The cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has added Russia and Belarus to its list of restricted jurisdictions, meaning residents of these countries will not be able to use its services. The changes to the terms and conditions were introduced on 16 October. Affected clients must close their positions and withdraw their assets by 10:00 on 21 October; otherwise, the exchange will automatically close any remaining positions.
Briefly about the main points
- Bitget has added Russia and Belarus to its list of restricted jurisdictions.
- New contracts, orders and subscriptions will cease at 10.00 on 18 October.
- Customers must close their positions and withdraw their assets by 21 October.
- After the deadline, access to accounts will be restricted.
- Ukraine is not prohibited, but Crimea, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are mentioned separately.
Clients will be given three days to close their positions and withdraw their funds
Bitget has announced that it will send personalised notifications to affected users via email, the app and push notifications. These notifications will set out the next steps, deadlines and the procedure for withdrawing funds.
From 10:00 on 18 October, the platform will suspend new trades, orders and subscriptions. Users must close all positions and withdraw their assets by 10:00 on 21 October. After this time, any open positions will be automatically closed, and access to accounts will be restricted.
The list includes countries from several regions and certain territories of Ukraine
The updated list also includes Kazakhstan, the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Japan, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Others include Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan.
Ukraine does not generally feature amongst the banned countries. However, Bitget has specifically included it on the list Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The exchange reserves the right to add to the list of countries and territories at its discretion. Its terms and conditions provide for a separate review of legal entities that may have links to the US, in order to determine the applicability of US restrictions.
The rules were updated following a security incident at the exchange in September
At the end of September, Bitget confirmed an unauthorised withdrawal of assets amounting to approximately $351.6 million. The company stated that private keys had not been compromised and that the losses would be covered by a user protection fund totalling over $464 million. The exchange’s CEO, Gracie Chen, and on-chain analysts suggested a possible link between the attack and North Korean hackers, but there has been no definitive attribution of the incident. Following the attack Chen She also stated that Bitget has no intention of abandoning its plans to go public within approximately three years.
