Coinbase Expands to Canada With New Crypto Offerings

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase has announced its official launch in Canada, offering users a series of new features including 30-day free use of Coinbase One and zero trading fees.

Announced Monday, the exchange said that the international expansion demonstrates its commitment to Canada as a priority Go Deep market. The Go Deep strategy leverages relationships with customers to sell more. This means that the customers are already aware of the business as a vendor, as a result the risks are lower from their perspective.

Coinbase has teamed up with Peoples Trust Company, a Vancouver-based financial services firm, to provide access to the Interac e-Transfers to all Canadians. This service simplifies the process of transferring money, making cryptocurrencies more accessible to users in the country.

“As Coinbase’s next Go Deep Market, we are making significant investments to help Canadians access the benefits of cryptocurrency,” said Nana Murugesan, Vice President, International and Business Development, Coinbase.

Murugesan further added that high levels of crypto awareness, a passionate local tech ecosystem, and the country’s progress toward a strong regulatory framework have positioned Canada as a lucrative crypto hub for exchanges and crypto businesses.

The move comes at a time when other crypto trading platforms such as Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, said they were pulling out of Canada due to new guidance about stablecoins and limits to investors.

New Offerings to Canadians

Coinbase said that the expansion would bring in a slew of added features for Canadians such as 30-day free use of Coinbase One, access to zero trading fees, boosted staking rewards, priority 24/7 support, and more.

“Starting today, Canadian Coinbase users can also maximize the full potential of crypto with the best of Coinbase through membership with Coinbase One,” the press release noted.

The company further said that Interac e-Transfers was the “most requested feature by Canadian users.” Users can deposit funds to Coinbase using this feature for free and almost instant, it added.

“In the last month, over 50% of deposits have been made through Interac e-transfer.”

According to a Bloomberg report in May, Coinbase has been setting its sights on growth outside the U.S. The company has been facing charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for operating as an unregistered securities exchange.

The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong said at the time that Coinbase was “proud to represent the industry in court” in order to get regulatory clarity.

The expansion is a part of Coinbase’s “Go Broad, Go Deep” strategy, revealed in March, which includes growing its presence across six continents except for Antarctica. The exchange has nearly 200 full-time employees in Canada, making it its largest tech hub outside the US.