Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation cites regulatory issues as the reason for Bittrex’s exit

The Bittrex exchange is forced to cease serving residents of Ukraine due to problems identifying users from Crimea. This is demanded by regulatory regimes in the United States and Liechtenstein, according to representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Representatives of the trading platform emphasized that they would like to operate in Ukraine. The ministry has already promised to discuss the issue with regulators and develop a ‘technical solution for identifying Crimea residents’.

According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Digital Transformation, if the situation is not resolved, it risks driving other exchanges away from Ukraine in the future.

On 11 September Bittrex announced its withdrawal from Ukraine and a number of other countries, including Belarus, Burundi, Mali, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Panama. Later the exchange clarified that the problem lies in the regulatory framework of the listed jurisdictions.

The founder of Kuna exchange, Mikhail Chobanian explained Bittrex’s departure as due to an unfavourable political environment, including military and ethnic conflicts, as well as extreme poverty in these countries.

Bittrex clients were immediately poached by Currency.com, which offered $50 to each trader whose account had been closed.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Parliament introduced an updated bill ‘On Virtual Assets’.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation expects Parliament to approve it by the end of the year.

Chainalysis previously found that residents of Ukraine and Russia are among the most active cryptocurrency users. Eastern European countries, according to the firm’s report, lead in activity on darknet markets.

Ukraine and Russia have emerged as leaders in Chainalysis’s global cryptocurrency adoption index

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