Coinbase, a crypto exchange based in the U.S., is negotiating with Canada’s top banks to persuade them to embrace the crypto ecosystem in that country, where the company has recently expanded amid regulatory challenges in its home market.
Lucas Matheson, who leads Coinbase’s operations in Canada, told CoinDesk in an interview that he has been talking to Canada’s elite banks.
He did not name them, but they are commonly referred to as the Big Five: Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Coinbase began its operations in Canada this month, after facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June for acting as an unlicensed securities exchange. Coinbase has commended Canada’s crypto regulation.
Matheson said that Canadian regulators have been cooperative and supportive in finding the best regulatory framework for both the digital asset economy and the country’s own goals to become a pioneer in the field.
The exchange recently obtained its pre-registration undertaking (PRU) in Canada, which obliges it to comply with several regulatory standards by a certain deadline.