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Canadian Regulator Sets Tighter Crypto Custody Standards to Curb Losses

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Canadian Regulator Sets Tighter Crypto Custody Standards to Curb Losses

Canada’s top investment industry watchdog has rolled out a new set of rules aimed at tightening how crypto assets are held and safeguarded, as regulators move to limit losses linked to hacks, fraud, and weak governance.

Key Takeaways:

  • Canada introduced new interim crypto custody rules to curb losses from hacks and fraud.
  • Custodians now face tiered limits based on capital strength, oversight, and resilience.
  • The framework adds stricter governance, insurance, and audit requirements while supporting innovation.

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) on Tuesday published its Digital Asset Custody Framework, outlining detailed expectations for dealer members that operate crypto asset trading platforms.

The framework is designed as an interim measure and will be enforced through membership terms and conditions, allowing CIRO to react more quickly to emerging risks while longer-term rules are developed.

Canada Introduces Tiered Custody Rules

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CIRO said the framework directly addresses the “technological, operational, and legal risks unique to digital assets,” drawing on lessons from past failures, including the collapse of QuadrigaCX in 2019, which left thousands of customers unable to recover funds.

At the core of the new regime is a tiered, risk-based structure for crypto custodians. Under the model, custodians are placed into one of four tiers based on factors such as capital strength, regulatory oversight, insurance coverage, and operational resilience.

Top-tier custodians may hold up to 100% of client crypto assets, while lower-tier providers face progressively tighter limits, with Tier 4 custodians capped at 40%.

Dealer members that choose to custody assets internally are limited to holding no more than 20% of the total value of client crypto.

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The framework also imposes a broad set of operational requirements. These include formal governance policies covering private key management, cybersecurity controls, incident response procedures, and third-party risk management.

Custodians must carry insurance, undergo independent audits, provide security compliance reports, and conduct regular penetration testing.

Custody agreements are required to spell out liability in cases where losses stem from negligence or preventable failures.

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CIRO said the approach is intended to be proportionate, balancing stronger investor protection with room for innovation and competition.

The rules were developed in consultation with crypto trading platforms, custodians, and other industry participants, and were benchmarked against international practices.

Canada Steps Up Crypto Enforcement After Major FINTRAC Fines

The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of crypto compliance in Canada. In October, the country’s financial intelligence agency, FINTRAC, fined local exchange Cryptomus roughly $126 million for failing to report suspicious transactions tied to darknet markets and fraud.

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Earlier in the year, FINTRAC also imposed penalties on offshore platforms KuCoin and Binance for similar breaches.

As a self-regulatory body, CIRO has the authority to investigate misconduct among its members and impose sanctions, including fines and suspensions.

As reported, Canada is preparing to roll out its first comprehensive framework for fiat-backed stablecoins under the 2025 federal budget, closely mirroring the regulatory path taken by the United States earlier this year.

The Bank of Canada is expected to spend $10 million over two years, starting in fiscal year 2026–2027, to oversee the rollout.

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The move comes just months after the US passed its GENIUS Act in July, a landmark stablecoin bill that heightened global regulatory momentum.

The post Canadian Regulator Sets Tighter Crypto Custody Standards to Curb Losses appeared first on Cryptonews.

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Precise Systems of Fairness and Transparency in Crypto

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Precise Systems of Fairness and Transparency in Crypto

Since the publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008, crypto has offered the promise of open accessibility, neutral rules, and verifiability for everyone. While crypto has continued to hold true to this mission, trading platforms have since departed from this universal truth. Hidden restrictions, inconsistent withdrawals and shifting rules have eroded trust and created a system where true ownership is no longer a guarantee.

Eighteen years later, traders have learned to understand that fairness isn’t just a selling point, rather a system that needs to be verified. The next phase of crypto depends on systems where fairness is designed into the architecture itself, not retroactively justified.

