Kraken Suspends Key Cryptocurrency Transactions in Canada

According to multiple client emails, Kraken will suspend all Tether, Dai, wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), wrapped Ether (WET), and wrapped Axelar (WAXL) transactions in Canada in November and December.

Before confirming the suspensions, a Kraken spokesperson stated, “We constantly monitor the assets on our platform to ensure we are meeting the highest compliance standards in the crypto industry.”

“In accordance with recent Canadian regulatory changes and following extensive consultation with the CSA and OSC, we today notified our clients that we will soon be suspending trading for USDT, DAI, WBTC, WETH, and WAXL.”

According to the email, Kraken continues to be “committed to providing our Canadian clients with an exceptional trading experience.”

The suspensions may not come as a surprise to many Canadian cryptocurrency users, as several notable exchanges have taken similar actions throughout 2023.

Coinbase stopped trading USDT, DAI, and RAI in August, following a similar action by Crypto.com, which had previously delisted USDT.

The same regulatory challenges encountered by these companies may have prompted others to completely withdraw from the Canadian market. OKX ceased operations in Canada in June, following Binance’s announcement in May that it would do the same.

Kraken appears to be continuing operations in Canada and will only suspend transactions involving five specific assets. The email states that “as of November 30th,” depositing and trading functions for the aforementioned assets will cease.

Then, “as of December 4th,” users will no longer be able to withdraw the associated assets.

Finally, “as of December 5th,” the email continues, any remaining related assets will be converted to U.S. dollars at the “prevailing market rate” and credited to user accounts.