French Crypto Broker Bitit Shuts Down

When the crypto industry is running bullish with a record in Bitcoin prices, French digital asset brokerage, Bitit is shutting its operations due to regulatory difficulties and cut-throat competition.

According to a notice on Bitit’s website, the company will disable its crypto buying and selling functions from April 15 and will halt all withdrawals on April 30, marking an end of the services.

Bitit was founded in 2015 and was offering instant cryptocurrency purchasing facilities using fiats. The platform was non-custodial, meaning users had to transfer the digital assets to their own wallets instantly, unlike major crypto players like Coinbase, Binance and others.

The Wrath of Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term and Competition

Though many factors were responsible to push the startup towards closing, Bitit Co-Founder and CEO, Nicolas Katan told The Block that it was France’s regulations on crypto companies that made most of the dent.

The company could not receive the status of a virtual asset service provider (VASP) from the French regulator before the set deadline of December 18, 2020. Though the AMF allowed the company to operate, it did not permit the Startup Startup A company operating within its first stage of investing is known as a startup. While startups may give the impression that the company must be new, that is not always the case.Many companies can have this designation after nearly three years of existence. Typically, a company exits the startup status after a period between 3 to 5 years or after successful funding rounds where capital is acquired. Startups tend to derive out of the belief that there is a demand for a service or product which is c A company operating within its first stage of investing is known as a startup. While startups may give the impression that the company must be new, that is not always the case.Many companies can have this designation after nearly three years of existence. Typically, a company exits the startup status after a period between 3 to 5 years or after successful funding rounds where capital is acquired. Startups tend to derive out of the belief that there is a demand for a service or product which is c Read this Term to onboard new clients.

Katan revealed that the platform receives 90 percent of its volumes from new clients, and such regulatory decisions had crippled its business.

“That killed us,” Katan told the crypto-focused publication.

But, the regulatory decision was the last blow on the already struggling crypto startup. Bitit, which used to handle most of the transactions using credit cards, lost its credit card acquirer last September. According to the CEO, that heavily impacted the business of Bitit.

Though the startup could have pursued to become a VSAP, it did not have enough resources to continue, and the uncertainty of the crypto industry with heavy competition made the situation worse.

“If we get a VASP registration, then we will need to wait at least six to eight months to recover trading volumes. But, we are not sure of that because we have lost all of our competitiveness. It's really catastrophic,” Katan said.