Crypto Exchange Orca to Block US Traders From Website
Decentralized crypto exchange Orca will restrict U.S. users from trading coins via its frontend beginning on March 31, a blow to accessibility for the Solana blockchain’s top DEX.
In a notice published to its website Thursday, Orca said it is “adding the United States to the regions and countries which are restricted from trading on orca.so,” its website. The notice did not provide a reason for the move or why it was coming now. Orca co-founder Grace Kwan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The policy change will not impact traders who directly use Orca’s smart contracts – the infrastructure executing token swaps on-chain. That may provide some reprieve for trading volume because much of Orca’s order flow comes via Jupiter, a trade aggregator that plugs into its backend.
Orca saw $280 million in trading volume over the last week, per DeFiLlama. That was nearly three times more than Raydium, Solana’s second-most popular DeFi trading venue over the same period.
Orca keeps trades flowing by pooling token liquidity from its users. They loan their assets to the exchange and get a slice of fee revenue in return. The new restrictions do not apply to U.S.-based liquidity providers, according to the notice.
