Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex filed for bankruptcy Monday in the US state of Delaware. It comes months after announcing it would scale back its operations in the country and weeks after being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The exchange believes it has over 100,000 creditors with both estimated liabilities and assets in the $500 million to $1 billion range. According to court documents Chapter 11 Dockets, shared by bankruptcy tracker Randall Reese.
Despite Bittrex’s imminent exit from the United States, the SEC sued the company in mid-April, alleging it operates a national stock exchange, broker, and clearinghouse. The SEC also sued former Bittrex CEO Bill Shihara and his Bittrex Global. Bittrex Global CEO Oliver Linch said last month that the exchange intends to contest these charges in court, but bankruptcy proceedings could make this more difficult.
Bittrex is the latest crypto entity to file for bankruptcy, joining fellow exchange FTX and a number of lenders including Celsius, Voyager and BlockFi.
