The crypto exchange Bittrex announced that its U.S. entity, Bittrex Inc., applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a bankruptcy case filed in Wilmington, Delaware, Bittrex’s financial assets and liabilities were both between $500 million and $1 billion. Customers are expected to be paid in full. The U.S. SEC filed a lawsuitagainst Bittrex and former CEO William Shihara charging that Bittrex operates an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
Recently, Bittrex said it would be ceasing all operations in the U.S. effective April 30th, 2023. They have now made the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware. This does not impact Bittrex Global, which will continue operations for its customers outside the U.S. For those customers who did not withdraw their funds from the platform before the end of April, funds would remain safe and secure.
While the Bankruptcy Court will ultimately decide how those funds can be claimed by and distributed to our customers, we intend to ask the court to activate those accounts as soon as possible so that customers meeting the necessary regulatory requirements will be able to withdraw them.