OKCoin, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has recently launched a branch in the US, where it offers users fiat-to-crypto trading pairs. The company, for now, seems to only be serving California, but notes “other US states [are] coming soon.”
According to OKCoin’s website, the exchange is already accepting USD deposits and withdrawals, and allows users to trade it against bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, ethereum classic, and litecoin. More trading pairs are set to available in the future.
Per China Money Network, OKCoin filed a Money Services Business (MSB) registration with the country’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in November of last year, but only now got a license. Documents show the entity behind the exchange is named OKCoin USA Inc, and is based in Mountain View, California.
To celebrate its launch in the US, the OKCoin is offering users a “weekly rebate of 70 percent of regular trading fees paid,” as well as referral bonuses. A blog post reads:
In addition, all users will be able to earn an unlimited amount of referral fees by inviting their friends to trade on OKCoin. Specifically, users will earn 30% of their referred traders’ regular trading fees paid. Please visit our website for more details.
The development comes shortly after one of OKCoin’s biggest competitors Huobi, which earlier this year hired its former CEO Chris Lee, launched a San Francisco-based crypto exchange named HBUS.
Unlike OKCoin, HBUS offers users crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, on all 50 of the country’s states. It doesn’t, however, offer fiat currencies on the platform, presumably because of regulatory barriers.
HBUS reportedly also filed for an MSB registration with FinCEN, although at the time Huobi’s co-founder and CEO Li Lin stated the registration wasn’t enough to ensure the company was safe from potential regulatory trouble.
Both OKCoin and Huobi were notably part of the “big three” cryptocurrency exchanges in China before the country’s crackdown. At press time OKCoin is the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume, with $950 million traded in the last 24-hour period. Huobi comes in third with $527 million traded in the same period.
Recently, OKEx, an exchange launched by OKCoin, was accused by local Chinese media of illegally trading bitcoin futures contracts in the country.
