The crypto exchange Bittrex is currently filing for bankruptcy protection from the United States government.
It seems it has finally fallen to the US war on cryptocurrency. Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on April 8.
This case took off after Bittrex halted its operations in the US on April 30.
Closure of the US Operations
In March, Bittrex announced that they are ending its operations in the United States.
In October 2022, Bittrex was fined up to $53 million by the authorities for violations of AML (anti-money laundering) laws.
Bittrex was established in 2014 and it was once the biggest crypto exchange in the United States.
According to CoinGecko, it presently has a daily volume of $7 million. Also, it offers up to 799 trading pairs.
Details of the Case
On May 8, Bittrex filed for bankruptcy protection for its United States-based operations.
This move occurred 3 weeks after the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) accused it of operating an unregistered exchange.
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On April 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission took action against Bittrex.
They alleged that the company and its executives were selling and promoting unregistered securities.
The crypto exchange denied the fact of course with claims that the assets they issued weren’t securities.
Presently, the U Congress is yet to officially pronounce cryptocurrency assets as securities.
This means that the SEC is again taking the law into its hands with extra-judicial enforcement actions.
According to the bankruptcy filing, the crypto exchange had liabilities and assets that are up to $500 million and $1 billion.
In addition, the filing stated that Bittrex has more than 100,000 creditors.
Moreover, reports show that the company still holds the cryptocurrency assets of United States clients that didn’t withdraw their funds before April 30.
However, the firm assures that the customer’s funds which weren’t withdrawn are still safe and secure and will be enabled for withdrawal by the court soon.
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Was Bittrex Global Affected?
The crypto exchange reported that the bankruptcy filing didn’t have any impact on its Liechtenstein-based offshore businesses.
Bittrex Global wasn’t affected in any way. However, Bittrex Malta Holdings Ltd and Bittrex Malta Ltd were the other 2 entities that were impacted by the bankruptcy filings.
This is because; they also filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.