In March Bittrex said that it would shut up shop in the US by the end of April, citing the "current US regulatory and economic environment".

Despite this, last month the SEC charged the firm, and co-founder and former CEO William Shihara, for operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

Now the company has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware, saying it believes it has more than 100,000 creditors, with estimated liabilities and assets both within the $500 million to $1 billion range.

"For those customers who did not withdraw their funds from the platform prior to the end of April, your funds remain safe and secure, and our main priority is to ensure that our customers are made whole," says a statement.

The move does not affect Bittrex Global, which will continue to operate as normal serving customers outside of the US.

The firm joins FTX, Celsius, Voyager and BlockFi among the crypto outfits to file for bankruptcy over the last year.