Bittrex Shuts Down US Operations As Regulators Crack Down On Crypto Startups

Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. is closing its operations in the U.S.

The current regulatory climate renders it "unfeasible" and "economically unviable" to continue functioning in the country, Bittrex co-founder and CEO Richie Lai tweeted.

Customers can withdraw their funds until the end of April, while Bittrex's international operations will remain active.

Bittrex joins other digital asset firms (i.e., crypto lender Nexo Inc.) exiting the U.S. market due to increased regulatory scrutiny.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has launched numerous enforcement actions this year, impacting companies of various sizes in the sector, such as Genesis Global Capital, Gemini Trust Co., and Kraken.

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In October, Bittrex faced a $53 million fine from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crime Enforcement Network for failing to block customers in Iran, Cuba, and other sanctioned countries from accessing its platform.

The company stated at the time that it had reached a mutually agreeable resolution with OFAC and FinCEN.

In 2019, New York regulators ordered Bittrex to halt operations in the state due to concerns about its ability to detect money laundering and comply with sanctions.

Bittrex's trading volume in the last 24 hours amounts to approximately $17 million, as per CoinGecko data, compared to Coinbase Global Inc.'s COIN $1.4 billion volume.

Bittrex was co-founded in 2014 by Bill Shihara, a former Amazon.com Inc. AMZN security engineering manager, along with two other cybersecurity experts from the e-commerce giant, according to the platform's website.

Lai stated in his tweet on Friday that Bittrex has "never lost funds or been hacked."

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