Coinberry Second Crypto Asset Dealer To Receive Regulatory Approval By OSC

Toronto-based Coinberry Limited has become the second crypto asset dealer to receive regulatory approval by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

In an order dated August 19, OSC has given Coinberry two years to operate its platform in Ontario; Coinberry has also received approval from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to operate in all Canadian provinces and territories. The company told BetaKit that it plans to make a public announcement of the decision on Monday, August 23.

The decision comes nearly a year after Canadian fintech leader Wealthsimple received the first such order. The company received conditional approval from the CSA through its sandbox program to test the platform for a period of two years.

Evan Thomas, Legal Head of Wealthsimple Crypto, told BitKit in a statement: “We are delighted to see another Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform adopting investor protection, which Wealthsimple Crypto has operated for over a year.” Still waiting to see the impact of regulatory standards in force in the industry. We expect regulators to ensure that other platforms comply with Canadian securities laws very soon.”

For Coinberry co-founder and CEO, Andrei Poliakov, Wealthsimple is “in a different business.”

“Crypto is like an add-on to them, whereas we are the first pure crypto play in Canada [to be regulated],” Poliakov told BetaKit. "It's important for me to note that this is the first company to actually get a seal of approval from commissions that were actually born out of the industry, as opposed to ... being an add-on."

Founded in 2017, Toronto-based Coinberry claims to be the “easiest and most secure way” to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP and Bitcoin Cash. Importantly, and unlike Wealthsimple, Coinberry is an open-loop crypto asset trading platform, which means users can bring crypto assets into and out of the platform for DeFi or personal custody purposes. With what is expected to be the first regulated open-loop crypto asset trading platform in Canada, Vancouver-based Netcoin applied early last year to be regulated through the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) and the CSA's regulatory sandbox program. . .

Poliakov attributed Coinberry's long-standing commitment to pure-play poll status that the company has made compliant with provincial and federal regulation. The CEO said the company first applied for regulatory approval in 2018, and was the first to register with Fintrack, a Canadian federal agency tasked with detecting money laundering and facilitating investigations.

While this initial commitment has allowed Coinberry to get ahead of other Canadian crypto hopefuls, Poliakov was clear that compliance is an industry requirement. "At the end of the day, the last thing anyone wants is another Quadriga in Canada," he said.

To that end, the CEO of Coinberry described the regulatory process as more of an organic process of building trust than displaying a checklist of compliance standards.

“Ultimately, the OSC felt comfortable giving our company its seal of approval,” Poliakov said. "They're working with us as much as we're working with them."