Canada Adds Bybit to List of Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

The Canadian securities regulator has added Bybit to the list of unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges that need to be purged.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) revealed that it has launched proceedings against cryptocurrency exchange Bybit Fintech Limited. The exchange is now part of the unregistered crypto exchanges that the securities regulator intends to purge from Canada.

According to the OSC, Bybit failed to respond to public statements requiring it to start compliance talks with the regulatory agency. The OSC said, “While Bybit purports to facilitate the trading of the crypto assets in its investors’ accounts, in practice, Bybit only provides its investors with instruments or contracts involving crypto assets. These instruments or contracts constitute securities and derivatives.”

The allegation by the OSC puts Bybit in the same category as crypto exchanges Poloniex and Kucoin. The securities regulator is accusing the exchanges of offering custodied crypto as a form of securities contract.

Bybit’s case with the OSC has commenced, with the first hearing scheduled for 1 July. The OSC is taking on several cryptocurrencies for violating Canada’s securities law. The first hearing of the OSC case versus Poloniex was on Friday, and more are expected in the coming months.

In addition to battling these exchanges for violating securities laws, the OSC added 12 cryptocurrency trading platforms to its investor list.

With the US SEC yet to approve a single cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF), Canada’s securities regulator has already approved a few Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. The approval has drawn several institutional investors to Canada, as ETFs allow the investors to gain access to Bitcoin and Ether without holding the actual assets.