CoinEx to stop serving all U.S. customers

Crypto exchange CoinEx will stop serving users in the United States, according to an email received by users and obtained by Crypto Slate on Feb. 24.

That message reads, in part:

“Due to regulatory requirements, we are sorry that CoinEx can no longer provide services to US citizens or residents.”

CoinEx has asked U.S. users to withdraw their assets within 60 business days (before April 24) and said that it will “gradually ban the relevant accounts” after that time.

The company identified U.S. users by their IP addresses.

Earlier this week, on Feb. 22, CoinEx was charged by the New York Attorney General’s office. Those charges aimed to have the company cease operations only in New York. Though it is unclear whether CoinEx faces regulation from federal agencies, its decision today appears to be a preemptive move to avoid such action.

Nexo similarly withdrew from the U.S. market in December over regulatory concerns despite the fact that no regulators directly forced it to do so.

CoinEx trading volumes appear to have been affected by the news. The exchange saw $29 million in volume today, down 6.2% over 24 hours and down from $35 million on Tuesday. The exchange’s CET token has been minimally affected and is down 3.8% over 24 hours — performing only slightly worse than Bitcoin, which is down 2.8% today.

CoinEx did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.