American crypto exchange OKCoin has announced that it’s expanding its operations in the US to bring crypto trading to more people across the country. Previously only serving American crypto traders based in California, it’s now expanding its reach to 20 more states. OKCoin is available and used by traders in over 100 countries around the globe and this latest expansion is just the beginning of its plans for global dominance.
The 20 new states that can now access OKCoin without using VPNs are Wisconsin, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey, Nevada, Montana, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona and Alaska.
Applying for More Licenses
OKCoin isn’t happy with just partial coverage of America, it wants to dominate the American crypto trading market. In order to achieve this goal, it has applied for a number of money transmittal licenses in order to provide token-to-token and fiat-to-token trading to virtually all other states. It has stated that it worked closely with regulators in America in order to make such an achievement possible. However, in order to operate in New York, it will need to acquire the much coveted Bitlicense, which could take quite some time to achieve.
Coinbase Hot on its Heels
When it comes to taking America by storm, OKCoin isn’t going to have an easy ride. Coinbase is hot on its heels and is pushing to overtake OKCoin in terms of trade volume and popularity in America. In order to do so, Coinbase recently added a raft of new features including vouchers that enable users to spend their cryptos with virtually any company. It has also applied to list a Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
American investors desperately want a BTC, ETF, but the SEC keeps throwing bad news back at companies. Coinbase has a fighting chance and might just pull it off. If it manages to get approval for a BTC ETF, it will see a tremendous influx of new users and OKCoin will be left with the scraps.
Troubling Times for OKCoin
Police in China held Star Xu – CEO OKCoin – over allegations he was involved in digital currency fraud. However, Xu was released within 24 hours and it appears he will be receiving no further trouble from the police. That is the sort of publicity OKCoin doesn’t need at a time like this, as it rolls out its platform to more Americans than ever before, it needs to appear squeaky clean and when the CEO gets arrested it raises a few red flags for potential new traders.
OKCoin is slowly expanding its operations and boasts to be one of the most secure crypto trading platforms in the world. While it hasn’t been the subject of a major attack, its sister company OKEx was hacked in 2017 and $3 million was stolen. Hopefully, OKCoin learned from these mistakes and has shored up its platform.
