Revolut announced that starting from September 2, American customers will no longer be able to buy cryptocurrencies through its platform in the United States. Subsequently, selling and holding digital assets will also be disabled for U.S. customers from October 3.
Britain’s most valuable start-up said the decision comes amid a lack of comprehensive regulatory rules in the U.S. cryptocurrency sector, leaving the industry in a state of uncertainty. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has waged war on some industry behemoths, adding to the regulatory challenges by those operating in the American market.
“As a result of the evolving regulatory environment and the uncertainties around the crypto market in the U.S., we’ve taken the difficult decision, together with our U.S. banking partner, to suspend access to cryptocurrencies through Revolut in the U.S.,” a Revolut spokesperson said.
The move indicates that Revolut is taking the SEC’s actions seriously and is considering potential changes to comply with regulatory requirements in the digital asset space. The watchdog filed lawsuits against both Binance.US, the American subsidiary of the world’s largest digital asset ecosystem, and Coinbase, the most popular crypto exchange in the United States. The SEC alleges that several tokens listed on these exchanges are unregistered securities, which violates securities laws.
In response to the recent crackdown, the US arm of Revolut announced in June that it would be delisting three crypto tokens from its platform.
In an email addressed to its US clientele, Revolut stated the following: “Our U.S. crypto services provider has decided to delist these tokens due to the changing laws and regulations around cryptocurrency in the United States. Any remaining tokens will be sold on your behalf using the market price at the time of sale. We’ll deposit the USD proceeds into your Revolut account.”
Revolut’s spokesperson clarified that the delisting process is a result of changes in the company’s US infrastructure and as these assets have not been officially classed as securities. He also noted that the move is specific to Revolut’s operations in the United States and does not apply to other jurisdictions. The spokesperson reassured users that outside of the US, Revolut continues to support and provide services for ADA, MATIC, and SOL tokens in other regions.
In addition to Revolut, several other companies, including Robinhood, eToro, and Bakkt, have also announced the delisting of several tokens in recent weeks. These actions have been prompted by the classification of these cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in early June.