It’s this promise and verifiability that rests as the core mission of Zoomex: a global crypto exchange that’s been trusted for over five years. From day one, Zoomex was built around a simple but increasingly rare belief that fairness must be felt, consistently delivered and provable at every step of the trading journey.

When fairness is designed into the system, users don’t need to ask for trust, they can verify it.

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Fairness beyond marketing

Fairness often appears in slogans, but the culture of “trust me, bro” has made efforts feel more performative than practiced. But when fairness is embedded into a platform’s system, users get an experience that’s more than just marketing.

Zoomex has built fairness into its foundation, structuring the user experience around clear trading rules, transparent asset visibility and execution logic that behaves predictably across users and market conditions. Instead of relying on discretionary decisions or hidden exceptions, the platform emphasizes consistency. Regardless of how much crypto you hold, whether you’re a new or frequent holder, or simply looking for a long-term Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) opportunity, the same rules apply to all users.

This matters because most trading platform failures are not based on the underlying technology. They’re systematic. Exchanges don’t collapse because orders cannot be matched, rather they fail when friction makes rules unclear, access is restricted or users lose trust in the system.

By prioritizing clarity over complexity, Zoomex positions fairness not as an abstract value, but as a systematic guarantee.

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Profit as a priority

There’s no single indication of fairness bigger than withdrawals. In the wake of FTX and other exchange mishaps, users have learned to ask the difficult questions: 

  • “Can my profits be withdrawn?” 
  • “Am I an exception to this rule?

These aren’t hypothetical questions. They reflect the learned and lived experience of any crypto trader.

Zoomex’s design starts from a different assumption: Earnings belong to the user, without friction or negotiation. Withdrawals are not framed as privileges or incentives, but as a baseline right of participation. It doesn’t matter if you hold 1 BTC or 0.00001 BTC – what matters is your participation in the network.

This principle has been reinforced by independent media coverage, including user case studies documenting successful large withdrawals. On X and in the media, Zoomex users have documented real-world proof that access holds up regardless of market conditions. Fairness, in this context, is measured not by what a platform claims, but by whether users can reliably convert trading success into usable capital.

Transparency as a system, not a dashboard

When it comes to transparency on centralized exchanges, users are often left to surface-level disclosures to determine the security of their assets.Transparency on trading platforms is important to reduce information asymmetry, ensuring that users understand how their assets are traded and secured, and why conditions affect their assets.

Zoomex emphasizes transparent asset displays, traceable order execution and clear reporting of outcomes. The goal is to give the essential information to traders. Though disclosures may feel overbearing, it’s designed for intelligent market decisions, allowing traders to see their positions, execute on strategies and see their decision outcomes without ambiguity. 

This approach aligns with a growing demand among experienced traders and institutional players who evaluate platforms based on structure, consistency and fairness. In this model, transparency is not a static feature, it’s a continuous system of visibility that supports informed decision-making.

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Related: What “Proof Over Promises” Means in Practice

Even among institutional-grade traders, transparency needs to come with a degree of simplicity. Often complexity is mistaken for sophistication, but Zoomex understands that simplicity and sophistication are not mutually exclusive. 

Zoomex’s minimalist design strips away unnecessary friction while preserving professional-grade functionality. Execution flows are streamlined, interfaces are intuitive and rules are legible. This is not about reducing capability, but instead reducing the cognitive load so both institutional and retail traders are able to clearly execute their trades with the confidence they need.

Regulatory certainty as a priority

One of the biggest hurdles of wide-spread adoption for crypto is regulatory clarity. As countries continue to evolve their legal frameworks, traders have been best supported by trading platforms that have been forward thinking about regulation, not reactive. However, there needs to be a balance of what is necessary and what is excessively cumbersome for users to make their trades with confidence. Zoomex addresses this by offering optional KYC, allowing privacy-sensitive traders to participate without unnecessary barriers while still operating within a compliant framework.

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This approach reflects a broader definition of fairness: respecting different user needs rather than imposing uniform identity requirements where they are not legally required. Fair systems expand access without compromising oversight, making regulatory compliance as a feature, not a roadblock.

