Like others are saying, on the face of it, seems like a strange decision, judging from the fact that most Bitcoin trading volume still comes from the US but if anyone's actually used Polo recently, the state of affairs is so sad, compared to 2 years ago.
Circle's probably right that the operation can't be salvaged as is. It's basically a dead exchange.
Pulling out of the US market makes sense for the new owners if they want to put in minimal capital. I'm sure it would reduce their compliance costs to a small fraction of what they used to be. I doubt they'll bring back unverified accounts but axing US customers makes it a slight possibility. That would increase their traffic for sure.
As a side point, this move is actually pretty exciting if we look at a timeline of Circle's life:
- Oct 31, 2013: They launch a month before the 2013 bubble pops.
- Dec 7, 2016: They exit the Bitcoin exchange business right before the 2017 bubble launches.
- Feb 26, 2018: They acquire Poloniex 2 months after the 2017 bubble pops.
- Yesterday: They announce they are selling Poloniex.
I don't want to jinx it but.......where do you think the market's headed now?