30 Indian Minds Leading the AI Revolution

Bybit signs a settlement agreement with Ontario Trading commission

Bybit comes in an agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission for a revenue release of $2.24 million

Shashank Bhardwaj
Published: Jun 27, 2022 05:13:21 PM IST

Image: Shutterstock

On Thursday, Bybit announced a settlement agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), a regulatory agency in the Canadian province of Ontario. The agreement was reached on the following day of OSC releasing a Statement of Allegations against the crypto asset trading platform.

The OSC issued warnings and financial penalties against crypto exchanges Bybit and KuCoin citing violation of securities law and operating unregistered trading firms in the province of Ontario. The crypto trading firms active in Ontario had to register with the Ontario Securities Commission in accordance with the securities law of the province by April. 

As per the Settlement Agreement, Bybit has poured out revenues aggregating approximately $2.47 million and has made a compensation of $7,707 (CA $10,000) to the OSC as the cost for the investigation. KuCoin is banned from trading in the province's capital market and has to pay a fine of more than $1.6 million. No other fine was levied against Bybit.

Further, Bybit will stop rendering the following services to the Ontario residents: opening of new accounts, provision of new goods to the existing account holders or the crypto asset investors, or any promotion or marketing activities targeted at the Ontario residents.

However, the discussion over registration with the provincial regulator is in motion. If the undertaking meets with failure, Bybit will wind up its operations in Ontario. Existing Ontario investors who own crypto assets on Bybit will abort their positions in certain specific products like margin trading, leveraged contracts or credit extensions. Funds or assets of the retail investors in Ontario that are unemployed or accumulated might be utilised for unrestricted products or completely withdrawn from Bybit.

Read More

Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of the Bybit trading platform, has agreed to cooperate with the OSC in protecting the Ontario traders' safety and the registration process proceedings. Zhou said, “We appreciate the OSC's efforts in protecting Ontario investors and look forward to cooperating with the OSC in all respects in the registration process.”

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash 

X