CoinRise Ltd. is not registered to trade or sell securities or derivatives in Saskatchewan, authority says
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Blockchain, Crypto, Digital Assets Regulations
NASAA: Crypto scams are the leading threat to investors in 2022
Investment Executive |James Langton | Jan 10, 2022
Frauds and scams involving crypto and other digital assets are the leading threat to investors in 2022, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).
The umbrella group of U.S. state and Canadian provincial regulators released its annual list of the top investor protection concerns, based on surveys of the regulators themselves.
See: Over 400 SEC new enforcements in 2021 including Crypto, Dark Web, DeFi targets
Schemes that are linked to crypto (and digital assets generally) were the leading issue, followed by promissory notes frauds, social media scams, and schemes targeting self-directed retirement accounts.
Joseph Borg, Alabama Securities Commission director and co-chair of NASAA’s enforcement committee, said in a release:
“By far, NASAA’s securities regulators revealed that investments related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets is our top investor threat”
NASAA said that the added uncertainty about where digital assets fit within the traditional regulatory framework may make it easier for fraudsters to dupe investors.
“Before you jump into the crypto craze, be mindful that cryptocurrencies and related financial products may be nothing more than public facing fronts for Ponzi schemes and other frauds,” said Joseph Rotunda, Texas State Securities Board enforcement division director, and vice-chair of NASAA’s enforcement committee.
Chain Analysis: Illicit crypto activity reaches all-time high BUT total Crypto activity growing faster
“The most common telltale sign of an investment scam is an offer of guaranteed high returns with no risk. It is important for investors to understand what they are investing in and with whom they are investing,” said Melanie Senter Lubin, president of NASAA and Maryland Securities Commissioner.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Federal documents warn of sweeping implications if ‘digital loonie’ adopted
Global News | Jordan Press | Jan 3, 2022
Internal government documents show Finance Department officials believe there could be sweeping implications for the economy if the Bank of Canada ever issued its own cryptocurrency.
The Bank of Canada has spent years looking at whether to introduce a digital currency, but so far hasn’t seen an immediate need to issue one.
See: Podcast: CBDC implementation models and the role of the private sector including Payments Canada architect
In one briefing note from last January, officials warned Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland that the issuance of a central bank digital currency would entail “wide-reaching implications for the economy, the financial system” and the Bank of Canada’s operations.
Large swaths of the documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the access-to-information law have been blacked out because the department says they contain sensitive government information.
See: Latest from BIS and a group of 7 central banks including Canada on retail CBDCs
But what remains suggests some federal concerns about a central bank digital currency, with departments wanting to provide more input before a decision is made.
The bank only plans to issue a digital currency if the use of physical bills for transactions plummets and one or more private cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, become widely used in Canada.
The government and central bank have paid more attention to planned stablecoins whose value is less volatile, as the name implies, and are backed by cash and government securities.
The use in Canada of private cryptocurrencies tied to the American dollar would strain the Bank of Canada’s ability to manage monetary policy for the benefit of the country, said Jeremy Kronick, associate director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute.
See:
Bank of Canada Staff Paper: Bitcoin Adoption and Beliefs in Canada
ECB Report on CBDCs: Functional scope, pricing and controls
He said the bank needs to incentivize private cryptocurrencies to use the Canadian dollar as a backing.
“The government could quash this thing in a second. The government could just say, ‘forget it, you can’t transact in Canada,”’ said Kronick, who recently co-authored a paper about the merits of a Bank of Canada digital currency. I don’t think they want to because there are benefits to the private cryptos that people like, but we want to also maintain that public good function. To do that, I think the (central bank digital currency) is the way to go."
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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McCarthy Tetrault: Fintech Regulatory Developments: 2021 Year in Review
McCarthy Tetrault | Ana Badour, Nancy Carrol, Hartly Lefton, Laure Fouin and Michae Scherman | Jan 4, 2022
As anticipated in our 2020 year in review, there were significant and notable developments in the Canadian Fintech industry in 2021.
The following is a summary of some of the key Fintech developments in 2021, as well as some regulatory developments on which to keep a watchful eye in 2022.
