Ontario Regulators Crack Down on Firms Tied to Crypto Exchange KuCoin

The Ontario Securities Commission in Canada has announced it is taking action against two companies linked with cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin.

2 min read

Jun 8, 2021

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is taking action against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin for failing to meet relevant securities laws. Ontario is Canada’s most populated province.

Last month, the OSC took action against Polo Digital Assets, Ltd., a Seychelles-based company that operates cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex.

This time, the regulator has come down on two companies linked with the crypto exchange KuCoin. Each firm reportedly missed the deadline to enter into discussions about bringing the platform into compliance with Ontario securities laws.

On March 29, the OSC warned cryptocurrency companies that they must comply with the province’s securities laws to offer derivatives or securities trading in Ontario. Since then, more than 70 platforms have initiated compliance discussions with the regulator.

According to the OSC, “a process is in place for crypto asset trading platforms to bring their operations into compliance with Ontario securities law.”

In an announcement released on June 7, the OSC identified the two companies as Mek Global Limited and PhoenixFin Pte Ltd.

Mek Global is a Seychelles-based business identified as KuCoin in its terms of service, while PhoenixFin Pte is a Singapore-based company that owns the kucoin.com domain.

“KuCoin is operating an unregistered crypto asset trading platform, encouraging Ontarians to use the platform, and allowing Ontario residents to trade crypto asset products that are securities and derivatives,” said the agency in a Statement of Allegations against the two companies.

In its request, the OSC’s enforcement staff wants the Commission to order KuCoin to cease trading securities either permanently or for a period specified by the regulator.

Both Mek Global and PhoenixFin also face administrative penalties to the tune of up to $CAD 1 million ($827,000) “for each failure to comply with Ontario securities law” and will have to cover the investigation costs.

Get crypto news straight to your inbox--

sign up for the Decrypt Daily below. (It’s free).

Get Email!

Meta Pushes AI Chatbot Into Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp

Social media giant Meta has added its newest AI assistant to almost all its apps, co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday. “We are releasing the new version of Meta AI, our assistant that you can ask any question across our apps and glasses,” Zuckerberg said in a video posted to Instagram. “Our goal is to build the world's leading AI and make it available to everyone.” The news comes as Meta released the core components of Llama 3 under an open-source license, allowing public us...

The Price of BTC Won't Rise After Bitcoin Halving, JP Morgan Says

Bitcoin is due to undergo its hotly anticipated halving event in just over 24 hours as of this writing, slashing the rewards provided to Bitcoin miners in half and slowing the creation of new coins. Constraining supply sounds like a move that would spur a bullish market, but America’s biggest bank says it’s not so simple. In a Thursday note cited by Bloomberg, JP Morgan analysts said that the oldest and largest digital asset has already been overbought. “We do not expect Bitcoin price increases...

Crypto Cat Fight: Why the Legal Claws Are Out Over Solana Meme Coin Shark Cat

Here’s an extremely specific problem: Say you take a photo of your pet and put it online. Then, let’s say that photo becomes a viral meme. Eventually, that meme inspires a crypto token that rapidly generates hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in value. Soon your pet is the hottest thing in crypto. Soon, she’s making anonymous traders you’ve never met into millionaires—but not you. Soon, depictions of your pet—both cute and less savory—are flowing in insular Discord and Telegram c...

News

Courses

Deep Dives

Coins

Videos