Coinberry became Canada’s first “pure-play registered crypto trading platform” last month. The curious fact that Tether (USDT), a US dollar stablecoin, is banned from the platform was hidden with permission.
“Canadians have been looking for a safe, trustworthy, and regulated platform to acquire crypto assets for far too long”. Coinberry CEO Andrei Poliakov said at the time. We’re finally able to provide them with one.”
Regulation is beneficial to digital asset marketplaces because it provides additional assurance to platform users. Coinberry will undoubtedly emphasise the importance of following the law.
Tether has been added to the “prohibited crypto assets list,” which includes Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, and Litecoin.
Another Canadian platform, WealthSimple Digital Assets, received the same restrictions as Coinberry in June 2021.
With a market valuation of $66 billion, Tether is the most active stablecoin in the digital assets ecosystem. The dollar-based stablecoin simplifies digital asset trading by allowing investors to immediately terminate a trade and store their funds in something that reflects the value of the dollar (or another stablecoin).
Fitch recently issued a warning about stablecoins with only fractional reserves in actual dollars. The warning cited the fact that some issuers possess commercial paper, government securities, and maybe other assets.
Tether was facing the allegation to be the subject of a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice in July.
Meanwhile, the regulatory drums have been beating harder in the United States. Public authorities have been making pronouncements about the necessity for more governmental monitoring of stablecoins in general.
The Ontario Securities Commission explained in Wealthsimple’s approval filing:
The CSA [Canadian Securities Administrators] is considering a temporary, time-limited registration framework that would allow crypto-asset platforms to operate in a regulated environment, with regulatory requirements tailored to the crypto asset platform’s operations, in order to foster innovation and respond to novel circumstances. The regulatory framework’s overarching purpose is to strike a balance between the need to be flexible and promote innovation in the Canadian capital markets. Along with adhering to the regulatory mandate of ensuring investor safety and fair and efficient capital markets.”
Although the desire to foster innovation is admirable. It may be a forerunner to more scrutiny in the stablecoin market, as well as possible enforcement actions. Tether is the biggest (and only) systemic risk to the digital assets ecosystem. According to ARCA CIO Jeff Dorman, who warned that it might lose its peg to the dollar and create a “run on the bank.”
