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BTCjam Discontinues Services To U.S. Borrowers Citing Regulatory Issues 

BTCJam, a marketplace for bitcoin borrowing and lending, is not taking new US customers any longer, CoinDesk reported. It cited uncertainty around regulation in the United States as the reason behind its decision.

In an online post, a Reddit user going by the name 'rastanikoten' said that a BTCJam investor in the US sees the following message when trying to make an investment:

“BTCjam’s vision has always been to make credit affordable and accessible in emerging markets. We are deeply committed to this vision and in order to fulfill it we have made the difficult decision to discontinue offering the marketplace to borrowers located within the United States  At your earliest convenience, please withdraw any remaining bitcoin from your account. If you are currently invested in loans, BTCjam will continue to service those loans but you will not be able to make any further investments."

Celso Pitta, founder and CEO of BTCJam, told CoinDesk that the platform will no longer allow the creation of new accounts from the US. Existing users would still be able to access their accounts, receive or make payments on loans and process withdrawals. However, affected account holders would not be able to issue new loans.

He added that regulatory issues in the country led BTCjam to this decision. He said:

"Our mission has always been to provide access to credit in developing countries. We decided to focus solely on that mission until there is more clarity around bitcoin regulation in the US."

Founded in 2012, BTCjam was accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program in October 2013 and secured seed financing from Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, FundersClub and Bitcoin Investment Trust. By the end of 2014, it had facilitated bitcoin loans in excess of $10 million dollars in value with more than 100,000 users in over 200 countries. BTCjam secured its Series A fundraising round in January 2015, led by Foundation Capital (investors in Netflix and Lending Club), Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, FundersClub, Bitcoin Investment Trust and Pantera Capital.

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