Coinsquare files to become Canada’s first regulated digital asset marketplace

One of Canada’s largest digital currency exchanges has applied to operate a regulated digital assets marketplace. Coinsquare also announced the appointment of new executives as it seeks to move past recent wash trading incidents.

In its press release, the exchange announced that it had submitted an application to the Ontario Securities Commission to operate a regulated marketplace for digital assets. It also applied with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) to become a dealer.

The digital assets marketplace will avail automated trading systems for digital assets that the regulator has deemed securities.

Coinsquare also announced that it had appointed Nicholas Thandaney and Wendy Rudd to its board of directors. Thandaney is a seasoned fintech and capital markets executive who currently heads Partners Capital Corp. He also previously served as the president of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Rudd, meanwhile, has worked with a number of regulators in Canada, most recently as senior vice president at IIROC.

Coinsquare CEO Stacey Hosak remarked, “The outstanding leaders who have joined our executive team and Board will play an important role in informing and executing our mandate to deliver full transparency and compliance in all aspects of our operations. Our goal is to create a customer-centric safe place for Canadians to trade digital assets.”

The latest moves come after a rocky two years for the Canadian exchange. In July, the Ontario securities regulator accused the company of wash trading—artificially inflating trading volumes to make the exchange look popular. The regulator accused the CEO and CCO of being behind the illegal act.

Coinsquare admitted to the charges, with CEO Cole Diamond and CCO Felix Maizer stepping down and paying hefty fines. Details emerged later that showed Coinsquare had made over 840,000 wash trades worth over $5 billion. This represented over 90% of the total volume traded on the exchange.

Stacey Hosak has since taken over as the CEO, with Lawrence Truong taking over as the chief compliance officer.

Coinsquare’s latest brush-off with regulators came earlier this month after the Canadian Revenue Agency requested the exchange to submit the identity of all their clients. The tax agency claimed that it needed to verify that Coinsquare users were fulfilling their tax obligations.

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