Bittrex to wind down U.S. operations

The cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has announced that it is winding down operations in the United States due to ‘regulatory uncertainty’.

Due to continued regulatory uncertainty, we have made the difficult decision to wind down our U.S. operations, effective April 30, 2023. All funds are safe and can be fully withdrawn immediately.

This does not affect customers of @BittrexGlobal https://t.co/MY4u7XLk9z

— Bittrex (@BittrexExchange) March 31, 2023

According to the press release, all client funds are safe and must be withdrawn by April 30, 2023. Trading on the exchange will be available until April 14.

Bittrex explained that it would be not commercially viable to continue operating under the current regulatory and economic conditions in the United States. The changes will not affect customers outside the country.

In February, Kraken settled charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange agreed to shut down its staking program and pay a $30 million fine.

In March, the American bitcoin exchange Coinbase received a notice from the SEC regarding an investigation into the listing procedures on the platform and its products — Coinbase Prime, Coinbase Wallet and the staking service Coinbase Earn.

At the end of the month, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed suit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. The agency believes the platform violated derivatives trading rules by operating without the required registration.

Earlier in February, Bittrex filed with the U.S. Department of Labor a notice of workforce reductions amid unfavorable market conditions. The decision affected 83 of 284 employees.

In October 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury and FinCEN fined Bittrex $29 million for repeated violations of sanctions policies and AML-procedures.