Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex will shut down its U.S. platform on April 30 after nine years of operation, the company announced on Friday.
“It’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment,” said Bittrex co-founder and CEO Ritchie Lai in the statement. “Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape,” he continued. “Operating in the U.S. is no longer feasible.”
All customer funds are safe, said Lai, and are available to withdraw.
The closure does not affect Bittrex Global, which operates in Europe, Canada and South America, among other locales, and will remain open for trading.
U.S. regulators in recent weeks and months have upped their oversight of crypto-related companies, and crypto exchanges haven’t been spared. Coinbase recently disclosed receipt of a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Kraken shuttered its crypto staking service and paid a $30 million fine in a settlement with that agency.
Most recently, Binance and its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) this week, with the complaint alleging the offering of unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S.
