Key Takeaways:
- Uphold pauses services in Venezuela “reluctantly”.
- The company has taken this step because of the rise in complexities while complying with U.S sanctions.
With Binance considering a re-entry into the Korean market, another cryptocurrency trading platform that also offers digital asset debit cards, Uphold has announced its decision to close its operations in Venezuela. The company has cited “the increasing complexity of complying with U.S. sanctions” as the reason.
The company has advised its customers in Venezuela to remove their funds from the platform as soon as possible. It has also informed that trading services will be available in the country until July 31. All accounts will be fully restricted as of September 30. After the last date, withdrawing funds will be slower as customers will have to go through their customer service team.
During the administration of President Donald Trump, additional sanctions were imposed on Venezuela in 2019, and a ban on transactions with U.S. citizens and companies was also declared. President Joe Biden began to ease the sanctions.
Uphold says in a statement that Venezuela was one of the first countries to embrace the company and that this decision has been taken unwillingly.
