Canada Extends Stablecoin Trading Deadline to Dec. 31, Open to Alternatives

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has extended the deadline for crypto trading platforms to conform to regulations regarding stablecoins.

Canadian crypto trading platforms will have a few more months to fully comply with regulations regarding value-referenced crypto assets (VRCAs), such as stablecoins.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced on Friday that it has extended the deadline for crypto asset trading platforms to conform to the restrictions on VRCAs to Dec. 31, 2024.

The restrictions on VRCAs were first introduced in February 2023. They prohibited stablecoins that were not backed by a single fiat currency (such as algorithmic stablecoins) as of the end of that year. Trading in stablecoins backed by a single fiat currency (FBCAs) was allowed to continue until new regulations came into force on April 30, 2024.

However, crypto asset trading platforms reported technical issues in meeting the April 30 deadline, and it was pushed back to Oct. 31.

The CSA said that it is willing to consider other mechanisms for meeting its concerns, and it noted that crypto asset trading platforms will only be permitted to trade in VRCAs that comply with the conditions of their registration and exemptive relief decisions, or their pre-registration undertakings (PRUs) after Dec. 31.

The new crypto regulations led to an exodus of overseas exchanges. Between March and May 2023, OKX, dYdX, Paxos, Bybit and Binance closed up their operations in Canada.

At the same time, Kraken said it was determined to stay in Canada and attain restricted dealer status. Kraken managing director for Canada Mark Greenberg later praised Canadian regulators in an interview with Cointelegraph. “The Canadian regulators have been collaborative, helpful. […] There’s a clear regulatory pathway. It’s allowed us to invest in the country,” he said.

Gemini filed a pre-registration undertaking — the first step to becoming a restricted dealer — in April 2023.