Security Compliance
Binance's technical security is genuinely strong: 2FA, cold storage, the SAFU insurance fund, and a fully reimbursed 2019 hack are a decent record for the world's biggest exchange. Its compliance record is the problem. Binance pleaded guilty to US anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations in 2023, paying one of the largest corporate penalties in history, and FINTRAC penalized it for AML failures in Canada. Whatever your coins' safety from hackers, an unregistered platform offers Canadians no legal protection, which is exactly why regulators pushed it out.
ByBit's security record now carries a major asterisk. In February 2025, attackers linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group exploited ByBit's multi-signature wallet transfer process and stole roughly $1.5 billion in Ethereum, the largest crypto theft ever recorded. To ByBit's credit, no customers lost funds: the exchange covered all losses from its own liquidity and replenished reserves within about 72 hours, a crisis response widely considered the best the industry has seen. Still, the breach shows that even cold storage and multisig setups can be defeated. Users can secure their accounts with two-factor authentication via Google Authenticator. ByBit also previously ran into trouble in Canada specifically, paying a roughly $2.5 million penalty to the Ontario Securities Commission in 2022 for operating without registration.
Binance's technical security is genuinely strong: 2FA, cold storage, the SAFU insurance fund, and a fully reimbursed 2019 hack are a decent record for the world's biggest exchange. Its compliance record is the problem. Binance pleaded guilty to US anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations in 2023, paying one of the largest corporate penalties in history, and FINTRAC penalized it for AML failures in Canada. Whatever your coins' safety from hackers, an unregistered platform offers Canadians no legal protection, which is exactly why regulators pushed it out.
ByBit's security record now carries a major asterisk. In February 2025, attackers linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group exploited ByBit's multi-signature wallet transfer process and stole roughly $1.5 billion in Ethereum, the largest crypto theft ever recorded. To ByBit's credit, no customers lost funds: the exchange covered all losses from its own liquidity and replenished reserves within about 72 hours, a crisis response widely considered the best the industry has seen. Still, the breach shows that even cold storage and multisig setups can be defeated. If you somehow still have funds on ByBit, withdraw to a private wallet.
Both Binance and ByBit have strong technical security infrastructure — 2FA, cold storage, and large-scale incident response. Binance's deeper problems were regulatory; ByBit suffered a record $1.5B hack but fully reimbursed users. Neither is relevant to Canadians going forward.
Regulatory Compliance
Binance is not legal to operate in Canada. It pulled out of Ontario in 2021-2022 under OSC pressure, then withdrew from all of Canada in May 2023 rather than sign the CSA's pre-registration undertaking with its stablecoin restrictions, investor limits and third-party custody requirements. Ten other platforms signed and stayed; Binance chose to leave. It has said it hopes to return "when Canadian users once again have the freedom to access a broader suite of digital assets," but as of 2026 there is no registered Binance entity in Canada and no announced return.
ByBit exited the Canadian market in 2023 due to Canadian regulations and Canada remains on its restricted jurisdictions list. Notably, ByBit has since obtained licenses elsewhere, including a MiCA license serving the EEA through ByBit EU and a UK relaunch in late 2025, but it has shown no intention of registering with Canadian regulators.
Binance is not legal to operate in Canada. It pulled out of Ontario in 2021-2022 under OSC pressure, then withdrew from all of Canada in May 2023 rather than sign the CSA's pre-registration undertaking with its stablecoin restrictions, investor limits and third-party custody requirements. Ten other platforms signed and stayed; Binance chose to leave. It has said it hopes to return "when Canadian users once again have the freedom to access a broader suite of digital assets," but as of 2026 there is no registered Binance entity in Canada and no announced return.
ByBit exited the Canadian market in September 2023 due to Canadian regulations and Canada remains on its restricted jurisdictions list. ByBit paid a roughly $2.5 million OSC penalty for operating without registration in Ontario, then exited all of Canada rather than register. Notably, ByBit has since obtained licenses elsewhere, including a MiCA license serving the EEA through ByBit EU and a UK relaunch in late 2025, but it has shown no intention of registering with Canadian regulators.
Binance exited all of Canada in May 2023 — not just Ontario — with no return announced. ByBit paid a roughly $2.5 million OSC penalty and exited all of Canada in September 2023 — not just Ontario. Both are entirely off-limits to Canadians.
Customer support
Binance offers 24/7 chat support for users in supported countries. Canadians with legacy withdrawal issues can still contact support, but expect friction, and be alert to impersonation scams targeting former Canadian users, since fake "Binance Canada support" accounts are a known fraud vector.
ByBit has a helpful support centre on its website with numerous guides about crypto and how to use the exchange, plus ticket-based and chat support. For Canadians this is academic, since the platform is off-limits entirely.
Binance offers 24/7 chat support for users in supported countries. Canadians with legacy withdrawal issues can still contact support, but expect friction, and be alert to impersonation scams targeting former Canadian users, since fake "Binance Canada support" accounts are a known fraud vector.
ByBit has a helpful support centre on its website with numerous guides about crypto and how to use the exchange, plus ticket-based and chat support. For Canadians this is academic, since the platform is off-limits entirely.
Neither platform has relevant ongoing support for Canadians beyond legacy fund recovery. Binance support is for legacy withdrawals only (watch for impersonation scams); ByBit support is completely inaccessible to Canadians.
Conclusion
From a Canadian perspective, there is nothing to choose between Binance and ByBit — both are unavailable, and for different reasons.
Binance withdrew from Canada in May 2023 after refusing CSA investor-protection requirements. If you have legacy funds on Binance, withdraw to a private wallet and watch for impersonation scams in the process.
ByBit exited Canada on September 30, 2023. If you have legacy funds on ByBit, withdraw to a private wallet — do not transfer directly to a regulated Canadian exchange as the transfer may be blocked.
For Canadians looking for well-regulated alternatives with broad coin selection, we recommend Kraken (200+ coins, nationally registered restricted dealer since April 2025), Crypto.com (400+ coins, restricted dealer since May 2025), or NDAX (60+ coins, CIRO investment dealer with a flat 0.2% fee). See our full list of the best crypto exchanges in Canada for more options.
