Coinbase Hires Ex-Shopify Exec to Oversee Canada Operations
The company confirmed plans to expand in Canada as that country tightens rules for cryptocurrency exchanges.
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Lucas Matheson, country director, Canada, at Coinbase (LinkedIn)
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Coinbase (COIN) has named Lucas Matheson as its country director in Canada and said it signed an enhanced Pre-Registration Undertaking with that country’s regulators, according to a Thursday afternoon blog post.
The exchange’s intention to stay in Canada despite the coming more-difficult regulatory regime was reported by CoinDesk on Wednesday. Rival exchange Kraken earlier Thursday also announced its plans to remain in the country.
Matheson joins the crypto exchange after spending five years at Shopify, where he led operations and strategic expansions. At Coinbase he will be overseeing over 200 engineers.
“We are investing significant resources in local Canadian innovation,” Coinbase said. “Additionally, our global leadership team will be making frequent trips to Canada to engage with regulators, partners and the community to better understand the Canadian market and its unique needs.”
In the blog post Coinbase also said it signed an enhanced Pre-Registration Undertaking with Canadian regulators ahead of the March 24 deadline, officially signaling its intent to comply with the coming new regulatory framework.
OKX, Deribit and Blockchain.com are among the exchanges that have exited Canada thanks to the new regulations.
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Helene is a New York-based reporter covering Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin ETFs and crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk's Markets Daily show. Helene is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.