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ARTICLE · 28 JUNE 2021

Controlling The Crypto Craze: The OSC's Response To The Growing Crypto Market

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Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, there has been a growing interest in crypto assets, with significant acceleration in the last few months.

CanadaTechnology
Lara Jackson
Lara Jackson
Robert Sniderman
Robert Sniderman
Kiyan Jamal
Kiyan Jamal
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Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, there has been a growing interest in crypto assets, with significant acceleration in the last few months. In particular, between January and April 2021, the global crypto asset market capitalization doubled from $1 trillion to $2 trillion (USD).1 In turn, there has been a proliferation of crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs or platforms) that allow investors to trade these crypto assets.

Platforms that neglect or otherwise fail to register with securities regulators present significant risks to investors because assets may not be adequately safeguarded, and internal controls intended to mitigate risks may be lacking or non-existent. As a result, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has recently announced that it will be cracking down on CTPs that are not compliant with Ontario securities law.2 The OSC has followed through by commencing three proceedings (to date) against non-compliant platforms.3 Given the incredible growth

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