This section details the data used in this work; all data collection was undertaken while following the appropriate terms of service and privacy conditions of each respective data source outlined below.
U.S.-based users could continue to use the service by browsing the site with a VPN. Binance allows its users to sign up for a limited account without KYC — i.e. providing verification documents like a passport copy — which allows trading but limits withdrawals to two Bitcoin per day. That won’t satisfy more professional traders — most of whom you’d imagine would already have an account on Binance by now — but it does leave a loophole for others.

The liquidity pool of a crypto exchange is important because it determines what kind of crypto can be exchanged or traded and how much each trade will change the price. The liquidity pool is the total of all of the currency deposited on the exchange by every trader. If this pool is small, then every transaction can have a noticeable effect on the price of the crypto in the exchange. This instability makes it very difficult for a trader to predict how much of each currency they can get at any given time.
Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are virtual currencies, they are treated as an asset for capital gains tax purposes, and “ordinary” investors who purchase Bitcoin as an investment will experience a capital gain or loss when they exchange it for traditional currency, products, or services.