Bittrex closes operations in the USA due to regulatory hurdles

Bittrex closes operations in the USA due to regulatory hurdles

On March 31, Bittrex, one of the largest and oldest US exchanges, announced the closure of their business due to the current “regulatory and economic environment” of the country.

According to the official explanation, the funds of the users remain safe and can be withdrawn at any time during the processing of the US business. This announcement has no effect on customers outside the country who use Bittrex globally.

US regulations have created an unequal competitive landscape

bittrex-co-founder Richie lai specified that the regulatory environment in the USA has created an inconsistent competitive environment that ultimately has an impact on the company's business activity, although it has been in the country for over nine years.

"Nine years later, the crypto ecosystem is very different. Regulatory requirements are often unclear and are enforced without adequate discussion or input, which leads to an unequal competitive landscape."

he added that due to these obstacles, a company in the country was "no longer feasible". Therefore, the board of directors decided to hire the company on April 30 so that users can withdraw their funds before this date.

"As I mentioned above, all customer funds are certain, here and ready for your access (for users with fulfilled KYC requirements). We will allow trading by April 14, 2023, and you should withdraw your entire money by April 30, 2023."

What happens at the regulatory level in the USA?

In the past few months, the US supervisory authorities have gradually reduced the flexibility that has been granted to the stock exchanges for years, despite compliance with developing regulatory norms that have become problematic for many companies.

This has caused some exchanges to get into a position in which they have to choose between closure or laying their headquarters from the United States to avoid fines and unnecessary problems.

For example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a notification of Wells against Coinbase on March 22, in which possible measures against the stock exchange for "possible violations of securities laws" in relation to their staking services and its digital wallet.

In response to this threat, Daniel Seifert, Vice President and Regional Director of Coinbase Europe, commented that "the United States left a gap that other countries would like to fill". In other words, if the regulatory authorities continue to target the stock exchange, they will move to another country, as Bittrex is planning.

As Cryptopotato recently reported, Binance was the youngest stock exchange, which the supervisory authorities targeted after the CFTC submitted a lawsuit against its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and Binance.com, the global cryptocurrency platform. Although the company did not have its headquarters in the USA, it was still sued to demonstrate to demonstrate the scope of the country.

This must be taken into account, since the current director of the SEC, Gary Gensler, has already said that, after its reasoning, all transactions that take place on the Ethereum blockchain fall into the responsibility of the United States. He added that most cryptocurrencies were securities - which, if they were accepted by various regulatory authorities as common criteria, could be potentially harmful to the country's crypto industry.

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