Coinsquare, one of Canada’s biggest digital currency exchanges, today said it has applied to the country regulators to operate a regulated marketplace for digital assets.
If approved, the proposed venue would be the first to offer Canadians regulated automated trading systems that bring together institutional and retail orders of digital assets deemed securities.
The Toronto-based Exchange , which claims $5 billion per year of cryptocurrency trades and over 100,000 customers, has also announced several new appointments to its senior management. Coinsquare onboarded Nicholas Thadaney and Wendy Rudd to its board of directors. Both executives bring lengthy experience in Canadian securities Regulation , investment dealer operations and regulated marketplaces.
“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,” said Stacey Hoisak, CEO of Coinsquare.
The new hires come shortly after Stacey Hoisak has taken on the role of Coinsquare’s new CEO, and the appointments of Lawrence Truong as Compliance Officer, and Eric Richmond as COO. The exchange has reshuffled its management earlier this year after former CEO, Cole Diamond and Founder, Virgile Rostand stepped down after regulators accused Coinsquare of misleading investors and manipulating the market.
This incident was the first instance in which Coinsquare, aka Canada’s Coinbase, has been disciplined under 2016 laws. Coinsquare principals were also fined $1.9 million and the company was required to create an independent board of directors.
Further, Toronto-based company is facing pressures from the Canadian Revenue Agency to hand over seven years of client data to audit Canadians for unreported crypto gains.
“The measures we have taken are in strict adherence to regulatory requirements and demonstrate Coinsquare’s strengthened commitment to our clients, employees, shareholders, and the digital asset community. Our goal is to create a customer-centric safe place for Canadians to trade digital assets,” the exchange CEO said.
