OKCoin expands to 20 new US states with token-to-token trading

Cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin has announced the launch of its token-to-token trading platform in 20 new U.S. states.

The 20 new states include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. The company said that it will launch its platform in more states shortly.

In an online post, Jim Nguyen, VP Marketing at OKCoin, said that US traders and institutional investors in these states would now have access to “the fastest, most secure and most reliable trading platform for a wide variety of digital assets, with costs as low as 0% for makers and 0.05% for takers.”

“In order for the cryptocurrency market to reach its full potential, exchanges like OKCoin have to work with existing and new regulators for convertible virtual currency, digital goods, and/or securities,” said Tim Buyn, OKCoin CEO. “Our team has worked diligently within the complexities of the US regulatory frameworks. We’re excited to take this major step forward as we aim to break down the barriers preventing a truly global digital asset market while adhering to long established regulations.”

OKCoin launched fiat-to-token trading platform in California earlier this summer. It said that it worked closely with regulators in each state to ensure compliance with both Federal and State laws. In addition, OKCoin said it is applying for money transmittal licenses (MTL) for both token-to-token and fiat-to-token trading in order to bring similarly regulated trading platform to the remaining states.

The announcement comes amid reports that said that OKCoin's founder Star Xu was questioned by Shanghai police in an investigation into investors’ accusations that OKEx manipulated bitcoin futures on its platform. OKEx told CoinDesk:

“As far as OKEx is aware, it was Xu who called the police for help when he was surrounded and intimidated by a gang during his visit in Shanghai. The Shanghai police officers arrived the scene and invited all the related parties back to the police station. ... Xu was then invited for questioning while the gang was detained. Then Xu left the police station."