CIRO Roundtable Discussion: Operational Resilience of Canadian Crypto Trading Platforms

Overview

On June 11, 2025, we convened a roundtable exercise with a group of crypto trading platforms (CTPs) authorized to trade in contracts or instruments based on crypto assets, including CIRO Members engaged in crypto-asset trading and several of their key counterparties. The objective was to explore potential risks and challenges specific to the operational resilience of CTPs.

Background

In April 2023, we had conducted a similar roundtable exercise to identify potential risks and challenges to CIRO in managing a crisis, distress or insolvency of a CTP regulated by CIRO.

Building on earlier insights and ongoing engagement with the sector, we conducted an operational resilience roundtable exercise aimed at enhancing the preparedness of CTPs to respond to and recover from significant disruptions. The session focused on testing the platforms’ ability to maintain critical operations, protect client interests, and minimize broader market impact during times of stress. This exercise provided a valuable opportunity to explore real-world challenges, share best practices, and identify areas for strengthening collective resilience across the ecosystem.

Scope

Ernst & Young was engaged to facilitate the roundtable discussion. Participants navigated two distinct hypothetical crisis scenarios, identifying key risks, analyzing affected operational functions, and outlining both immediate and longer-term actions to address the challenges.

Participants

The participants involved in the discussion were:

• CIRO Members
  • Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd.
  • Fidelity Clearing Canada ULC
  • Ndax Canada Inc.
  • Shakepay Inc.
  • Wealthsimple Investments Inc.
• Restricted Dealers
  • Coinbase Canada Inc.
  • Foris DAX, Inc. (operating as Crypto.com)
  • Payward Canada Inc. (operating as Kraken)
  • Netcoins Inc.
  • Newton Crypto Ltd.
• Custodians
  • BitGo Trust Company
  • Fidelity Digital Asset Services, LLC
  • Tetra Trust Company
• Liquidity Providers
  • B2C2
  • DV Chain
• Technology Providers
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Fireblocks
  • Microsoft Azure Canada
• Other
  • ATB Financial

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the participants, many of whom traveled from outside Toronto to attend in-person, for their voluntary and valuable contributions at our roundtable exercise.

Next steps

The insights gained from this exercise will not only help the participating platforms and their counterparties to enhance their current practices, but it will also enable CIRO to enhance any requirements to better safeguard assets, protect investors, and ensure stable marketplace operations.

We remain committed to ongoing engagement and collaboration with industry participants to strengthen the resilience of the crypto ecosystem, in step with the evolving landscape of crypto-asset regulation, for the benefit of Canadian investors.