Coinbase’s Canada Expansion Plan: Building an “Everything Exchange” Amid Regulatory Uncertainty

Coinbase Canada CEO Eric Richmond believes the country needs a permanent regulatory framework rather than temporary exemptions as the company looks to introduce more advanced crypto products, including derivatives, tokenized assets, and decentralized finance services.

TORONTO — Coinbase aims to bring more of the products currently available to U.S. customers to Canada, including crypto derivatives, DeFi offerings, and tokenized financial assets. However, Richmond, who recently took over as Coinbase Canada’s CEO, said the country’s regulatory system must move beyond temporary relief measures if it wants to support the next stage of crypto industry growth.

Richmond said Coinbase’s long-term goal is to become more than a cryptocurrency trading platform by offering a wider range of financial services powered by blockchain technology.

“We want to have all your financial services in one place,” Richmond said in an interview with CoinDesk at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto. He described the company’s ambition as becoming an “everything exchange” built on infrastructure that enables always-on, seamless, and frictionless financial services.

However, Richmond said achieving that goal in Canada depends heavily on the evolution of the country’s regulatory environment.

“We need to find the regulated pathway to bring these launches to Canadians, and we’ve already started working toward that,” he said. Richmond brings significant experience in Canada’s crypto sector, having previously held executive positions at companies including Shakepay and Coinsquare.

Canada’s Crypto Rules Need a More Permanent Structure

Canada was one of the first major jurisdictions to approve spot crypto exchange-traded funds and establish a registration framework for crypto trading platforms. However, Richmond noted that much of the country’s progress has relied on regulatory guidance, staff notices, and individual exemption orders rather than a dedicated digital asset law.

While that approach allowed Canada to move quickly during crypto’s early development, Richmond believes it has become less effective as companies attempt to introduce more complex financial products.

“It’s not a new purpose-built legislative framework, and that is something we still need,” Richmond said.

His comments come as Canada and the United States begin taking different approaches toward digital asset regulation.

For example, both countries generally apply existing financial laws to tokenized assets based on their traditional equivalents. However, a July report from global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright noted that the U.S. has moved further by providing more detailed guidance on tokenized securities, custody rules, collateral treatment, and capital requirements.

Canada’s regulators, meanwhile, remain largely focused on consultations, with limited exemptions available for pilot programs and interim custody guidance from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.

Although neither country has created a complete regulatory system specifically for tokenized financial assets, Norton Rose suggested that the U.S. regulatory environment could help American firms gain an advantage as blockchain-based financial infrastructure develops.

Regulatory Differences Delay Product Access

Richmond said Canada’s current framework has also resulted in delays for users seeking access to products already available to Coinbase customers in the U.S.

For example, Coinbase’s U.S. customers enrolled in Coinbase One can access a stablecoin lending product offering around 7% APY. A similar offering is not currently available in Canada, where users can earn up to 4.5% APY by holding USDC on Coinbase.

Richmond said one of his priorities is ensuring Canadian customers gain access to the same products available to users in other markets.

“My focus is to bring the products that you see in the U.S. to Canadians,” he said.

Coinbase also hopes to expand access to certain crypto futures products for eligible Canadian customers through Coinbase Financial Markets, its CFTC-regulated U.S. subsidiary. Richmond said the company was able to pursue this opportunity after receiving an international exemption from Canadian regulators.

However, broader retail access in Canada would require additional approvals, unlike in the U.S., where the CFTC regulatory structure provides a clearer path for expansion.

Richmond said the issue is not necessarily that Canadian regulators are moving slowly, but that the structure of the rules differs between the two countries.

“It’s not just a regulatory issue; the nature of the rules themselves is different,” he said.

Push for a Unified National Crypto Framework

Despite the challenges, Richmond said he remains encouraged by Canadian regulators’ willingness to engage with the industry and explore new frameworks for digital assets.

He pointed to Canada’s new Stablecoin Act as an example of positive progress, calling it a strong piece of legislation that provides clearer guidance for the sector.

Following the introduction of stablecoin regulations, Canada saw Tetra Trust launch CADD, the country’s first regulated Canadian-dollar stablecoin issued by a financial institution. The project is backed by major companies and institutions including Wealthsimple, Shopify, and National Bank of Canada.

Richmond believes Canada has already demonstrated that crypto companies can operate within a regulated environment. The next challenge is creating rules that can support more advanced areas such as payments, derivatives, tokenized securities, and decentralized finance.

Rather than relying on companies to interpret existing guidelines, Richmond argued that Canada should formalize current regulatory practices into a unified national framework.

He suggested consolidating crypto-related requirements into a “national instrument” — a harmonized set of securities rules adopted across provincial and territorial regulators.

“When you call it a national instrument, it means every securities commission has approved the same rule, creating consistent treatment across every province,” Richmond said.

Such a framework would move Canada away from a system built primarily around exemptions and toward a clearer regulatory structure that gives both companies and regulators more certainty.

The direction policymakers choose could determine how quickly crypto products already offered to U.S. customers become available to Canadian users.

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