Coinbase Expands Into Canada Amid US Regulatory Scrutiny

Coinbase has officially expanded into Canada as it continues to battle regulators stateside.

America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange announced Monday (Aug. 14) that it was working with financial services firm Peoples Trust Company to provide access to Interac e-Transfers, thus making crypto more accessible to Canadian users.

“Interac availability was the most requested feature by Canadian users, and today’s news demonstrates Coinbase’s plan to build a platform that is for Canadians, by Canadians,” the company said in a news release. “Depositing funds to Coinbase using Interac is free and almost instant. In the last month, over 50% of deposits have been made through Interac e-transfer.”

According to the release, Coinbase considers Canada a high-priority region as the country is the second-most crypto-aware nation among its international markets. The company also points to an Ontario Securities Commission survey showing that more than 30% of Canadians plan to buy cryptocurrency within the year, more than twice the amount that own crypto assets.

“This presents a significant opportunity for growth in the Canadian market,” Coinbase said.

The company has been talking about international expansion opportunities for much of this year, as it faced increasing pressure from U.S. regulators, chief among them the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In May, the company used its license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority to launch the Coinbase International Exchange. This exchange lets institutional users based in eligible jurisdictions outside of the U.S. trade perpetual futures, which Coinbase said accounted for nearly 75% of worldwide crypto trading volume last year.

“Building out a global perpetual futures exchange for digital assets will help support an updating of the financial system by making Coinbase’s trusted products and services more accessible to users of digital assets who live outside of the U.S.,” Coinbase said at the time.

“As more and more markets are moving forward with regulatory frameworks to become crypto hubs, we believe the moment is right to launch this international exchange,” the company said.

A month after that exchange launched, Coinbase was sued by the SEC, part of a broader crackdown by the agency against the crypto industry. As PYMNTS noted last week, Coinbase has seen its transaction volume fall by nearly 70% amid these actions. 

It has also moved to have the SEC’s case against it dismissed.