Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Friday that it was leaving the Dutch market because is was unable to register as a virtual asset service provider with the regulator.

The company said that starting July 17, existing Dutch users will only be able to withdraw assets from the Binance platform. No further purchases, trades or deposits will be possible.

Binance's Cyprus unit on Wednesday applied to be removed from Cyprus' register of crypto asset service providers.

The Dutch regulator did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao, and the operator of its purportedly independent U.S. exchange. Binance said it intends to defend itself "vigorously" against the SEC's charges.

(Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)