US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Bittrex has blocked residents of certain countries under US sanctions from accessing its trading services. North Korea, Iran, the Crimean region, Syria, and Cuba are included in Bittrex blacklist.
The ban is mentioned in section 2.2: of its new terms of service, which deals with “Restricted Locations”.
It prohibits “citizen(s) or resident(s) of any state, country, territory or other jurisdiction that is embargoed by the United States” from accessing Bittrex’s trading services.
The new Terms of Service will come into effect on March 9.
Founded in 2013, Bittrex is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges offering a large number of trading pairs into bitcoin. It claims to support more than 190 cryptocurrencies.
The Las Vegas-based Bittrex is not designed for the retail customer, but aimed at a target audience of more sophisticated or institutional traders.
It has a very high turnover of crypto currencies, leading some to accuse it of allowing pump and dump schemes that erode confidence in the crypto ecosystem as a whole.
Bill Shihara, the founder and CEO of Bittrex, recently said the cryptocurrency exchange will soon start accepting deposits from clients in US Dollar. The move is expected to give Bittrex a huge competitive advantage over its competitors that have been gaining popularity over the last few months.
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