Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp is pulling out of the Canadian market in early 2024 after admitting it doesn’t have the necessary resources to meet new regulations. Bitstamp will halt operations in the North American country from 8 January. It has urged its customers in Canada to withdraw funds and deactivate accounts before that date.
Crypto exchange Bitstamp to halt services in Canada in January 2024
However, Bitstamp is not planning for it to be a permanent goodbye. In a statement published on Wednesday, the Luxembourg-based exchange said it wants to return to Canada in the future. CEO and Global CCO Bobby Zagotta claimed the decision to leave was primarily a timing issue and driven by the fact it can’t currently allocate the time and funds to meet local regulations in the region. Zagotta added:
We want to emphasize that your crypto assets always remain yours, and we are committed to reaching out to any customers who were unable to close their accounts themselves to ensure the return of their funds.
Growth is still on the agenda for Bitstamp; the platform wants to offer a wider range of services in the UK and launch derivatives trading in Europe next year. However, expansion plans are centred on markets where evolving regulatory environments will pose less of a headache.
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Attracting more clients is important for Bitstamp as its current daily trading volume of $114m is dwarfed by major competitors such as Binance, which regularly trades around $4bn during the same period. That’s despite claiming to be the worlds-longest running exchange of its kind, having been founded 12 years ago.
