British banking app Revolut Ltd. will stop offering crypto trading services to US-based customers from September, citing market uncertainty and changes to the local regulatory landscape.
(Bloomberg) — British banking app Revolut Ltd. will stop offering crypto trading services to US-based customers from September, citing market uncertainty and changes to the local regulatory landscape.
The London-based fintech firm will suspend US users’ ability to buy cryptocurrencies via its app from September 2, a Revolut spokesperson said in an email on Friday. All access to cryptocurrency holdings will be disabled a month later, the spokesperson added.
“As a result of the evolving regulatory environment and the uncertainties around the crypto market in the US, we’ve taken the difficult decision, together with our US banking partner, to suspend access to cryptocurrencies through Revolut in the US,” the spokesperson said, adding that the decision impacts less than 1% of Revolut’s crypto customers globally. The plans were first reported by crypto news publication Decrypt.
Regulatory crackdowns on crypto in the US have intensified in recent months, in the wake of a year marked by several high-profile scandals and project collapses. Authorities such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed a number of lawsuits against crypto firms alleged to have broken rules, while US banking regulators have warned traditional financial firms on the risks of doing business with the sector.
Read more: New Crypto Banking System Arises Under Shadow of Crackdown (1)
Revolut, which holds a Lithuanian banking license, had already delisted a number of cryptocurrencies for trading in the US after they were labeled as unregistered securities by the SEC earlier this year. Its US banking partner is Metropolitan Commercial Bank, according to a notice on Revolut’s website, while crypto services are provided by Bakkt Holdings Inc.’s Apex Crypto unit.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.