Following Coinbase Global Inc’s (NASDAQ:COIN) launch in Canada, Benzinga spoke with the exchange’s Canada Country Director Lucas Matheson to discuss the expansion and plans for the upcoming year.
BZ: It’s been quite a journey for Coinbase in Canada. You launched this summer and quickly expanded to around 200 employees. Can you share the challenges you faced during this rapid scaling, and is there anything you wish you had approached differently in this market?
Matheson: Coinbase Canada has had a fantastic year since we launched. We’ve built an incredible team across the country. Many Canadians have worked for Coinbase for several years, but we’ve expanded that.
Furthermore, we’ve had some big wins, namely improving our product experience. One key milestone was introducing Interac – a Canadian interbank network addressing a significant product gap and making it easy for Canadians to deposit money through online banking. Over 80% of our inflows are coming to Coinbase Canada via Interac payments.
In terms of scaling – we’re committed to the country and building a strong team here to build safe, compliant products for Canadians. As for challenges – regulatory clarity is a significant focus. We’re working closely with regulators to ensure we have a robust regulatory framework here to help Canadians have access to the digital economy.
BZ: The Canadian banking system traditionally has high barriers to entry, as seen with market share divided between a few key players. However, the Canadian regulatory process is arguably way more effective. How did this fact influence the crypto expansion in this market?
Matheson: Given such high levels of crypto awareness and demand in Canada, I think our regulators have done an excellent job at helping to establish regulatory clarity. They stepped in, drew a line in the sand and asked crypto trading platforms to sign a pre-registration undertaking earlier this year to commit to getting regulated in the country. That created an opportunity for our industry to work closely with regulators and identify the areas where we can build a strong framework for Canada and ensure that our industry can thrive here.
While meeting these regulatory requirements in Canada is a high bar, I always remind myself that the outcomes regulators and Coinbase want are…
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