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Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is facing a surge in new accounts in Latin America following US regulatory lawsuits against major competitors Binance and Coinbase.
Compared to daily averages, new users in the region increased by 43% between June 6 and June 9, with Brazil and Argentina leading the market share, a Bitget spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
According to the exchange, the number of new customers in Brazil grew by 54%, while the total volume of deposits increased by 208%. In Argentina, its customer base grew by 33% and its deposits grew by 87%. The cryptocurrency exchange also operates in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico. Over the past few days, Bitget’s total deposits in the region have grown by 134%.
Bitget has over 8 million customers in 100 countries. The company did not disclose the total number of users in Latin America.
The figures are explained by recent developments in the US. On June 5, the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued cryptocurrency exchange Binance on 13 charges, including an alleged sale and offer of securities, refusal to register as an exchange or broker, and mixing funds.
According to DefiLlama, Binance’s net outflows over the past seven days are $3.128 billion at the time of writing, while Bitget’s deposits increased by $14.8 million. Cryptocurrency exchange OKX reported the largest inflow of funds, which received $603 million in deposits over the past week.
“The cryptocurrency industry is still very new and has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. [..] favorable policies are being implemented in places like Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, and new opportunities are emerging. Therefore, we are convinced that things will work out. Decreased over time as the industry consolidates among the strongest in today’s economy,” Gracie Chen, managing director of Bitget, told Cointelegraph.
On June 6, Coinbase, also being pursued by US regulators, was sued for allegedly offering unregistered securities and operating as an unregistered securities broker since 2019. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler accused the cryptocurrency exchange of depriving customers of critical safeguards that prevent fraud and manipulation, as well as failing to provide adequate safeguards against conflicts of interest. Over the past 24 hours, Coinbase’s trading volume has changed by 113.06% to $1.5 billion.
Brazil has previously been ranked by Binance as one of the world’s top markets, and its local partner has recently been licensed as a payment service provider in the country. Coinbase is also expanding its local operations. Since March, it has partnered with local payment providers to offer cryptocurrency purchases, as well as allow local currency deposits and withdrawals.