A U.S.-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has announced that it would wind down its U.S. operations due to an unfriendly regulatory environment. The exchange noted that customers have until April 30 2023 to withdraw their funds.
In a statement released on Friday, Bittrex co-founder and CEO Richie Lai said that it was not “economically viable” to continue to run the exchange in the “current U.S. regulatory and economic environment.”
“Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape,” he said.
Bittrex’s announcement comes as U.S. regulators launch perhaps the toughest crackdown on the crypto industry yet.
Investors King understands that in recent times, the U.S. Regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have hit a number of American crypto companies with fines.
Last week, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S. Coinbase, claiming that the San-Francisco-based firm’s staking products allegedly constitute unregistered securities. This indicated a potential lawsuit against the exchange for “possible violations of securities laws”.
Similarly, on Monday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, stating that the company allegedly violated trading and derivatives rules.
In 2022, Bittrex was also a victim of harsh regulation as the exchange agreed to pay $29 million to settle enforcement cases with U.S. authorities for “apparent violations” of sanctions against countries including Iran, Cuba and Syria.
On the heel of the news to wind down U.S. operations, Bittrex however reinstated its intention to continue to serve customers outside of America.
About Bittrex Exchange
Founded in 2013, Bittrex is a small Seattle-based company. It is the 71st largest digital asset exchange, with a 24-hour trading volume of just $11.7 million, according to CoinGecko.