BITFINEX kicking out people from USA - 90 days. EOS/Santiment (SAN) lockdown starts Wednesday.
I think I am reading this right - referring to my headline - so...
...I just dumped all my EOS.
Such a drag.
I thought: because I was buying them on the Bitfinex trading platform, not as part of the ICO, that it would be ok. BUT if Bitfinex is taking proactive measures to stop US citizens from trading these tokens, (at noon UTC on Wednesday, August 16, 2017!!!), I now feel that I should NOT have them - being a US citizen - and dumping them proactively seems to be the best move for me. And right away before the price drops any more vs. bitcoin. So...
...Buh-bye EOS and buh-bye Bitfinex, for me at least.
I have removed all my funds from Bitfinex as I will no longer be using this platform.
Don't go where you are not wanted I always say.
Again: Such a drag.
Here is the announcement from Bitfinex:
Announcements > Service Changes for U.S. Customers (Amended as of August 12, 2017)
August 11, 2017
Bitfinex is making changes to the services we provide to U.S. individuals. These changes impact the verification process and trading of certain digital tokens for U.S. customers. Some changes are effective immediately, and others will be gradually implemented in the coming weeks.
Suspension of U.S. Individual Verification Requests
We regret to announce that, effective immediately, we will no longer be accepting verification requests for U.S. individuals.
We have for some time considered pulling away from the retail marketplace in the U.S., and now with a current backlog of verification requests and ongoing difficulties in providing USD deposit and withdrawals for U.S. individuals, we feel that the time has come to begin disengaging from U.S. retail customers.
Several factors have gone into this decision:
While we have been able to normalize banking for some corporate customers and individuals in certain jurisdictions, compliant banking solutions for U.S. individuals remain elusive. We have been slowly and selectively inviting users in particular jurisdictions who meet set criteria to start using banking channels that have come online. This process is ongoing.
A surprisingly small percentage of our revenues come from verified U.S. individual accounts while a dramatically outsized portion of our resources goes into servicing the needs of U.S. individuals, including support, legal and regulatory.
We anticipate the regulatory landscape to become even more challenging in the future.
Bitfinex is not based in the United States. Exchanges based in the U.S. are better positioned to properly service retail U.S. customers.
We are thankful to all of our loyal U.S. customers that have consistently traded with us but, unfortunately, we have an obligation to our whole customer base and to our shareholders to make rational resource allocation decisions.
Furthermore, over the next 90 days, we will be discontinuing services to our existing U.S. individual customers. We will be communicating further with affected users on timing and specifics. Our intention is to reduce disruption as much as possible for our U.S. customers.
We will continue to take advice and implement further changes as circumstances warrant.
Restrictions on U.S. Persons Trading Certain Digital Tokens
Pursuant to the recent report of investigation issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bitfinex is taking the proactive step of barring U.S. customers from trading certain digital tokens that may be deemed securities in the eyes of the SEC.
The restriction will generally apply to ERC20 tokens issued through "ICOs" and will go into effect at noon UTC on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. No trading of these tokens will be allowed for U.S. customers. At the time of this post, the tokens active on Bitfinex that will be subject to this restriction are EOS (EOS) and Santiment (SAN).
Please note that nothing in this announcement should be taken as fact or opinion that any particular digital token, including any of the digital tokens mentioned in this announcement, are a security pursuant to U.S. law.
Once again, we regret any inconvenience this change in policy might create, but we believe this to be a prudent measure given the regulatory uncertainty surrounding such digital assets.
Nice post!!!!
EOS very good
great post
Just caught the "Bitfinex Bummer" news today myself. But why dump your EOS? Even though the ICO is blocked to US citizens, It is legal to get the tokens via Exchanges like Kraken or Liqui, or Shapeshift them - and you can store or buy them easily (Shapeshift) on Exodus desktop wallet... Thx for your post, this is a big story today, further news of how crazy the regs are for us folks in the USA. We're supposed to be the beacon of Freedom, yet our idiot politicians are letting the rest of the world leave us in the dust with the gains possible in the crypto space. Any way, hope this reply helps!