Crypto Exchange Bittrex Shuts Down US Operations: Impact of Regulatory Uncertainty

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Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is stopping its services in the U.S. because they are not sure how to follow the rules that American regulators want them to abide by. These regulations can be hard to understand and unfair, according to Bittrex.

Bittrex to Shut Down US Operations on April 30th

Bittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange, said on Friday that it will be closing its U.S. operations on April 30th 2023. But don’t worry! They said all the funds are safe and can be taken out immediately. And this doesn’t impact customers from other parts of the world that use Bittrex’s global website.

Richie Lai, the CEO of Bittrex, says it’s not financially possible to keep working in the way he usually does because of the US laws and rules. Bittrex recently turned nine years old, but Richie noticed that these last few years have been really challenging when dealing with government regulations. He said that it just isn’t fair for everyone since sometimes the laws are so unclear and some companies get unfair advantages from them.

Bittrex said that you can only remove your crypto currency until April 29. The deadline to ask for money back via wire is on April 24 at 5 pm PST, while the final day for ACH withdrawals is April 27 at 5 pm PST.

In the USA, companies that deal with cryptocurrencies have been getting more attention from government regulators. The SEC, an important government agency that oversees stocks and investments, has checked in on places like Coinbase and filed a charge against Kraken for its staking program.

The head of the SEC (short for Security and Exchange Commission) Gary Gensler asked for more money recently to better protect people who use crypto currencies. He managed to say that all digital tokens, except Bitcoin, should be seen as securities. On top of that, the CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission) has gone further by sanctioning Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). What do you think about Bittrex shutting down half of its activities in the US, especially? Let us know what you think in the comments!