BitMEX to Restrict Services to Russians in EU

BitMEX will stop offering its services to Russian citizens or residents operating from the EU, the exchange notified some of its users yesterday. The move is an effort by the exchange to stay compliant with EU restrictive measures.

Service Termination Due to EU Sanctions

BitMEX is clamping down on its Russian users.

According to an email sent yesterday by the crypto exchange to some of its users, starting Jul. 11 BitMEX will no longer be offering its services to Russian citizens or residents currently within the European Union. These users won’t be able to log into their accounts or use the platform in any way.

The restrictions will not be enforced against Russian citizens or residents that are also EU or Swiss residents, or against dual citizens. The email encouraged such users to submit additional information in order to continue having access to BitMEX services.

EU-located Russians trading on behalf of otherwise legal entities were included in the restrictions, as were Russia-established entities whose traders access BitMEX from the EU.

Russian users accessing the exchange from Russia were not mentioned in the statement and will likely not be impacted by the changes.

BitMEX told Crypto Briefing that the company was updating its Restricted Jurisdictions policy in order to stay compliant with various EU restrictive measures. It claimed the email was only sent out to a “small group of potentially affected users.”

The European Union and the United States have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with fierce economic sanctions including banning the country from the SWIFT banking system. In April, the provision of “high-value crypto asset services” to Russia was also prohibited in order to close “potential loopholes” in the previous sanctions.

BitMEX is not alone in following EU regulations. Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has already severely limited its services to Russian users, which can now only withdraw their funds from the exchange.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.