says Binance was still allowing Ontario investors to continue to trade and had advertised the service was still available in tweets.
The OSC has been telling crypto asset trading platforms over the last year that they must register or face enforcement, but so far only six have registered.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2022.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misstated the length of time the OSC has spent asking crypto asset trading platforms to register.
