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.
KuCoin offers two-factor authentication and has tightened compliance considerably since its early years. Its history still matters though: $275 million was stolen by North Korean hackers in 2020, with about $200 million recovered, and in 2025 its operator pleaded guilty in the US to anti-money-laundering failures. If you somehow still have funds on the exchange, move them to a private crypto wallet.
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.
KuCoin offers two-factor authentication and has tightened compliance considerably since its early years. Its history still matters though: $275 million was stolen by North Korean hackers in 2020, with about $200 million recovered, and in 2025 its operator pleaded guilty in the US to anti-money-laundering failures with roughly $297 million in penalties. If you somehow still have funds on the exchange, move them to a private crypto wallet.
CoinSmart had an orderly, regulator-supervised wind-down with no customer fund losses, its accounts transferred cleanly to Bitbuy. KuCoin suffered a $275M hack in 2020 and pleaded guilty in the US in 2025 for AML failures — and remains permanently banned in Canada. 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.
KuCoin is banned in Canada. After ignoring OSC proceedings entirely, KuCoin received a permanent ban from Ontario's capital markets in June 2022 along with the maximum penalties the tribunal could impose, about $2 million plus costs, and the CSA lists it as a banned platform nationwide. Mandatory KYC since July 2023 means there is no longer any workaround, and using a VPN violates KuCoin's own terms with the risk of frozen funds and zero consumer protection or legal recourse in Canada. This is a hard no for Canadians, not a grey area.
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.
KuCoin is banned in Canada. After ignoring OSC proceedings entirely, KuCoin received a permanent ban from Ontario's capital markets in June 2022 along with the maximum penalties the tribunal could impose — about $2 million plus costs — and the CSA lists it as a banned platform nationwide. Mandatory KYC since July 2023 means there is no longer any workaround, and using a VPN violates KuCoin's own terms with the risk of frozen funds and zero consumer protection or legal recourse in Canada.
CoinSmart was FINTRAC-registered and OSC-authorized; its successor chain ends with Bitbuy/Robinhood as of June 2026. KuCoin is permanently banned from Ontario's capital markets and listed as a banned platform by the CSA nationwide — not merely "not technically allowed in Ontario."
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.
KuCoin offers FAQs, an online ticketing system and 24/7 live chat for users in supported countries. For Canadians the only relevant support scenario is recovering legacy funds, and be prepared for friction, since closed-jurisdiction withdrawals often involve extra verification steps.
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.
KuCoin offers FAQs, an online ticketing system and 24/7 live chat for users in supported countries. For Canadians the only relevant support scenario is recovering legacy funds, and be prepared for friction since closed-jurisdiction withdrawals often involve extra verification steps.
Neither platform has relevant ongoing support for Canadians. Former CoinSmart users route through Bitbuy/Robinhood support; KuCoin's ticketing system is the only route for recovering stranded balances, with significant friction expected.
Conclusion
From a Canadian perspective, there is nothing to choose between CoinSmart and KuCoin — 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.
KuCoin is permanently banned from Canada's capital markets since June 2022 and appears on the CSA's national banned platform list. If you have legacy funds on KuCoin, withdraw to a private wallet first — do not transfer directly to a regulated Canadian exchange as the transfer may be blocked.
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.
