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What the numbers say: Bittrex co-founder and CEO Richie Lai announced Friday that the cryptocurrency exchange would shut down U.S. operations, stating that the regulatory environment in the U.S. had made it "not economically viable" to continue in the country. Its Bittrex Global platform will continue to operate. Friday afternoon, Bittrex's 24-hour trading volume approached $20.6M, according to CoinGecko. For comparison, Gemini's volume for the same period was about $22.8M. Coinbase's volume was around $1.4B. Relevance: The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crime Enforcement Network fined Bittrex $53M over sanctions violations. Recent enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have affected Genesis Global Capital, Gemini Trust Co., and Kraken, contributing to the adverse conditions Lai referenced. Brands that should care: Regulatory scrutiny as federal and state standards continue to emerge pose questions about compliance and legal ramifications for exchanges and other businesses in the crypto space. Meanwhile, even exchanges that may have benefited from FTX's collapse must contend with the skepticism it invited to the industry. |
