Bancor is cutting off US users from trading on its DEX

Layer 1s • June 18, 2019, 4:30PM EDT
UPDATED: May 27, 2021, 12:02PM EDT
The Block

Bancor, the decentralized trading platform, is closing its doors to U.S.-based traders, the firm announced Tuesday. 

"US citizens, domiciliaries or users from US IPs will no longer be able to use Bancor’s web application, https://www.bancor.network, to convert tokens," Bancor said. In other words, users will lose the ability to swap coins. However users will still be able to move coins on and off the platform, according to the blog. 

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It's the latest development in the murky regulatory market for decentralized trading applications. Elsewhere, DEX Ether Delta's founder was charged with operating an unregistered exchange. It's not clear what the regulator requirements are for firms offering decentralized financial services, in which users engage peer-to-peer.

Bancor's post cited regulator uncertainty as the reason for its decision to block U.S. users.

"In light of increased regulatory uncertainty, we believe that restricting US-based users from executing conversions via our web interface is the most judicious decision for all members of Bancor's ecosystem at this time."

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