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- Bittrex US collapsed earlier following regulatory action by the SEC.
- The Ripple verdict hasn’t slowed down the SEC as it continues to go after exchanges.
The crypto exchange Bittrex Global announced on 20th November that it is winding down its operations.
All trading activity on the platform will cease by 4th December. Users have been asked to withdraw their funds by the date. The platform will allow only specific withdrawals later.
It is with great regret that we inform you that Bittrex Global has decided to wind down its operations.
Effective Monday 4 December 2023, all trading activity on Bittrex Global will be disabled. After that date, customers will only be able to withdraw assets as part of the…
— Bittrex Global (@BittrexGlobal) November 20, 2023
Bittrex Global also informed that it will not pay out in US dollars. Instead, it instructed customers to convert to either crypto or euros prior to withdrawing.
The exchange has discontinued its referral program and ceased all promotions.
The fortune of the exchange looks similar to that of its US arm that collapsed this year following regulatory action.
In April, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Bittrex US for allegedly operating as an unregistered broker, exchange and clearing agency. The agency also pursued charges against Bittrex Global.
Subsequently, Bittrex US filed for bankruptcy in May. The court cleared its bankruptcy plan in October, following which it could start selling off its US assets.
The US subsidiary agreed to pay $24 million to the SEC as part of a settlement back in August.
Once one of the largest crypto exchanges, the 24-hour spot trading volume of Bittrex Global stood around $19.7 million at press time.
SEC isn’t slowing down
Bittrex is among the increasingly long list of virtual asset platforms hit by regulatory action in the U.S. this year. The latest exchange to suffer the SEC’s salvo is Kraken.
The agency sued the exchange for allegedly operating as an unregistered platform offering securities. Kraken immediately denied the charges.
The SEC also sued crypto exchange Gemini and crypto lending platform Genesis in January for allegedly offering and selling unregistered securities.
In June, the regulatory body went after Binance [BNB] and Coinbase [COIN] with similar allegations.
The SEC had been doggedly pursuing its case against Ripple [XRP] since 2020. In July 2023, the court finally delivered its verdict.
The judge ruled that the sale of XRP tokens on crypto exchanges and through programmatic sales did not constitute a sale of securities. But the institutional sale of XRP tokens indeed violated federal securities laws.
The crypto community interpreted the verdict as a partial victory for Ripple.
It was assumed that the verdict would make the SEC reconsider its approach. But it seems that the regulatory body is even more invigorated in its long war against the crypto industry.