WHAT WE SAW IN 2021
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PAYMENTS DEVELOPMENTS
- The Retail Payment Activities Act (“RPAA”) was introduced and enacted in 2021. This legislation, once in effect, will require payment service providers operating in Canada to register with the Bank of Canada and meet certain operational requirements, including requirements in respect of safeguarding end-user funds, mitigating operational risk and reporting requirements. The relevant regulations and guidance have not yet been issued, however, the Bank of Canada has released minutes of meetings of the Retail Payment Advisory Committee and some discussion guides from such meetings.
- The Federal Advisory Committee on Open Banking also released its final report in August 2021. The report recommended that the federal government implement an open banking system by 2023, based on a hybrid “made-in-Canada” collaborative approach between industry and policy makers. The report suggests the appointment of an open banking lead in the early phase, to be replaced by an entity to administer the open banking system during the second phase. In addition, the report recommended an accreditation system. On the question of liability, the report recommended that liability should flow with the data and lie with the party at fault.
See: Interac and many of Canada’s leading financial institutions enhance Interac e-Transfer to introduce instant digital payments for businesses
- Payments Canada launched Lynx, its high-value payment system replacing the Large Value Transfer System (“LVTS”), in September 2021. Lynx will support data-rich payments through ISO 20022 messages. Payments Canada also released a consultation paper on the Pre-Authorized Debits (PAD) Rule, seeking to modernize it.
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ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
- On June 1, 2021, a series of regulatory amendments made to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act(the “PCMLTFA”) and related regulations over the past few years came into force, together with changes to guidance issued by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (“FINTRAC”). New obligations came into effect with respect to prepaid payment products and virtual currency transactions, while designated non-financial businesses and professions (“DNFBPs”) now have obligations with respect to politically exposed persons and heads of international organizations (“PEP/HIO”) and beneficial ownership.
- The FINTRAC guidance now provides for a new reliance method and a simplified identification method as a way to identify a person or entity. FINTRAC also issued new guidance on the 24-hour rule and the travel rule, while updating existing guidance on business relationships, ongoing monitoring, third party determination, terrorist property reporting and correspondent banking relationships.
- FINTRAC also issued a notice stating that it will exercise flexibility and reasonability when assessing reporting entities’ compliance with the new requirements. From June 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, FINTRAC will assess compliance with the regulatory requirements in effect prior to June 1, 2021. FINTRAC will begin assessing compliance with the amended requirements on April 1, 2022, taking a reasonable and flexible approach, as communicated in the Notice on forthcoming regulatory amendments and flexibility.
- In 2021 FINTRAC began taking full responsibility for compliance examinations of federally regulated financial institutions that were formerly undertaken by OSFI.
See: US House Committee on Financial Services Provides Insight into Regulatory Needs of Crypto Industry
- On the global front, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued key guidance on virtual assets, outlining its view on the application of the FATF recommendations to virtual assets, including providing further clarification on the definitions of “virtual assets” and “virtual asset service providers” and addressing current developments such as stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), initial coin offerings (“ICOs”), decentralized finance (“DeFi”) and decentralized applications (“DApps”).
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CRYPTOCURRENCY AND DIGITAL ASSET REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
- Securities Developments
- In March 2021, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”), along with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”), published CSA Staff Notice 21-327: Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets (see our insights into Staff Notice 21-329 here) clarifying their views that entities facilitating the trading of crypto assets may be subject to securities legislation: (1) when the crypto asset is a security or a derivative, or (2) when the crypto contract or instrument does not result in an obligation to make immediate delivery of the crypto asset or is not settled by the immediate delivery of the crypto asset (a “crypto contract”). As a result, we expect to see regulatory scrutiny increase in Canada as compliant players take additional steps to become or stay in compliance while non-compliant players will have to enter into discussions with regulators, review their business models or exit the Canadian market altogether. Entities facilitating the trading of crypto assets, whether as dealers or as marketplaces, may be considered crypto-trading platforms (“CTPs”). As such, they should obtain legal advice on their business model and consider engaging with regulators.