This framework has been battle-tested and has stood the test of time through both bear and bull markets. Zoomex has withstood five years of stable operation, regulatory licensing across multiple jurisdictions and annual security audits conducted by independent firms such as Hacken

Privacy and compliance are more than just a marketing objective. Zoomex holds registrations including Canada Money Service Business (MSB), United States MSB and NFA and Australia AUSTRAC license, reinforcing its commitment to creating a system of precise fairness and consistency, regardless of your jurisdiction. 

Related: Zoomex expands derivatives offering and launches new initiatives for European users

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Trust is not just built in the bull market, but during periods of stress. Platforms like Zoomex that maintain fairness through bull and bear markets are the ones that endure.

From the first trade to the latest withdrawal, fairness on Zoomex is experienced, not explained.

Zoomex is building precise systems of fairness and transparency – cultivating partnerships, international compliance and operational decisions that consistently reinforce values of precision and fairness. The result is a platform designed not just to perform, but to hold up under scrutiny and survive in all market conditions.

As the crypto industry continues to mature, trading platforms will continue to be judged based on their integrated systems, not just their marketed promises. As fairness becomes a design requirement, and not just a press release, Zoomex is prepared to be the platform that is ready for both institutional-focused and retail traders.

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Sign up on Zoomex and explore a trading system where fairness, transparency and access are built into every layer. New users can receive up to 14,000 USDT in welcome rewar

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30% Risk Despite Tom Lee’s Theory

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BitMine Holdings

BMNR stock price remains under pressure in early February as selling continues across crypto-linked equities. The stock is down nearly 25% over five days and more than 33% over one month, trading around $22.35.

While management defended recent crypto-led paper losses as part of a long-term strategy, market data suggests technical weakness is still driving investor behavior. And increasingly driving them away, despite a novel defense from BitMine Chairman, Tom Lee.

Ethereum Treasury Losses Spark ‘Feature, Not A Bug’ Defense

Concerns around BitMine’s balance sheet intensified after data showed heavy unrealized losses on its Ethereum treasury.

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As of February 3, BitMine had invested roughly $14.95 billion into ETH holdings. However, the current market value had fallen to around $8.53 billion, implying paper losses of more than $6.4 billion.

At the same time, Ethereum was trading near $2,200, well below BitMine’s average acquisition cost of roughly $3,800. This gap highlighted how deeply underwater the company’s treasury had become.

BitMine Holdings
BitMine Holdings: CryptoQuant

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

These figures triggered criticism from market observers, who argued that such large unrealized losses could limit future upside and pressure shareholder returns. Some warned that accumulated ETH could eventually act as a selling supply.

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In response, Chairman Tom Lee defended the strategy, stating that drawdowns are “a feature, not a bug.” He argued that crypto cycles naturally involve temporary losses and that BitMine is designed to accumulate through downturns to outperform over time.

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However, despite this explanation, BMNR stock failed to attract sustained buying interest after the comments.

OBV and CMF Show Buyers Stayed Away After the Breakdown

Market participation data suggests that investors began exiting even before the public debate intensified.

On-Balance Volume (OBV) tracks cumulative buying and selling pressure by adding volume on up days and subtracting it on down days. It reflects whether traders are accumulating or distributing.

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From early December through late-January, OBV was forming higher lows, signaling steady accumulation. But between January 28 and 29, OBV broke below its rising trend line. This showed that possibly retail and short-term traders had started distributing shares.

Retail Buyers Leaving
Retail Buyers Leaving: TradingView

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After OBV weakened, institutional-style capital followed.

Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) measures whether money is flowing into or out of an asset using price and volume. Readings above zero suggest accumulation, while negative values signal capital outflows.

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From January 30 onward, CMF fell sharply and remained below zero. This confirmed that large buyers were reducing exposure as the BMNR price approached key support. Both indicators aligned with the chart structure.

