What’s changing & when?
- As of August 3, 2023, any Canadian BTC or USDC Savings Account is transitioned into a new non-interest earning BTC or USDC Transaction Account for the purposes of allowing Canadian clients to manage their Ledn loans.
- Canadian clients are no longer able to take out new B2X loans.
- Any existing B2X loans with a maturity date after January 4, 2023 are not eligible for renewal. Clients have the option of closing their B2X loan at any time up to and including their loan’s maturity date, or may choose to refinance their B2X loan with a regular bitcoin-backed loan. The option of refinancing a B2X loan is not available for clients residing in Quebec (“QC”), New Brunswick (“NB”), Nova Scotia (“NS”), and Saskatchewan (“SK”).
- Ledn Bitcoin-backed loans are no longer available to residents in the provinces of QC, NB, NS, and SK. Clients residing in these provinces with any matured Bitcoin-backed loans are not eligible for renewal on and after April 1, 2023. There are no changes to Bitcoin-backed loan product availability in other Canadian provinces.
Our client success team is available to help you understand how best to manage your account going forward. You can reach out to them at support@ledn.io to get personalized support with your account.
Why are the changes happening?
Since 2021, Ledn has been working collaboratively with Canadian regulators to determine a constructive regulatory pathway in Canada for Ledn’s business.
As a result of such discussions, Ledn has made the decision to wind-down its existing BTC and USDC Savings Accounts and B2X loans in Canada.
Ledn continues to offer Bitcoin-backed loans to Canadian residents, except for residents of QC, NB, NS, and SK.
As of August 3, 2023, any Canadian BTC or USDC Savings Account is transitioned into a new non-interest earning BTC or USDC Transaction Account for the purposes of allowing Canadian clients to manage their Ledn loans.
These changes have no impact on Ledn’s product offering outside of Canada.
Ledn looks forward to reaching back out to Canadian clients when it is in a position to re-introduce additional products to clients in Canada.
What actions do I need to take?
There are no actions you need to take as a Ledn client without any active loans.
If you are a B2X or Bitcoin-backed loan client, there are changes as to how you can manage your loan – read on for more details.
How are Savings Accounts impacted?
As of August 3, 2023, any Canadian BTC or USDC Savings Account is transitioned into a new non-interest earning BTC or USDC Transaction Account for the purposes of allowing Canadian clients to manage their Ledn loans.
How is Trade impacted?
Canadian clients are no longer able to trade between their existing BTC and USDC balances on the Ledn platform.
How is B2X impacted?
Canadian clients are no longer able to take a new B2X loan.
Any existing B2X loans with a maturity date after January 4, 2023 are not eligible for renewal. Clients have the option of closing their B2X loan at any time up to and including their loan’s maturity date, or may choose to refinance their B2X loan with a regular bitcoin-backed loan. The option of refinancing a B2X loan is not available for clients residing in QC, NB, NS, and SK.
Here is how the management of your B2X loan will change going forward:
Managing your loan:
- You will no longer be able to add new BTC to your BTC Transaction Account in order to top up your BTC collateral from your Transaction Account.
- Any existing BTC balance you have in your BTC Transaction Account can be used to top up your loan to avoid having it liquidated if it reaches 80% LTV.
- If you don’t have enough BTC in your Transaction Account to top up your loan, you are still able to send BTC from an external address directly to your loan collateral address. You can learn more about this process here.
- Auto Top-up: auto loan top-ups continue to work as long as you have enough existing BTC in your Transaction Account to top the loan up and reduce your LTV. You can learn more here.
- Renewing your loan: Any existing B2X loans with a maturity date after January 4, 2023 are not eligible for renewal. Clients have the option of closing their B2X loan at any time up to and including their loan’s maturity date, or may choose to refinance their B2X loan with a regular bitcoin-backed loan. The option of refinancing a B2X loan is not available for clients residing in QC, NB, NS, and SK.
Our client success team is available to help you manage your loan, and can be reached at support@ledn.io.
How are Bitcoin-backed loans impacted?
There are no changes to the availability of Bitcoin-backed loans for Canadian clients, including the ability to take out a new Bitcoin-backed loan or renew or refinance an existing one, except for residents of QC, NB, NS, and SK.
There are some changes to how you can manage your Bitcoin-backed loan going forward:
Managing your loan:
- You are no longer able to add new BTC to your BTC Transaction Account in order to top up your BTC collateral from your Transaction Account.
- Any existing BTC balance you have in your BTC Transaction Account can be used to top up your loan to avoid having it liquidated if it reaches 80% LTV.
- If you don’t have enough BTC in your Transaction Account to top up your loan, you are still able to send BTC from an external address directly to your loan collateral address. You can learn more about this process here.
- Auto Top-up: auto loan top-ups continue to work as long as you have enough existing BTC in your Transaction Account to top up the loan and reduce your LTV. You can learn more here.
- Ledn Bitcoin-backed loans are not available to residents in the provinces of QC, NB, NS, and SK. Clients residing in these provinces with any matured Bitcoin-backed loans are not eligible for renewal. There are no changes to Bitcoin-backed loan product availability in other Canadian provinces.
How is the Referral Program Impacted?
The referral program is no longer available for Canadian residents.
What should I do if I have a balance below the minimum withdrawal amount/fee in BTC and USDC?
BTC and USDC withdrawals do incur network fees which make withdrawals below our withdrawal threshold unfeasible.
In the event that your balance in any of your Transaction Accounts is below 0.0005 BTC or 15 USDC, you’re encouraged to top up your account in order to cover any withdrawal fees. Please reach out to support@ledn.io to get personalized support with your account if you have any additional questions.
Canadian clients who have balances below this threshold (0.0005 BTC/15 USDC) after July 31, 2023 will be deemed to have such balances forfeited to Ledn, which in turn will donate them to the not-for-profit organization Bitcoin for Fairness (https://bffbtc.org/).
*Note: at current price levels, the fees to withdraw BTC are below the 15 USDC withdrawal fee.
How can I learn more and get help managing the changes to my Ledn account?
Our client success team is available to help you understand how best to manage your account going forward. You can reach out to them at support@ledn.io to get personalized support with your account.