You had years of looking at how other exchanges did it.

You chose stakes in fiat, instead of a Bitcoin P2P foundation when your whole business revolves around Bitcoin which allows for P2P, global transactions regardless of the who or where. You could offer a permissionless, open service with amazing UX. Be sovereign. Instead, you'll likely always be at the whims of your fiat masters.

This KYC push was just an initial step for them, and it set a precedent. As we've seen in the past they will pressure you until you're snuffed out.

I am Bitcoin-only, I don't shitcoin and don't even have an avid history with it, but there's a reason the shapeshift exchange is still around today. Years ago they faced the same issue, and realized they had to build into their backend a P2P option. Their exchange went offline for a good few months IIRC, but that downtime allowed them to rebuild, and nowadays they offer both No-KYC and KYC options - This to say, it always stuck with me how this allowed them to take control of their own longevity. No matter how much they have to swap around KYC providers (by being blocked off, or regulatory pressure, or otherwise) their users always have an option, and they will remain in business. Is it infallible? No no, they're not open enough for that. But they're in a much better position to be if the time came.