Coinbase Canada’s Eric Richmond thinks “all-encompassing” crypto regulation could lighten the load

New CEO plans to push for clearer rules as he brings more financial products to Canadians.

Coinbase Canada’s new country director and CEO Eric Richmond thinks that Canadian cryptocurrency companies and watchdogs could use more “all-encompassing” regulation.

In an interview with BetaKit last month, Richmond noted that Canada’s patchwork of provincial and territorial securities regulators has largely governed crypto firms via staff notices and exemption orders, a fragmented approach he claimed has made operating more difficult for both businesses and authorities alike. 

“We want Coinbase to be the platform that Canadians choose.”

Exemption orders in particular, Richmond said, not only make compliance very expensive for entrepreneurs building in the space, but are “hard on the regulators because they’ve got to do the same thing for each of the platforms.”

As a securities lawyer with experience navigating this path with his previous employers, Coinsquare, Shakepay, and Tetra Trust, Richmond knows the regulatory landscape well. So does Coinbase: in 2024, the US crypto giant became the first international crypto exchange to secure a restricted dealer licence in Canada with the Canadian Securities Administrators. Richmond said Coinbase Canada has already submitted its application to become regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization in a process the firm hopes to complete by early next year.