BMNR had been forming a head-and-shoulders pattern through December and January. When price failed near the neckline and then broke down on February 2 (gap-down formation), OBV and CMF confirmed the move.

Big Money Leaves BitMine
Big Money Leaves BitMine: TradingView

In sequence, retail volume weakened first, large capital exited next, and prices collapsed afterward. The “feature, not a bug” ETH treasury narrative did not reverse this flow-driven sell-off.

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Key BMNR Stock Price Levels Define the Next Move

After breaking the head-and-shoulders neckline and the rising trend line, the BMNR stock price resumed its broader downtrend, a projected dip of over 30%.

Several levels now define the outlook. On the downside, initial support sits near $19.26 if the BMNR stock price doesn’t reclaim $22.52 on the daily timeframe. Below $19.26, the next major level stands near $16.71, which aligns with the full technical projection of the bearish pattern.

If selling pressure accelerates, extended downside could reach toward $9.87, pushing the stock into single-digit territory. On the upside, recovery remains difficult.

The first resistance lies near $22.52. The BMNR stock price must reclaim this level to slow the decline. Above that, resistance appears near $25.07 and $28.66. These zones would need to be cleared to signal early stabilization.

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BMNR Price Analysis
BMNR Price Analysis: TradingView

A broader trend shift would require a move above $34.46, followed by confirmation near $42. For now, both OBV and CMF remain weak, showing that buyers have not returned in force. Until capital flows turn positive and key resistance is reclaimed, technical pressure is likely to dominate BMNR stock price behavior.

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TRM Labs Completes $70M Round At $1B, Becomes Crypto Unicorn

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TRM Labs Completes $70M Round At $1B, Becomes Crypto Unicorn

Blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs completed a $70 million Series C funding round, valuing it at $1 billion, becoming the latest crypto company to reach unicorn status.

The investment round was led by seed investor Blockchain Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Venture Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Thoma Bravo, Citi Ventures and Galaxy Ventures, according to a Wednesday news release.

TRM Labs seeks to equip public and private institutions with AI solutions that combat cybercrime. The company defends against illicit activities that increasingly rely on automation.

“At TRM, we’re building AI for problems that have real consequences for public safety, financial integrity, and national security,” wrote Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs.

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“This funding allows our world-class team — and the people who will join us next — to innovate alongside institutions on the front lines of the most consequential threats, and expand the potential of AI to meaningfully improve how our critical systems are protected.”

The $70 million round shows that capital is flowing into blockchain analytics platforms seeking to stop the spread of AI-fueled scams and cyberattacks, including from large traditional institutions.

Related: Fake MetaMask 2FA security checks lure users into sharing recovery phrases

TRM Labs to expand global workforce, advance AI compliance and investigation tools

TRM is a San Francisco-headquartered company with hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, London and Singapore.

It said the new capital will be used to expand its global workforce of AI researchers, data scientists, engineers and financial crime experts.

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The company will also advance its AI-powered investigations to disrupt illicit activity and advance its solutions that help institutions manage financial crime risks.

Related: CZ proposes fix to address poisoning after investor loses $50M

Crypto phishing scams see resurgence due to generative AI advancements

Crypto phishing scams have been a long-standing issue in the industry, which saw a resurgence following advancements in generative AI. They involve hackers sharing fraudulent links with victims to steal sensitive information, such as crypto wallet private keys.

In December, a Bitcoin (BTC) investor lost his entire retirement fund to an AI-fueled romance scam known as a “pig butchering.” In this case, the scammer used AI-generated images to emotionally manipulate the victim into sending over his Bitcoin.

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Monthly crypto phishing scam losses and victims, 2025 chart. Source: drop.scamsniffer.io

Still, the falling number of incidents suggests that investors are becoming better at safeguarding their assets from attackers.

Losses to phishing scams decreased 83% year-on-year, falling to $83.3 million in 2025, from $494 million in 2024, according to a report from Web3 security tool Scam Sniffer

Magazine: Meet the onchain crypto detectives fighting crime better than the cops