- A number of entities facilitating the trading of crypto assets obtained temporary discretionary exemptions to continue to operate under certain specific conditions while working toward their full investment dealers registrations with the appropriate members of the CSA and their dealer member registrations with IIROC.
- In addition, CSA and IIROC published Staff Notice 21-330 Guidance for Crypto-Trading Platforms: Requirements relating to Advertising, Marketing and Social Media Use (see our insights into Staff Notice 21-330 here) to provide guidance to CTPs regarding statements in advertising and marketing materials that could be considered false or misleading, concerns over the use of gambling-style contests, promotions or schemes, compliance and supervisory challenges when using social media to promote CTPs, and compliance with securities legislation generally.
See: Updated Report: Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World (Nov 2021)
- Regulation of Crypto Contracts as a Regulatory Priority
- The Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) in its 2021 / 2022 Statement of Priorities specifically includes “work with the CSA and IIROC, to strengthen oversight of crypto asset trading platforms to bring crypto firms engaging in dealer or marketplace activities into compliance with securities laws”.
- IIROC in its 2022 Statement of Priorities also specifically intends to “continue to work with the CSA in ensuring that [crypto asset trading platforms] subject to [securities law] requirements are fully integrated in the Canadian regulatory system”.
- Enforcement Actions Against Foreign Platforms
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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OSC to Binance Investors ‘Not So Fast’: Binance Canada Receives License to Operate as Money Service Business
Crowdfund Insider | | Dec 31, 2021
Put this one in the win category for Binance.
Binance Canada, or Binance Canada Capital Markets, Inc., received a nice Christmas present this past week as it was approved to operate as a registered Money Service Business (MSB),
The Calgary-based operation is approved to provide foreign exchange dealing, money transferring, and dealing in “virtual currencies.” The license is good until December 2024.
The Moose in the Room.
Binance may not yet be out of the woods quite yet.
The OSC posted a statement yesterday, December 3o, 2021, that “Binance is NOT registered in Ontario.” To quote the provincial regulator:
“The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is notifying investors that Binance is not registered under securities law in Ontario. This means they are not authorized to offer trading in derivatives or securities to persons or companies located in the province.
See: Binance Received Regulatory Approval From Canada and Bahrain
Binance represented to OSC Staff that no new transactions involving Ontario residents would occur after December 31, 2021. Binance has issued a notice to users, without any notification to the OSC, rescinding this commitment. This is unacceptable.
No entity in the Binance group of companies holds any form of securities registration in Ontario.
Unregistered platforms operating in Ontario may be subject to action, including temporary orders, to ensure compliance which could affect their ongoing local business operations.
To date, six crypto asset trading platforms are registered in Ontario. The OSC continues to work with firms that initiated compliance discussions with Staff, further to its March 29, 2021 warning, and for which it is Principal Regulator, to assess the appropriate path to registration.”
As securities are regulated in Canada at the provincial level, Binance may end up being disciplined by the OSC for its recent statements.
The OSC threw down the gauntlet adding that crypto platforms that are misrepresenting their status may raise “concerns about the fitness of the firm and its principals for registration.”
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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[Alert]: Saskatchewan’s consumer affairs authority issues warning about crypto platform CoinRise
CBC | Dec 27, 2021
CoinRise Ltd. is not registered to trade or sell securities or derivatives in Saskatchewan, authority says
The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan has issued a warning about a cryptocurrency platform, which claims to be based out of Regina.
The online trading platform CoinRise Ltd. is not registered to trade or sell securities or derivatives in Saskatchewan, according to the warning issued on Dec. 22.
CoinRise Ltd. did not respond to CBC News requests for comment about the financial consumer affairs authority warning.
See: Over 400 SEC new enforcements in 2021 including Crypto, Dark Web, DeFi targets
CoinRise Ltd.'s website states it helps people "take control of your investments and take your investment skills and abilities to the next level" through cryptocurrency trading and investment opportunities
The company's website said its employees had years of experience working with various partners in "all aspects of dealing with finance."
