Canadian regulator restricts BitMEX from operating in Ontario

BitMEX trading platform has announced that it will no longer offer digital asset trading services to customers from Ontario, Canada. In a recent blog post, the exchange noted that the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) had mandated this restriction. It did not provide any details about the reasons behind the decision. 

An excerpt from the blog reads: 

The restrictions are mandated by the Ontario Securities Commission. We support the efforts of regulators to help establish standards for cryptocurrency products that will underpin the advancement of this rapidly growing asset class. We will continue to work with the Ontario Securities Commission to support its aims for the Ontario market and will keep our Ontario-resident customers updated.

Ontario is not the only province in Canada where BitMEX is restricted. Citizens of Québec are also not allowed to access the platform. According to its website, BitMEX is also restricted from offering services in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Seychelles, Cuba, Bermuda, Syria, Iran, Crimea and Sevastopol, Sudan and North Korea.

BitMEX, once branded as “Bitcoin casino,” has been subject to a few crises. In November last year, the platform users’ email addresses were accidentally leaked on its trading platform. The exchange’s Twitter account was also compromised soon after that. Earlier this year, the platform announced that its trading engine went offline for more than an hour and called the incident a “major outrage.”