Crypto.com To Close US Institutional Exchange Amid SEC’s Crypto Crackdown

On Friday, Singapore-based crypto exchange, Crypto.com, announced that it plans to shut down its institutional exchange service for US clients, citing demand is drying up. The decision will take effect from June 21, 2023, as per the announcement.

Crypto.com said there is “limited demand” due to the current US market landscape – pointing to recent legal action against Coinbase and Binance. The company has given affected customers 12-day notice before shutting down its institutional business in the US to support a smooth transition.

The exchange said in a statement:

“We recently made a business decision to suspend the institutional offering of the Crypto.com Exchange in the U.S. as of 11:59 pm EDT June 21, 2023, due to limited demand from institutions in the U.S. in the current market landscape. Impacted institutional users were given advance notice to support a smooth transition.”

The exchange also said its platform and retail mobile application would continue to operate fully as usual for customers in the US. More specifically, the exchange’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated crypto derivatives product and UpDown Options will remain accessible in the region.

The firm also emphasized that it could reopen the institutional trading platform later. Meanwhile, it did not elaborate on the requirements which are necessary to resume operations.

Crypto.com Received A Payment Institution (MPI) License

On June 1st, the Crypto exchange disclosed that it achieved a major Payment Institution license from Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS). This will allow the firm to extend Digital Payment Token (DPT) services to its users in Singapore.

This statement comes after the firm received in-principle approval from the central bank in June 2022. Moreover, MAS serves as the primary financial regulatory authority and Singapore’s central bank.

The latest move puts the company at a disadvantage as the battle between American crypto exchanges and the US SEC is gaining fuel. This comes after Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, halted USD transactions following an SEC warning.

On June 5, the financial regulator filed a lawsuit against Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao, and Binance US, citing violations of securities law by offering unregistered securities in the form of BUSD and BNB.

The agency sued Coinbase a day later, accusing it of operating as an unregistered security exchange.