The company's website listed an address on Hamilton Street in Regina, though an auto-generated response to an email requesting comment for this article listed a different address in the capital along Quance Street E.
The consumer affairs authority warned investors and consumers not to send money to companies not registered in Saskatchewan as they may not be legitimate and their money could be lost.
See: How you can experiment, learn and improve with OSC TestLab
Anyone who invested with, or was contacted by anyone claiming to act on CoinRise Ltd.'s behalf was asked to call the financial and consumer affairs authority's securities division at 306-787-5936.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Updated Report: Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World (Nov 2021)
Law Library of Congress U.S. |
Cryptocurrencies, once obscure and primarily associated with financing illegal activities, have become mainstream. Cryptocurrencies are a type of virtual currency that uses cryptographic algorithms to validate and secure transactions. The transactions are digitally recorded on a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain. As more and more people invest in and trade cryptocurrencies, governments around the world are taking note. Whereas El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, other governments, such as China, are prohibiting private cryptocurrencies altogether. India recently decided against awarding legal tender status to Bitcoin and is reportedly working on a Cabinet note on regulating an official central bank digital currency (CBDC), while banning private cryptocurrencies.
See: IMF asks Financial Stability Board to develop a global framework for standards for regulation of crypto assets
The Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) of the Law Library of Congress recently updated a more comprehensive 2018 Law Library of Congress report on the regulation of cryptocurrencies around the world. The update adds the United States to the surveyed jurisdictions. We are excited to share with you this research, Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World: November 2021 Update. The report consists of a jurisdictional table with citations and two maps that visually represent findings from the table. It focuses on two topics. First, the legal status of cryptocurrencies, meaning whether a country either explicitly or implicitly bans cryptocurrencies. Prohibiting banks and other financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies or offering services to individuals/businesses dealing in cryptocurrencies or banning cryptocurrency exchanges are examples of implicit bans. Second, the table shows the regulatory framework surrounding cryptocurrencies, in particular the application of tax laws and anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism laws (AML/CFT laws) to cryptocurrencies.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Rise of Regulatory Compliant DeFi Protocols
European Blockchain Convention | Dec 17, 2021
European Blockchain Convection hosted an exciting conversation featuring crypto market leaders who agreed that decentralized finance (DeFi) would ultimately become the future of finance. The discussion sought to understand how institutional investors can access DeFi.
With institutional investors, regulation has to be there for this particular group to feel comfortable with the crypto market. This was quite clear from a previous panel, where the consensus was there is no way asset managers are putting clients’ money into crypto without feeling the space is safe enough from a regulatory point of view.
According to Chris Sullivan, Co-founder of Hyperion Decimus, the first layer of regulation should protect investors from fraud which unfortunately doesn’t happen with the existing rules. A recent report by Elliptic, a London-based firm, indicates that investors have lost over $10 billion on DeFi products.
“The first layer of regulation should protect investors from fraud” – Chris Sullivan, Co-founder of Hyperion Decimus
According to Sullivan, the crypto community should create a set of principles for how the area should grow, including clear procedures for how businesses and products can be developed.
The problem of relying on regulators is that they always have to play catch up to a space that is developing at a breathtaking pace. However, according to Sullivan, institutional fund managers, in areas where regulators move fast to address fraudulent behavior, can have strong audit protocols that help them smell out fraudulent projects early, which benefits their clients.
Rise Of Regulatory Compliant DeFi Protocols
Concordium is an example of a regulatory compliant DeFi project that identifies users at the protocol level, thereby boosting trust between the involved parties and allowing for accountability with relevant regulators. However, the ID stamps are encrypted, allowing for private transactions. Lone Fonss Schroder, the company CEO, says that the project is in a position to build substantial and institutionalized products through its CCD token that will facilitate stable prices with low fees.
See: As regulators circle above, how should the DeFi industry respond?
The need to create trust and do things right is a significant driver for upcoming regulatory compliant DeFi protocols. And even though the space is full of experimental projects, Schroder believes it is irresponsible to allow half-baked projects to thrive where investor money is involved, just like a test car can not be allowed to the market without proper assurance it meets all the safety requirements.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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