Bittrex Global is Closed

On December 4, 2023, the company Bittrex Globalbased in Liechtenstein, will announce the winding up of its operations and suspension of trading on the cryptocurrency exchange. The statement of the company representatives emphasized that all clients should immediately log into their accounts and withdraw their assets. It is indicated that after December 4 21:00 MSC legal relations between users and the exchange will be terminated.

Bittrex Global recommends completing all transactions by the date and time specified, warning that deposits are no longer accepted as they may be irretrievably lost. The company also recommends withdrawing funds “as soon as possible” and says that withdrawals in US dollars are not possible and must be converted to euros or cryptocurrency. There is currently no specific timeframe for withdrawal, but the liquidators of the business may set one in the future.

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This is not Bittrex Global’s first move towards closure. Earlier, the company froze the referral program from November 20 and stopped advertising campaigns. All bonuses received up to and including November 19 will be paid out in the coming days. Representatives of the platform promise to provide support to clients by forming a team of technical specialists.

Bittrex was founded in 2014 by software engineers who previously worked at Amazon and Microsoft. In 2017, it was the largest crypto exchange in the US and the third largest in the world. However, in 2019, Bittrex split into two platforms – international and US, which significantly reduced the trading volume on the latter. The US division of Bittrex filed for bankruptcy on May 8, 2023, after the SEC sued Bittrex and its co-founder, former CEO William Sheahar, on April 17. The regulator alleged that the company operated as an unregistered securities exchange and brokerage from 2017 through 2022, generating at least $1.3 billion in revenue for the company.

In May 2023, Bittrex asked the court to allow customers to withdraw their assets without the cost and delay of litigation. However, in June, US authorities challenged the action, deeming it “improper.” In July, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) accused Bittrex of violating state laws and filed a complaint against the company for fraud that preceded its bankruptcy. Court documents note that the platform mixed customer assets with working capital and ignored some of its liabilities.

In addition, the crypto exchange provided services to users in Crimea, for which the US authorities imposed a fine of $24 million on the exchange at the end of last year for violation of sanctions.