Deribit, a crypto derivatives exchange, is leaving the European Union to avoid new anti-money laundering rules requiring customer to submit a great deal of personal data to use the platform. Netherlands-based Deribit B.V. will operate from subsidiary DRB Panama Inc. starting Feb. 10, 2020. John Jansen will remain as the company's CEO and the rest of the leadership team will also remain in place. They want to transfer operations to Panama because of the likelihood of the Netherlands adopting similar AMLs as many other European countries.

Deribit does not want to ask current and future customers for excessive personal information according to their website. The crypto derivatives exchange believes new Know Your Customer regulations would create a financial and regulatory barrier to what should be a market freely available to most people. Setting up an account is easy at the moment; users only need to provide basic information.

Customers can continue to use Deribit as normal once the accept the company's new terms and conditions. Notifications channels will remain the same since the crypto derivatives exchange's global staff operate them. U.S. residents still cannot use Deribit's services.

Deribit's name comes from the first letters of derivates and Bitcoin. Members from over 100 countries use Bitcoin to make deposits and withdrawals, and to use as collateral for trades. CEO John Jansen and CTO Sebastian Smyczýnski established Deribit in 2016 to serve Bitcoin trading enthusiasts. The web-based trading platform has an intuitive interface offering futures and options exchanges. Android and iOS apps also make is easy for people to trade on the go. Most of the BTCs are held in cold storage to thwart hackers.

Members who don't know a lot about derivatives trading can create a test account with 10 BTC demo funds to practice, learn more about the platform and develop strategies.