According to CNBC and other news sources, the Bittrex exchange, which is a cryptocurrency exchange market based in Seattle, Washington, will now permit investors to purchase cryptocurrency directly using U.S. dollars instead of first converting them to Bitcoin. In the past, to purchase digital coins on Bittrex, investors first had to purchase Bitcoins with dollars and then swap thos Bitcoins for other desired cryptocurrencies. This ability to purchase digital coins directly with U.S. currency will make the cryptocurrency market easier and more efficient to use and may draw more investment in time.

This makes Bittrex the second exchange in America that allows cryptocurrency to be bought with dollars, the first having been the California-based Coinbase. To make the direct purchase of cryptocurrency possible, Bittrex has had to cooperate with U.S. agencies to unravel the regulatory maze that surrounds the currencies. The ultimate goal of Bittrex’s CEO and founder Bill Shihara is to expand access to U.S. dollar trading, help to release capital, and possibly divorce the crypto market from Bitcoin so that other cryptocurrencies are not so closely tied in value to it.

The recent change will allow investors to purchase a variety of digital coins, almost 200 different types in all. Coins include BURSTcoin (BTC), Nexus (NXS), Tether (USDT), TrueUSD (TUS), OmiseGO (OMG), and many others. The ability to swap out dollars for cryptocurrency is not yet open to all investors, however. Bittrex is testing the concept with a small group of investors first to make sure that its system can process such exchanges efficiently.

Now considered to be a global leader in the “blockchain revolution,” Bittrex was founded in 2013 by three security professionals from Microsoft. It is currently the thirteenth largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume and the first to list TrueUSD, a coin backed by U.S. dollars that is supposed to be pegged to the value of the dollar, though it has sometimes increased in value of up to thirty percent over the dollar. With this recent move, Bittrex continues to be an innovator in the blockchain industry.