BitMEX Cannot Operate In Ontario As It Is Not Registered: Report

BitMEX cannot operate in Ontario because it is not registered according to the Ontario Securities Commission. One of the biggest Bitcoin trading platforms is restricted to operate Canadian provinces as we are reading more in the latest crypto regulation news.

BitMEX cannot operate in Ontario following a request from the Ontario Securities Commission as they will be limiting the access to the platform for the Canadian investors.  The regulator representatives said that BitMEX held no regulatory approval to operate in Ontario:

“BitMEX is not registered or recognized in any capacity in Ontario.”

The representative said that the exchange agreed to restrict Ontario investors from gaining access to the platform after they had a discussion. The statement from the OSC came shortly after BitMEX announced that the platform will be restricting access to users in Ontario starting September 1, 2020. In their announcement, the exchange said that the restrictions were mandated by the OSC while providing no further details about the reasons behind the decision. BitMEX declined to reveal more information about its regulatory status of the operations in Canada so it remains unclear whether the exchange is operating legally.

Ontario is not the only Canadian province where this particular exchange is restricted. According to BitMEX terms of service, the residents and citizens of Quebec are not allowed to access the platform either. In 2019, BitMEX was shutting down the client trading accounts in Quebec alongside the accounts based in the United States and also denied the reports claiming that the platform has banned all US traders since 2015.

According to the exchange’s website, it is also restricted from operating in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Bermuda, Cuba, Republic of Seychelles, Crimea, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, and more. The news came after BitMEX announced a launch of the new user verification program. The compulsory program will roll out at the end of August requiring its users to complete ID checks within the next six months.

The BTC derivatives platform BitMEX is implementing KYC for all users despite their trading size. Moving in the direction of regulatory requirements can push the exchange into a playground for the hedge funds. This provides a lot of opportunities for derivatives DEXes to fill the exchange’s options as a non-KYC trading venue. The new KYC policy requires the users to submit personal information to the exchange by 2021.