Binance Pushes Back Against ‘Broad Inquiry’ From Canadian Securities Regulator

Binance received the probe on May 10, just before the exchange announced it was leaving Canada on May 12

article-image

Grey82/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Binance faces a probe from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and was served with the documents on May 10.

On May 12, Binance announced that it was withdrawing from the Canadian market. 

“Unfortunately, new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges makes the Canada market no longer tenable for Binance at this time,” Binance said in a statement on Twitter.

Binance, in a document filed with the Capital Markets Tribunal on May 18, has requested that the Tribunal “quash the Summons” it received from the OSC.

Binance claims that the OSC is conducting an “extremely broad inquiry into whether Binance may have taken steps to circumvent Ontario securities law and compliance controls in relation to Binance.com or engaged in conduct contrary to Ontario securities law and/or the public interest without any limitation.”

“While we respect the investigative process of any regulator, including the Ontario Securities Commission, we consider this latest action by the OSC to be ungrounded. The OSC has made a request to access virtually limitless private data in the hope they may find something untoward,” a Binance spokesperson told Blockworks via email. 

The summons included a blanket request for “all communications regarding Ontario (or Canada generally) among directors, officers, employees, contractors, agents and consultants of Binance Holdings Limited and related entities, including Binance Canada Capital Markets Inc […] since January 1, 2021, without limitation.”

In an amended tribunal application, Binance claims that the OSC is requesting the exchange produce documents “outside of its custody or possession, which is beyond the Commission’s investigative powers.” 

In a statement dated March 17, 2022, the OSC acknowledged Binance’s undertaking and said that the exchange “confirms that activities involving Ontario residents have ceased, apart from certain permitted actions to protect investors.”

The agreement between the OSC and Binance acknowledged that Binance would not open new Ontario accounts and would wind down business “in certain products” while “ceasing trading in existing accounts.”

“In early 2022, Binance reached an agreement with the OSC committing to several actions, including restricting Ontario users and providing quarterly reporting to the OSC. Since signing this agreement, Binance has diligently fulfilled its terms. In fact, at no time has the OSC indicated that Binance is in breach of the agreement,” the spokesperson said. 

The probe came after Binance acknowledged that it had incorrectly notified Ontario users that they could continue to use the platform after December 29, 2021. 

“Additionally, Binance commits that it will continue to prevent any activities involving Ontario residents, apart from these permitted actions […] Binance undertakes to maintain these restrictions until further notice to Binance by the OSC,” the 2022 statement said.

Another document, filed on May 29, shows that a hearing will be held on June 2.

“To be clear, Binance has strong controls in place to prevent Ontario residents from trading on our platform. Nothing has changed that would warrant this open-ended, overly broad investigation. We will vigorously defend our business, the crypto community and the industry against this action,” the Binance spokesperson told Blockworks. 

In a Twitter Spaces on Wednesday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao discussed Binance’s departure, “So basically, in order to fulfill all of those regulatory requirements [in Canada], we cannot use our current product or products. We will have to build something new. That’s something very customized, and something that probably — well, we view — that operationally will be very expensive.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).jpg

Research

Jupiter has emerged as the undisputed liquidity backbone of Solana, commanding over 90% of spot DEX aggregation and 80% of perp trading volume. But behind the numbers lies a far more ambitious play: a cross-chain, vertically integrated super-app spanning swaps, synthetics, NFTs, memecoins, and launchpads. This report explores Jupiter’s rapid rise, the monetization upgrades reshaping its revenue profile, and the risks that could unwind its dominance, from token dilution to competition. With annualized revenues nearing $300M, the upside is undeniable, if it can navigate the turbulence.

article-image

In recent weeks, Helium has hit new all-time highs while passing major protocol milestones

article-image

Financial advisers in a January survey said equity ETFs were their top choice for gaining crypto exposure in 2025

article-image

“Why put a target out there that’s really speculative, not knowing exactly where this environment is going to go?” CarMax CEO Bill Nash said

article-image

While the head of Base may support legal sex work, Coinbase policies prohibit said workers from using its exchange.

article-image

EVM bottlenecks fundamentally hold back Ethereum’s scalability

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.