The British Columbia Securities Commission found David Smillie sent about a third of funds customers deposited on his crypto-trading platform ezBtc to gambling sites or his personal accounts on other platforms, despite telling them he would hold them securely offline. (The Logic)

Talking point: Crypto-trading platforms have a long history of misappropriating customer funds and collapsing. Quadriga is the most prominent Canadian example, while the collapse of Bahamian crypto giant FTX reverberated through the industry in 2022. Canadian securities regulators initiated a crackdown on crypto-trading platforms in 2021, resulting in some international firms exiting the country. Smillie and ezBtc, which shuttered in 2022, must pay a combined $10.4 million—the amount the panel determined they obtained through wrongdoing, minus repaid funds—plus an $8-million administrative penalty.