Bittrex Announces Termination of Operations in the US
- Crypto exchange Bittrex is ending its operations in the United States, citing unclear and unfair regulatory standards as the reason for the decision.
- The digital asset trading platform made the announcement on its ninth anniversary that it is in the middle of “the process of winding down its US operations.”
- All the funds belonging to Bittrex customers in the US are safe and can be withdrawn at any time, revealed the co-founder and CEO of the firm, Richie Lai.
- Lai said that as the crypto space developed, regulatory policies became more unclear and were “enforced without appropriate discussion or input.”
Another crypto firm has announced that it would end its operations in the United States as the regulatory uncertainty and internal issues between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continue to damage the booming crypto industry in the US. Bittrex, a crypto exchange based out of Seattle, Washington, has confirmed that it will be winding down its services in the region.
Bittrex was founded in 2014 by three Amazon Inc. alumni in the US and is now terminating its services in the region because of the challenging regulatory situation in the country. According to an announcement from the digital asset exchange, the company has turned nine years old and has begun “the process of winding down its US operations.”
“Don’t worry—all customer funds are safe and available to withdraw; however, it’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment,” read the announcement from Bittrex.
Interestingly, the co-founder and CEO of Bittrex, Richie Lai, noted that due to the uncertain and unfair regulatory standards in the US, the potential benefits of operating in the region have been wiped off. He said that as the crypto community and the industry became more involved over time, the regulatory requirements became increasingly “unclear” and “enforced, without appropriate discussion or input.”
The Bittrex announcement read that due to these conditions, the unclear regulatory environment in the US has resulted in an “uneven competitive landscape.” Therefore, the operations of the crypto exchange cannot be carried out in the region.
“In the end, we made great strides toward accomplishing our goal of maturing the crypto space. However, operating in the US is no longer feasible, and Bill, Rami, and I will focus on helping Bittrex Global succeed outside the US,” read the announcement from Bittrex.
The crypto community on social media platform Twitter supported the decision taken by Bittrex and showed sympathy for the co-founders of the platform while blaming the SEC. Many Twitter users pointed out that this decision should’ve been taken a long time ago, while adding that it was the US regulators that were holding the firm down.
The announcement also added that existing customers on the Bittrex exchange will be permitted to trade until April 14 and asked US customers to remove their funds from the platform by April 30.
“I’ve truly enjoyed being a part of this revolution and will continue to be involved in this space. Thanks to all the Bittrex users over the years that made us who we are,” said Lai.
The SEC and the CFTC have been cracking down heavily on crypto exchanges while struggling to determine if Ethereum and stablecoins can be considered as securities. SEC Chair Gary Gensler believes that except for Bitcoin, all other cryptocurrencies are securities, while the CFTC has stated multiple times in its lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance that Ether and stablecoins can be considered commodities.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
