Overview

Netcoins, Canada's longest-operating crypto trading platform, partnered with APX Lending to become the first Canadian crypto trading platform to offer clients an integrated lending experience. The partnership paired Netcoins' exchange, staking, and swap infrastructure with APX's crypto-backed lending capital, compliance, and custody, giving Netcoins clients access to lending without Netcoins having to build the product themselves.

The Challenge

Netcoins was in the middle of a major regulatory transition, moving from its status as a restricted dealer to full membership with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). At the same time, the team wanted to keep shipping new products, including coin-to-coin trading, deeper liquidity, and a broader range of supported assets, without slowing down that regulatory work.

Adding a lending product meant a choice: build an in-house lending team from scratch or partner with a specialist. Standing up lending internally would have meant new compliance requirements, new capital considerations, and a team pulled away from the core exchange roadmap at exactly the moment Netcoins needed that roadmap to keep moving.

The Solution

Netcoins partnered with APX Lending. APX brought crypto-backed lending capital, custody, and the regulatory groundwork needed to operate in Canada, while Netcoins focused on what it does best: trading, staking, and swap services for its clients.

The two teams worked side by side to build the integrated experience, drawing on a shared understanding of Canadian regulatory requirements. That close collaboration let Netcoins offer lending as an additional experience to their clients.

"Our clients already trust Netcoins to buy, sell and hold their digital assets. This partnership allows us to extend that relationship into lending by giving eligible clients a direct way to access liquidity without having to sell their crypto or search for a lender outside the Netcoins experience."

— Fraser, CEO, Netcoins and BIGG Digital Assets

Why Not Build In-House

For Netcoins, the decision came down to focus. The team was already deep in its CIRO transition and didn't want to divide attention between that work and standing up a new lending function. Partnering with APX let Netcoins add lending without adding headcount, without adding new regulatory scope on its own side and without pulling focus from the rest of its 2026 roadmap, including coin-to-coin trading and expanded asset support.

The Result

Netcoins became the first Canadian crypto trading platform to offer clients a fully integrated crypto-backed lending experience, launched natively inside its existing app.

The team kept its regulatory transition and product roadmap moving in parallel rather than pausing one for the other.

Netcoins created a repeatable model that both companies see as a template for future exchange partnerships.

About Netcoins

Established in 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Netcoins offers digital-asset trading and related services to retail, corporate and institutional clients. The platform is owned by BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (TSXV: BIGG)

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