Bitfinex to Drop US Customers

The United States is steadily becoming a worse place for individuals to do business.

The financial services industry in particular faces onerous regulations imposed by the US government–under the auspices of security and combating terrorism.

While the efficacy of the US regulators’ draconian standards in preventing money laundering and terrorism is debatable–the impact on law abiding consumers is certain.

US consumers and investors alike are the victims of the US government’s attempt to control.

A recent example is that US citizens will no longer be allowed to have accounts on Bitfinex. Bitfinex announced earlier this month they would be dropping U.S. accounts and list the following reasons:

While we have been able to normalize banking for some corporate customers and individuals in certain jurisdictions, compliant banking solutions for U.S. individuals remain elusive. We have been slowly and selectively inviting users in particular jurisdictions who meet set criteria to start using banking channels that have come online. This process is ongoing.

A surprisingly small percentage of our revenues come from verified U.S. individual accounts while a dramatically outsized portion of our resources goes into servicing the needs of U.S. individuals, including support, legal and regulatory.

We anticipate the regulatory landscape to become even more challenging in the future.
Bitfinex is not based in the United States. Exchanges based in the U.S. are better positioned to properly service retail U.S. customers.

In short:
1) It’s difficult to comply with US banking regulations
2) It’s expensive to comply with US banking regulations
3) Bitfinex expects regulations to become more challenging (probably meaning more expensive and more difficult) in the future

If the United States wants to remain competitive in the future and the new economy regulators need to back off.

Margin funding on Bitfinex is one of the methods I use to grow and protect my wealth. Very soon this will no longer be an option.