Nils Silinevics
Partner · AML & Crypto Compliance · Former FIU Investigator
Binance exited the Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada. Other exchanges have lost licenses or withdrawn from markets. If you missed the migration window — or did not even know your exchange was leaving — your funds may be stuck in an account you can no longer access from your country. We help you recover them.
When a crypto exchange decides to exit a country — whether due to regulatory pressure, loss of license, or business strategy — it typically announces a migration window: a period (usually 30-90 days) during which users in that country must withdraw their funds or migrate to another platform. After the window closes, accounts in the affected country are frozen.
The problem: many users miss this window. They may not have seen the announcement (emailed to an old address), may have been traveling, may not have understood the implications, or may have assumed they had more time. When the window closes, they discover they can no longer access their account from their country — and the exchange's support is unresponsive.
We confirm that your account is still active (not closed) and that the funds are still in custody. In most cases, the exchange freezes the account but does not confiscate the funds — they remain in custody awaiting withdrawal.
We issue a formal legal request to the exchange's compliance team, demanding the release of your funds. The legal basis is that the exchange, as a custodian of your assets, cannot permanently withhold them — even if it has exited your market. The exit gives the exchange the right to close your account, but not the right to keep your money.
The exchange typically requires you to withdraw to an external wallet or another exchange. We coordinate this: ensuring your KYC is current (the exchange may require fresh KYC even for withdrawal), setting up a receiving wallet or exchange account, and overseeing the transfer.
If the exchange refuses to release funds, we escalate to the regulator in the exchange's licensing jurisdiction. Exchanges that hold user funds hostage after market exit face regulatory risk — and the threat of a complaint often unlocks compliance teams.
Even when an exchange exits your market, it remains a custodian of your assets. Under most jurisdictions' financial regulations, a custodian cannot permanently withhold client funds — regardless of the reason for the account closure. The exchange must provide a mechanism for you to retrieve your assets, typically through withdrawal to an external wallet.
The exit announcement usually specifies that accounts will be "closed" after the migration window, but "closed" means the account is deactivated — not that the funds are confiscated. The exchange remains obligated to return your property. This is a fundamental principle of custody law that applies in Switzerland, the EU, the UK, and most common law jurisdictions.
No — your funds are almost certainly still in Binance's custody. Binance froze accounts in exited markets but did not confiscate funds. You can still withdraw, but you need to go through a manual process rather than the standard withdrawal flow. We help you initiate this process through legal channels. Most cases resolve within 4-8 weeks.
This is a common catch-22. The exchange requires KYC to release funds, but the KYC system does not accept users from your country. We work around this by submitting manual KYC documentation through legal channels and requesting an exception for withdrawal-only purposes. The exchange does not need to re-activate your account — it just needs to verify your identity for the purpose of returning your funds.
If the exchange has been shut down entirely (not just exited your market), the situation depends on the insolvency proceedings. If it is a regulated exchange, there may be a claims process for users. If it is an unregulated exchange that disappeared, recovery is very difficult. We assess each case individually and are honest about the prospects.
Yes. This happens when users registered in one country, then moved to another. The exchange may freeze the account based on the original country of registration. We document your current residency and argue that your account should be treated under your current jurisdiction's rules.
Most cases resolve in 4-8 weeks. The key variable is how quickly the exchange's compliance team responds to our legal request. Larger exchanges (Binance, Bybit) have dedicated teams for exit-related cases and tend to respond faster. Smaller exchanges may take longer. We provide a realistic timeline after the initial assessment.
Related resources: When exchanges force-close accounts during market exits, see our account closure practice. For jurisdiction-specific implications, read our guide on crypto AML laws across Europe. See all complex cases we handle.
All unusual situations we handle beyond standard compliance.
When exchanges force-close accounts during market exits.
Jurisdictional implications when exchanges exit specific markets.
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