The firm took note of an uncertain regulatory and economic environment in the U.S.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex will shut down its U.S. platform on April 30 after nine years of operation, the company announced on Friday.
“It’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment,” said Bittrex co-founder and CEO Ritchie Lai in the statement. “Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape,” he continued. “Operating in the U.S. is no longer feasible.”
All customer funds are safe, said Lai, and are available to withdraw.
The closure does not affect Bittrex Global, which operates in Europe and South America, among other locales, and will remain open for trading.
U.S. regulators in recent weeks and months have upped their oversight of crypto-related companies, and crypto exchanges haven’t been spared. Coinbase recently disclosed receipt of a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Kraken shuttered its crypto staking service in the U.S. and paid a $30 million fine in a settlement with that agency.
Most recently, Binance and its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao were sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with the reguylator alleging the exchange offers unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S.
CORRECTION (March 29, 2023 14:45 UTC): Bittrex Global does not operate in Canada.
Edited by Stephen Alpher.
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:format(jpg)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/coindesk/6d05e6ca-ca9b-44d0-97e6-b6bdceee3d6f.png "Crypto Exchange Bittrex to Wind Down U.S. Operations Next Month (3)")
Helene is a New York-based reporter covering Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin ETFs and crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk's Markets Daily show. Helene is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.
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