In a Friday announcement, Bitfinex said it would immediately close the accounts for Ontario-based customers who do not have funds on the platform. Additionally, the plan was to restrict access to those who did not have open positions in the exchange’s peer-to-peer funding market or open margin positions.
Users who have balances or open positions on Bitfinex and are among Ontario’s approximately 15 million residents — which includes Toronto and the capital Ottawa — will “no longer have access to any services” starting March 1, the exchange announced Customers to withdraw funds before the effective date.
Although Bitfinex made no mention of the Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, the region’s financial regulator was responsible Crackdown on crypto exchanges operating in the region, including OKEx, Bybit, KuCoin, and Polo Digital Assets. In December, the OSC issued a note that Binance is not authorized “to offer derivatives or securities trading to any person or company based in the province” after the crypto exchange reportedly told its users that it could continue to offer services in the region. Binance allegedly said there was a misunderstanding on this subject.
Related: Amid ongoing court cases, Bitfinex announces Tether loan repayment
Bitfinex has also been the target of US regulators. In October, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission crypto exchange fined and its sister company Tether $42.5 million, with Bitfinex allegedly facilitating “illegal, over-the-counter retail digital asset commodity transactions with US persons.” The New York Attorney General’s office had previously asked the two companies to do so Pay $18.5 million in damages and submit to regular reporting of their reserves.
Crypto exchange Bitfinex has announced that starting March 1, users based in the Canadian province of Ontario will no longer be able to access many of its services.
