Crypto exchange Bittrex announces the termination of operations in the US

Customers will be able to withdraw their funds from the platform until the end of April

03.04.2023 - 08:25

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What’s new? Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex plans to leave the US market due to stricter industry regulation. According to Bittrex co-founder Richie Lai, the current regulatory framework in the United States makes it uneconomical for the platform to operate in that country. In this, the global business of Bittrex will not be affected by this decision, the company will continue to operate in other countries. All customer funds will be available for withdrawal until the end of April.

Thank you everyone.... <3 ;( pic.twitter.com/kq8nTRT0Aj — Richie Lai (@richiela) March 31, 2023

Bittrex, a centralized crypto exchange, launched in the United States in 2014. As of April 3, its daily trading volume is $11,66 million. The platform hosts 445 coins and 835 trading pairs (data by aggregator CoinGecko).

Crypto regulation in the US. As a result of tightening industry regulation, crypto lender Nexo began winding down its operations in the United States last December, the CoinEx exchange announced in February that it would stop serving Americans, and the Kraken platform stopped providing staking services to local customers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also accused crypto broker Genesis and exchange Gemini, TRON blockchain founder and CEO of Huobi exchange Justin Sun, and exchange Coinbase of violating securities laws.

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Bittrex’s battle with regulators began back in 2019 when the exchange received a cease-and-desist order from New York state authorities due to concerns about the platform’s ability to detect money laundering and sanctions evasion.

In October 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the US Treasury Department, fined Bittrex $29 million for sanctions violations from 2014 to 2017. The platform allegedly facilitated $263,45 million in illegal transactions.

In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, which, among other things, accused the exchange of failing to comply with anti-money laundering measures.

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