The American branch of cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is scheduled to open for customer withdrawals on Thursday, following a decision by Delaware bankruptcy court Judge Brendan Shannon. Shannon authorized Bittrex US and its affiliates to “permit their customers holding undisputed, noncontingent, and liquidated claims to withdraw cryptocurrency assets and fiat currency from the Debtors’ trading platform to the extent of such claims”.
Patty Tomasco, a partner at the law firm Quinn Emmanuel and Bittrex’s representative, confirmed that the platform will be up and running for withdrawals on Thursday, June 15.
The US government has opposed the legal attempt of Bittrex to allow customers to access holdings once more, as the ruling stated that future clawbacks may occur and that the judgment does not establish who legally owns those assets or whether customer claims are preferred over those of the government.
The exchange had declared bankruptcy in May after the US government sued it and its CEO for sanctions violations. After announcing in March that it would be ending operations in the United States the following month, the exchange saw withdrawals amounting to millions of dollars. On May 10, the company had $300 million in customer cash and cryptocurrency. Bittrex wanted customers to have access to their money without protracted legal battles.
Bittrex is one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to face the full wrath of the US Securities and Exchanges Commission, which has now turned its guns on Binance and Coinbase, citing that they are operating as an unregistered securities exchange among other things.
