TORONTO, CA - October 12, 2022 - Coinsquare, Canada's longest operating crypto asset trading platform, today announced that the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has approved Coinsquare's dealer registration and IIROC membership. This regulatory status will now position Coinsquare as the first crypto-only, IIROC registered investment dealer and marketplace member in the Canadian market across all provinces and territories.Coinsquare proceeded directly to IIROC registration, which imposes a higher standard of regulation that is familiar to customers and provides the greatest degree of investor protection. Competitors will be required to go through the same rigorous path to meet the IIROC regulatory standards within two years of getting their interim, restricted dealer license. Operating with a restricted dealer license allows crypto-asset trading platforms to operate within limited parameters while they prepare for permanent IIROC registration.In dealing with an IIROC registrant, Coinsquare clients now have the added comfort and security of knowing that Coinsquare is operating at the highest level of dealer compliance and oversight under the existing regulatory system.Client Benefits of being IIROC Regulated:Full segregation and safekeeping of client assets through the use of licensed, independently regulated and insured custodians.Strong financial and operational controls, including insurance coverage, regular financial reporting and maintenance of adequate capital to ensure stable operation of the business.Fair pricing obligations: Clients get transparent and fair pricing when trading with Coinsquare and can count on receiving the same best execution quality expected from traditional Canadian investment dealers.Insolvency protection: The cash held in client accounts is insured against platform insolvency by the Canadian Investment Protection Fund (CIPF).Compliance oversight and review: Coinsquare's business conduct, supervisory processes, employee proficiency, internal governance, and trading activity are monitored and are subject to routine examinations."If you trade crypto today in Canada, you are investing outside the fully regulated traditional financial system with its inherent safeguards and protections," says Coinsquare CEO Martin Piszel. "Today, Coinsquare became the only registered crypto IIROC dealer and marketplace member. Now, for the first time, Canadians have the opportunity to invest in crypto assets, knowing that they have full IIROC protections."In addition to becoming an IIROC investment dealer, Coinsquare has also been approved to operate a regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS). Coinsquare plans to further develop its ATS model over time to provide a liquid and transparent market, in the same way traditional equities are traded. Coinsquare believes this model will address the issue of trading in illiquid books in the current fragmented retail crypto environment.As crypto adoption grows, Coinsquare is working to bridge the gap between traditional financial markets and the decentralized ecosystem. IIROC has traditionally overseen all investment dealers and trading activity in Canada's debt and equity markets, and recently, IIROC has taken on the regulation and oversight of cryptocurrency trading in Canada. By registering with IIROC, Coinsquare's more than 500,000 users can trade in over 40 individual cryptocurrencies and over 820 coin to coin pairs and be confident they are protected by the highest level of compliance and regulatory oversight.Recently, Coinsquare made the exciting announcement that it entered into a definitive agreement with CoinSmart Financial Inc. to purchase the crypto trading platform. This now positions Coinsquare as one of the largest crypto trading platforms in Canada.About Coinsquare:Founded in 2014 with the mission of creating an open and regulated financial platform, Coinsquare's mission is to modernize finance for all utilizing blockchain technology. Coinsquare believes financial products should be easy to use, open and transparent, so we've built the company to simplify and enhance how financial assets are managed, traded and transferred. As of today, Coinsquare is trading on behalf of over half a million Canadians and to date has raised over $100M in capital and has successfully executed trades in excess of $8 billion CAD. Most recently, with the acquisition of CoinSmart, Coinsquare has grown to become one of Canada's largest digital-asset firms.For additional information please visit www.coinsquare.com.
