Jane Street and Jump Trading, two major market makers, are reportedly retreating from crypto trading activities in the United States, according to a report by Bloomberg. The decision is said to be influenced by the increasing regulatory scrutiny faced by the cryptocurrency industry in the country.
Although both firms are not completely abandoning the crypto sector, they are adjusting their strategies. Jane Street is scaling back its global expansion plans in the crypto market, while Jump Trading’s digital assets trading unit, Jump Crypto, is withdrawing from U.S. markets while still considering international expansion, as per Bloomberg’s sources.
The regulatory pressure on the crypto industry in the United States has been mounting, particularly following the highly publicized collapse of the centralized exchange FTX. This development has raised concerns among industry veterans and investors, with some observers even characterizing it as a “war on crypto.” Notably, industry giants like Coinbase have pushed back against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response.
In a similar vein, in March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, a prominent crypto exchange, and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in violation of federal law.
It is worth mentioning that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX who faced controversy, previously worked at Jane Street and had a track record of hiring former Jane Street employees as executives or staff members, including Brett Harrison, the former President of FTX US.
When approached for comments on the matter, representatives from both Jane Street and Jump Trading declined to provide statements to Bloomberg.
