Bittrex Partners with New York Bank, Now Accepts Dollars

Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has signed a partnership with a New York bank to allow (some corporate) customers to exchange US dollars for cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg.

Bittrex is based in Seatle. It was founded in 2013 by former Microsoft security employees. It has about 3 milion customers and handles approximately $75 million worth of cryptocurrency trading daily, according to coinmarketcap.com. It offers almost 200 different cryptocurrencies for trading.

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Signature Bank is a commercial bank which has regularly been placed in the top ten of Forbes’ list yearly bank ratings, even coming in first place in 2015. Hip-hop producer Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo once said that it was the only bank he would ever use, because the institution stood by him while he was facing charges of money laundering, of which he was eventually acquitted. Lorenzo is famous for producing such hits as Jennifer Lopez’ “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix)” and “What’s My Name” by DMX.

Using the bank’s services, Bittrex will be offering dollar trading for Bitcoin, Tether and TrueUSD. The last is a cryptocurrency which claims to be tied to the dollar in value, with legal protections guaranteeing this. Tether is another altcoin with this claim, but it has been mired in controversy because it has not been open to audits, which are necessary because it claims to hold as many dollars as there are tokens in circulation.

Bittrex CEO Bill Shihara said: “It’s been a long path. It’s not just about banks being able to trust Bittrex. It’s about banks being able to trust crypto in general. And I think it’s really showing that crypto is turning the corner in terms of mainstream acceptance.”

“They really do look and pore through the entire business. They want to make sure that we’ve got robust AML/KYC processes, that we’ve got the right controls on our finances. They do background checks and everything. They really look at our business soup to nuts,” he added.

In March 2018, Bittrex removed 82 cryptocurrencies from its listings. Coins were deleted because they were scams, poor quality, or just abandoned by their developers.