Decentralized exchange dYdX announces ‘winding down’ of services for Canadian users

“We hope that the regulatory climate in Canada will change over time to allow us to resume services in the country,” said the exchange.

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange dYdX has announced it will be restricting Canadian user accounts over the next seven days in a move to exit the market.

In an April 7 blog post, dYdX said it will be “winding down services” in Canada, starting with halting the onboarding of new users located in the country. On April 14, the exchange will move all existing Canadian users to “close-only mode,” allowing them to only withdraw funds.

“dYdX is committed to providing transparency around product decisions and democratizing access to financial opportunity,” said the exchange. “We hope that the regulatory climate in Canada will change over time to allow us to resume services in the country.”

The move followed the Canadian Securities Administrators announcing additional restrictions for crypto exchanges’ registration requirements in the country. The rules required platforms to be “prohibited from permitting Canadian clients to enter into crypto contracts to buy and sell any crypto asset that is itself a security and/or a derivative.”

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In September 2022, many dYdX users and those in the crypto space criticized a promotion from the decentralized exchange offering a $25 deposit bonus for confirming someone’s identity using a live webcam image. The exchange later ended the program, citing “overwhelming demand” rather than some of the privacy concerns put forth.

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