Security Compliance
CoinSmart's wind-down was orderly and regulator-supervised, with no reported loss of customer funds, the same clean pattern as Coinberry and Bitvo, and the opposite of CoinField. Its legacy custody arrangement with BitGo and its OSC registration are what made the seamless handover possible.
BitMEX's technical security record is genuinely strong: it has never been hacked, keeps all bitcoin in cold storage with multi-signature wallets, and has employees manually audit withdrawals. Its regulatory record is another matter. BitMEX and its founders pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act for failing to run an anti-money-laundering program, the company was fined $100 million in January 2025, and its three co-founders were pardoned by President Trump in March 2025. Funds on the platform have historically been safe from hackers; the risk was always regulatory.
CoinSmart's wind-down was orderly and regulator-supervised, with no reported loss of customer funds, the same clean pattern as Coinberry and Bitvo, and the opposite of CoinField. Its legacy custody arrangement with BitGo and its OSC registration are what made the seamless handover possible.
BitMEX's technical security record is genuinely strong: it has never been hacked, keeps all bitcoin in cold storage with multi-signature wallets, and has employees manually audit withdrawals. Its regulatory record is another matter. BitMEX and its founders pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act for failing to run an anti-money-laundering program, the company was fined $100 million in January 2025, and its three co-founders were pardoned by President Trump in March 2025. Funds on the platform have historically been safe from hackers; the risk was always regulatory.
CoinSmart had an orderly, regulator-supervised wind-down with no customer fund losses, its accounts transferred cleanly to Bitbuy. BitMEX has a strong technical security record — never hacked, cold storage, manual withdrawal audits — but paid a $100 million US fine in 2025 for AML failures. Neither platform is relevant to Canadians going forward.
Regulatory Compliance
CoinSmart was registered with FINTRAC and was one of the first crypto platforms granted registration by the Ontario Securities Commission, a status that shaped its ending: rather than stranding users, its accounts were transferred to another registered platform under regulatory oversight. The full successor chain: CoinSmart into WonderFi (July 2023), client accounts to Bitbuy (September 2023), WonderFi to Robinhood (June 2026). Former CoinSmart users needing historical transaction records for taxes should log into Bitbuy and request their history from support.
BitMEX initially restricted only Ontario and Québec, but as of late 2023 its Restricted Jurisdiction Policy lists all of Canada as restricted. Its US legal troubles have concluded with guilty pleas, a $100 million fine and subsequent presidential pardons for the founders. There is no indication BitMEX intends to register with Canadian regulators or return to the Canadian market.
CoinSmart was registered with FINTRAC and was one of the first crypto platforms granted registration by the Ontario Securities Commission, a status that shaped its ending: rather than stranding users, its accounts were transferred to another registered platform under regulatory oversight. The full successor chain: CoinSmart into WonderFi (July 2023), client accounts to Bitbuy (September 2023), WonderFi to Robinhood (June 2026). Former CoinSmart users needing historical transaction records for taxes should log into Bitbuy and request their history from support.
BitMEX initially restricted only Ontario and Québec, but as of late 2023 its Restricted Jurisdiction Policy lists all of Canada as restricted. Its US legal troubles have concluded with guilty pleas, a $100 million fine and subsequent presidential pardons for the founders. There is no indication BitMEX intends to register with Canadian regulators or return to the Canadian market.
CoinSmart was FINTRAC-registered and OSC-authorized; its full successor chain is CoinSmart → WonderFi (July 2023) → Bitbuy (September 2023) → Robinhood (June 2026). BitMEX restricted all of Canada in late 2023 and is not registered with Canadian regulators.
Customer support
There is no CoinSmart support team anymore; former users should contact Bitbuy support ([email protected]) referencing their old CoinSmart account. Two practical warnings: anyone offering to "recover" CoinSmart funds for a fee is running a recovery scam, and any active website using the CoinSmart name to solicit deposits is an impostor.
BitMEX offers support via a contact form on its website and has a detailed FAQ section. For Canadians this is academic, since the platform is off-limits entirely.
There is no CoinSmart support team anymore; former users should contact Bitbuy support referencing their old CoinSmart account. Two practical warnings: anyone offering to "recover" CoinSmart funds for a fee is running a recovery scam, and any active website using the CoinSmart name to solicit deposits is an impostor.
BitMEX offers support via a contact form on its website and has a detailed FAQ section. For Canadians this is academic, since the platform is off-limits entirely.
Neither platform has relevant ongoing support for Canadians. Former CoinSmart users route through Bitbuy/Robinhood support; BitMEX support is academic for Canadian users.
Conclusion
From a Canadian perspective, there is nothing to choose between CoinSmart and BitMEX — both are unavailable, and for different reasons.
CoinSmart wound down in 2023. If you were a CoinSmart user, your account migrated to Bitbuy, which is now owned by Robinhood following the June 2026 WonderFi acquisition. Log into Bitbuy with your old CoinSmart email to access your account and history. Never send crypto to an old CoinSmart deposit address. If anyone offers to recover your CoinSmart funds for a fee, it is a scam.
BitMEX restricted all Canadian accounts in late 2023 and paid a $100 million US fine in January 2025 for AML failures. Canada remains on its restricted jurisdictions list with no return announced.
For Canadians looking for well-regulated alternatives, we recommend Bitbuy (the natural CoinSmart successor, now under Robinhood/CIRO oversight), Kraken (200+ coins, nationally registered restricted dealer since April 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.
