• Bittrex US, an American branch of the cryptocurrency exchange, is set to allow its customers to withdraw their cash and cryptocurrency holdings from Thursday.
• The decision has been authorized by a Delaware bankruptcy court following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy in May after being sued by the US government for sanctions violations.
• Customers have withdrawn millions of dollars since the exchange announced ceasing operations in March.
Embattled Crypto Exchange Bittrex US to Allow Withdrawals
Court Authorization
On Tuesday, Delaware bankruptcy court Judge Brendan Shannon authorized Bittrex US and its affiliates: “To permit their customers holding undisputed, noncontingent, and liquidated claims to withdraw cryptocurrency assets and fiat currency from the Debtors’ trading platform to the extent of such claims.” According to Patty Tomasco, a partner at the law firm Quinn Emmanuel and Bittrex’s representative, “The platform will be up and running for withdrawals on Thursday, June 15.”
US Government Opposition
The US government has opposed this legal attempt of Bittrex allowing customers access once more as Tuesday’s ruling stated that future clawbacks may occur and that the judgment does not establish who legally owns those assets or whether customer claims are preferred over those of the government.
Massive Withdrawals Since Ceasing Operations
After announcing in March that it would be ending operations in the United States the following month, withdrawals amounting to millions of dollars took place. On May 8th, Bittrex declared bankruptcy with $300 million in customer cash and cryptocurrency held by its US arm as of May 10th.
SEC Crackdown
Bittrex was one of the first exchanges targeted by SEC for operating as an unregistered securities exchange among other things. Recently, it has also gone after Coinbase and Binance citing similar violations.
