Latam crypto holders flock to Bitget following Binance, Coinbase suits

Crypto exchange Bitget has seen a surge in new accounts in Latin America following lawsuits by United States regulators against major competitors Binance and Coinbase.

As compared to daily averages, new users in the region increased by 43% from June 6 to 9, with Brazil and Argentina leading market share growth, a spokesperson from Bitget told Cointelegraph.

According to the exchange, new clients in Brazil soared 54%, with a 208% jump in total deposits. In Argentina, its customer base rose by 33%, while funds deposited expanded 87%. The crypto exchange also operates in Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico. Over the last few days, Bitget’s total deposits rose 134% in the region.

Bitget has over 8 million clients across 100 countries. The company did not disclose the total number of users in Latin America.

The figures are explained by recent developments in the United States. On June 5, crypto exchange Binance was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for 13 charges, including alleged sale and offer of securities, failure to register as an exchange or broker, and commingling of funds.

According to data from DefiLlama, Binance net outflows in the past seven days sits at $3.128 billion as of writing, while Bitget has seen its deposits increase by $14.8 million. The largest inflow of funds was reported by crypto exchange OKX, which received $603 million in deposits over the past week.

“The crypto 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. So, we are convinced that things will settle down over time, with the industry consolidating itself among the strongest ones in the modern economy,” told Cointelegraph Gracy Chen, managing director of Bitget.

Also targeted by U.S. regulators, Coinbase was sued on June 6 for allegedly offering unregistered securities and operating as an unregistered security broker since 2019. SEC’s Chair Gary Gensler accused the crypto exchange of depriving customers of critical protections that prevent fraud and manipulation, along with not providing proper safeguards against conflicts of interest. In the last 24 hours, Coinbase’s trade volume has changed by 113.06% to $1.5 billion.

Binance has previously ranked Brazil among its top global markets, and its local partner was recently granted a payment provider license in the country. Coinbase is also expanding its local operations. Since March, it has partnered with local payment providers to offer crypto purchases, and enable deposits and withdrawals in the local currency.

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