Balance completes qualification certification: Canada launches local cryptocurrency asset clearing

Recently, Canadian crypto asset custody company Balance announced that it has obtained domestic certification. This shift opens new possibilities for the restructuring of the entire industry’s clearing system. Balance CEO George Bodiyanu emphasized in an interview that this moment creates the conditions for bringing Canadian ETF assets back from the U.S. sub-custody agreements.

The Issue of Asset Dispersion Under the U.S. Custody System

For a long time, billions of dollars in retail assets stored in Canadian cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been managed through sub-custody agreements with major U.S. trading platforms such as Coinbase and Gemini. These assets should have been directly overseen by Canadian ETF providers like 3iQ, Purpose Investments, and Evolve, but in practice, they were entrusted to the U.S. clearing and settlement systems.

Bodiyanu illustrated the absurdity of this situation with a vivid analogy: “It’s like the Toronto Stock Exchange having to rely on a U.S. trust clearing company for settlement and clearing. If you put it in those terms, the entire arrangement becomes completely unreasonable.” This dependency actually reflects deficiencies in Canada’s localized clearing infrastructure.

Core Competitiveness of Balance’s Localization Solution

The key advantage of Balance’s certification lies in its independently developed technology stack. Unlike competitors relying on third-party solutions like Fireblocks or Digital Vault, Balance has built a fully autonomous custody infrastructure. This technological independence enables the company to provide more convenient and cost-effective services to Canadian asset management firms.

Bodiyanu stated, “We have complete technical capabilities and a compliance framework that allow us to offer simplified solutions for asset managers looking to launch more ETFs and investment funds.” This means that in the future, Canadian asset managers will no longer be forced to clear and settle their crypto positions through U.S. intermediaries.

Strategic Significance of Canada’s Crypto Infrastructure

The certification and the launch of Balance’s localized clearing solution mark an acceleration in Canada’s autonomous development in digital asset management. Although the assets stored in Canadian crypto ETFs are currently relatively limited, Bodiyanu pointed out that with the widespread adoption of tokenized real-world assets and stablecoins, Canada urgently needs to establish its own localized infrastructure to meet future growth.

Without a strong local clearing system, Canada’s financial markets will continue to rely on U.S. infrastructure, which poses long-term risks in terms of global asset diversification and regulatory autonomy. Balance’s localized clearing solution directly addresses this strategic need, providing critical support for the independent development of Canada’s digital asset ecosystem.