Former leader Lucas Matheson left the crypto exchange in December to join Opendoor. <\/p>\n
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Coinbase Canada has appointed established Canadian crypto leader Eric Richmond as its new country director and CEO, taking over the role Lucas Matheson left nearly seven months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news: Richmond announced that he was taking over the crypto exchange\u2019s Canadian operations in a Tuesday-afternoon LinkedIn post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He brings experience from multiple other Canadian crypto companies, most recently as general counsel and head of business development at Shakepay. He also previously served as the president of Coinsquare and co-founded Canada\u2019s first regulated digital asset custodian in Tetra Trust<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n From the source: \u201cMy focus is clear: build the trusted relationships with regulators and partners that enable us to grow, make crypto more accessible for everyday Canadians, and help update a financial system that\u2019s long overdue for change,\u201d Richmond said in an email statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the thread: After three years leading Coinbase Canada, Matheson left the company<\/a> in December to become president of San Francisco-based real estate tech firm Opendoor. During Matheson\u2019s tenure, he advocated<\/a> for the company\u2019s crypto interests<\/a> and made it the first international crypto exchange to secure a restricted dealer licence<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n Richmond is expected to pick up Matheson\u2019s torch and work closely with regulators and Coinbase\u2019s partners to bring more of the financial system onto the blockchain while building out the exchange\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n Final thought: Richmond comes aboard amid some recent changes in the Canadian crypto market.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both Coinbase<\/a> and fellow US-based crypto exchange Kraken<\/a> have been lobbying the government on blockchain tech and stablecoins. While some stablecoin legislation made it into the 2025 federal budget<\/a>, the government has indicated<\/a> more will come in Budget 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coinbase will also have new players to contend with. US-based trading platform Robinhood Markets just entered the Canadian crypto market<\/a> through its acquisition of WonderFi; Toronto-based FinTech firm Koho Financial recently launched<\/a> its own crypto offering; and Questrade is also expected<\/a> to launch its own offering soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n