According to Bitstamp’s plans for the beginning of 2024, the crypto company will shut down all its operations in Canada. The actual reason behind this move has not exactly been divulged, but as per the CEO of Bitstamp, Bobby Zagotta, this decision was reached after much deliberation, and he added that they were indeed grateful for all the support they received from Canadian customers. He did mention that there is still a possibility of them resuming their operations at some later date.
Zagotta went on to add that they had shared this information with their customers in March itself. The company will, however, pull down the shutters on January 8, 2024. The resultant factor will be that the Canadian accounts will be off-limits for the customers. They will have the option of withdrawing their funds until January 8, 2023, after which they have advised them to completely deactivate their Bitstamp accounts.
Bitstamp exchange ouster from Canada comes after a similar move by Binance and Bybit. Earlier on, companies like OKX, along with Paxos and Dydx, had made their exit, too. Before Binance’s exit, the company had mentioned the fact that the Canadian market was no longer conducive for stablecoins, pertaining to limitations being put on investors with regards to a discriminatory outlook towards crypto exchanges.
In the case of Bybit, the company had declared that it would be stopping its operations in Canada by the end of May and instructed users to shut down their accounts, with the time limit set for the end of September.
All of these events occurred after the deadline set by the Canadian Securities Administrators at the beginning of the year for crypto exchanges to become listed and fulfill pre-listing requirements.
Despite that, on October 6, 2023, the CSA issued a declaration that certain stablecoins will have the option of trading, provided they comply with the set regulations. CSA also added that it will be necessary for stablecoin suppliers to have adequate asset reserves, which a designated custodian will hold. This, however, does not have anything to do with CSA’s overall opinion of crypto. As per the concerned authorities at CSA, matters should not be taken for granted by the crypto companies.
Source: https://www.cryptonewsz.com/bitstamp-to-cease-operations-in-canada/