Court order allows Bittrex to unlock crypto withdrawals on June 15
The court’s decision follows opposition by the US Department of Justice, which argued that Bittrex’s request for withdrawals was premature
Grey82/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks
Bittrex customers are now on the brink of regaining control over their assets as a court order has granted the platform the authority to allow withdrawals.
“The platform will be up and running for withdrawals on Thursday, June 15,” Bittrex attorney Patricia Tomasco told Blockworks on Wednesday.
US District Judge Brendan Shannon signed the court order on Tuesday, authorizing the bankrupt crypto exchange to honor withdrawals. Bittrex is “authorized to take all actions necessary to effectuate the relief granted,” he added.
The Justice Department last week opposed Bittrex’s request to permit customers to withdraw their crypto and fiat currencies, arguing that the motion was premature and improperly sought to prioritize creditors not included in a formal plan.
The decision was influenced, in part, by the fact that Bittrex’s largest creditor, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), would have its claim subordinated under its proposed plan. OFAC’s claim exceeds $24 million, according to a filing.
But the recent court ruling doesn’t make it clear whether customer claims are given priority over the government’s.
The company, based in Seattle, stopped its US operations in April, blaming regulatory uncertainties and a lack of enthusiasm from lawmakers for embracing innovation.
Bittrex went bankrupt last month, listing more than 100,000 US-based creditors, shortly after being accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of running an unregistered securities exchange.
The SEC claimed that six tokens listed on Bittrex, including Algorand’s ALGO and Dash, are classified as securities.
The CEO of Bittrex Global, Oliver Linch, earlier told Blockworks: “As an industry, as a company, we’d much rather have clear rules that say what we can’t do than the uncertainty and the fog associated with simply not knowing what to do.
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