The bankrupt U.S. arm of the crypto exchange Bittrex has announced that it would open the platform for customer withdrawals as of June 15. The decision followed a ruling by U.S. Judge Brendan Shannon, who has given Bittrex U.S. and its affiliates permission to allow their customers to withdraw their funds in crypto and fiat currencies from the trading platform. The ruling pointed out that there could be clawbacks in the future since the judge did not determine who legally owns the assets or whether customer claims are prioritized over the government's. - In early May, Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., nearly one month after it decided to gradually halt its operations in the country.
- The bankruptcy followed the U.S. regulators' charges that Bittrex violated sanctions and federal law by operating an unregistered securities exchange.
- The platform still owes millions to the U.S. government due to law violations.
- In the bankruptcy filing, the company reported more than 100,000 creditors, and the firm's U.S. arm said it held $300M of customer assets in cash and crypto.
- The bankrupt exchange asked the court to allow its customers to access their funds without prolonged litigations, though bankruptcy proceedings generally freeze the transactions.
- The U.S. government initially objected to Bittrex's repayment plan for refunding customers in cash and crypto.
On the other hand, Bittrex's bankruptcy filing concerns its Seattle-based entity, two entities in Malta, and an affiliated entity dubbed Desolation Holdings LLC. - The exchange's Liechtenstein-based global entity, Bittrex Global GmbH, was excluded from the bankruptcy process, and the company said it does not plan to halt its global operations.
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