Revolut, a British-based fintech App, had decided to pull the plug on their United States customers. This happened after the company pulled out of a meeting with its United States banking partners. Revolut management, while explaining the situation, said that it hopes to work with United States customers again sometime in the future.
This development is coming when the United States cryptocurrency industry is experiencing a heavy crackdown by regulatory authorities. The company also announced that its decision to stop operations in the United States will begin in September 2023.
Also, in an email sent to Decrypt by a Revolut spokesperson today, the company (Revolut) confirmed that it would restrict its United States customers from buying cryptocurrencies from its App on September 2 and completely disable their access on October 3.
In the email, Revolut noted that their action would affect just 1% of the company’s total cryptocurrency customers. Revolut said that it is currently sourcing for other alternatives to providing access to cryptocurrency products and is very much open to servicing the United States market in the future.
Reports also show that the incessant harassment by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) makes up some of the reasons behind the British fintech decisions. It also cited “poor United States regulatory landscape” as another reason behind the action.
CoinGape’s Bhushan Akolkar, while analyzing the development, said that the activities that played out in the United States cryptocurrency space in the past months may have contributed to this latest development. Akolkar said that the increased actions of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has filed multiple lawsuits against many cryptocurrency companies they claim violated the law, are also linked to Revolut’s intentions.
In recent times United States banking regulators have warned bankers and other financial institutions against getting involved in the cryptocurrency industry. Parts of the official statement by the Revolut management, through its spokesperson, reads thus:
“We’ve made the painful decision, jointly with our United States banking partner, to halt access to cryptocurrencies through Revolut in the United States because of the changing regulatory landscape and the uncertainties surrounding the cryptocurrency industry in that country. We recognize that this choice has not been made lightly and that it may leave you disappointed.” The statement said.
Mattis Meichler Analyse The Situation, Blames SEC
Mattis Meichler, a freelance cryptocurrency journalist, has analyzed the situation on the Decrypt platform. According to Meichler, the contradiction between SEC and cryptocurrency companies about how securities should work in the United States has affected cryptocurrency operations; in their defense, the SEC argued that many cryptocurrencies are considered securities and subjected to investors’ protection rules.
Meichler pointed out that the confusion of security and non-securities escalated in June after SEC dragged Coinbase and Binance exchange to court following their failure to register many of their listed cryptocurrencies. The two companies denied this allegation, stating it as false.
It was also gathered that Revolut immediately delisted cryptocurrencies like Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) as soon as after SEC made the announcement tagging them as securities. Meichler believed that this event contributed immensely to Revolut’s recent actions.
The investigation also has it that most cryptocurrency companies have recently written the United States Congress to lobby them against SEC’s many frustrating jurisdictions. The cryptocurrency companies are asking the legislatures to pass a law that clarifies that cryptocurrencies are more similar to commodities than securities and should be treated as such.
