[2017-08-15] DCEBrief - Bitfinex Abandoning US Market

[Chase]

Bitfinex Abandoning US Market

The Bitfinex digital currency exchange announced late last week that it will no longer provide exchange services to U.S. customers. A post on the company’s website provided details about the decision, and confirmed that all services to clients in the United States will end within the next three months. The announcement suggests that this move has been under consideration for some time.

https://dcebrief.com/bitfinex-abandoning-us-market/

[Granxis]

I am really surprised, the US Market is very rich in terms of operations and millions of users, and after this rule there may be a loss of users, I do not know why they make such a decision

[1Referee]

I am really surprised, the US Market is very rich in terms of operations and millions of users, and after this rule there may be a loss of users, I do not know why they make such a decision

Bitfinex is very shady to begin with. If they would be totally legit and clear minded, they would have taken the necessary steps to obtain all licenses needed to be allowed to offer their services to US citizens. Bitfinex has likely been warned, or they have just decided that if they don't want to end up like BTC-E, that they have to withdraw themselves from the US market. The US market is indeed a major one, but yet not enough for Bitfinex to license itself. Good thing is that if they eventually end up going down, which isn't that unlikely at all, then at least US customers won't be affected - that's the only positive thing to come up with.

[richardsNY]

or they have just decided that if they don't want to end up like BTC-E, that they have to withdraw themselves from the US market.

I think this is more likely the real motive for Bitfinex to start cutting on their operations. Bitfinex has had enough time to make itself compliant with the US laws, but they probably never had the intention to do so. I am fairly sure that they were just ignoring everything till there would be a moment it wasn't safe anymore to allow US traders to make use of their exchange -- that moment likely came after btc-e being put to a stop.

[Slow death]

Bitfinex Abandoning US Market

The Bitfinex digital currency exchange announced late last week that it will no longer provide exchange services to U.S. customers. A post on the company’s website provided details about the decision, and confirmed that all services to clients in the United States will end within the next three months. The announcement suggests that this move has been under consideration for some time.

https://dcebrief.com/bitfinex-abandoning-us-market/

I do not judge them by making this move. USA imposes its authority on everyone, This becomes scary, see trump speech until it seems that he has now become official world leader


"
• A surprisingly small percentage of our revenues come from verified U.S. individual accounts while a dramatically outsized portion of our resources goes into servicing the needs of U.S. individuals, including support, legal and regulatory.

• We anticipate the regulatory landscape to become even more challenging in the future.

• Bitfinex is not based in the United States. Exchanges based in the U.S. are better positioned to properly service retail U.S. customers. "


" Bitfinex is a crypto-currency exchange trading and currency-storage platform based out of Hong Kong and owned and operated by iFinex Inc. Since 2014, it has been the largest Bitcoin exchange platform, with over 10% of the exchanges' trading. In 2016, Bitfinex was hacked, and $72 million in bitcoin was stolen from its customers. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitfinex

[CryptoBry]

This is not all surprising as USA is not that friendly to Bitcoin exchange and one has to undergo rigorous and grueling system to get a license to operate and do business with and for US citizens. I am sure that they have their eyes already focused elsewhere where regulations are more friendly and the market is bigger. Hope they will not end up as just another failed business. The Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market is always growing and I am sure they know how to capitalize on this for months and years to come.