A visit to 1broker.com today shows you this dreaded image: https://imgur.com/a/5CLLSS9
That's apparently for failing to effectively deny their services to US persons, even though 1broker were not registered/based out of the US. As far as I know, there are still many Americans breaking the Bitmex ToS and willfully engaging in trading of derivatives which they know has been banned by their government.
Sure, Bitmex does not allow registering for an account if you have a US IP address. Is that really enough to keep US federal agencies at bay? What is Bitmex doing different than 1broker to keep this from happening to them?
Americans are going to hate me for writing this, and I'm sorry. I think Bitmex is not doing enough to make sure the rest of the world is does not suffer because this. My suggestions to the Bitmex team -
- Make it explicitly clear during the sign-up process that the user's account will be closed and their bitcoin will NOT be returned if their account is accessed from a US IP address. Harsh, I know. And a lot of people who travel to the US but don't live there might get into trouble or will be inconvenienced at the least. But I think one needs to bear that responsibility.
- Do not allow people with US IP address to access the site. Period.
I understand that IP address restrictions can be circumvented very easily and this won't be entirely enough. However, the fact that user funds will not be returned if they violate the ToS in this way will act as a strong detterent and can significantly reduce the usage of Bitmex by Americans. And if the matter ever goes to a US court, Bitmex will have a relatively stronger position.
I am not in favor of Bitmex doing KYC for everyone either, just do it for accounts that are flagged as "suspicious". I know they do that, but the actions taken against willful ToS breakers should be stricter IMO.
u/deribit. John, tagging you too since this applies to Deribit too.
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