Traders like me need liquidity. Kucoin lacks stablecoin liquidity and other exchanges are worse. The derivatives exchanges similarly prohibit US traders. That leaves three choices or some combination of them: mandatory KYC, using VPN to dodge US trader bans, or splitting funds between multiple exchanges. I would like to avoid KYC, which reduces the options further.

So you can see, my options for hedging BTC are slim. Worst case scenario, if i get caught violating terms, I might get my balance confiscated. The risk of that is fairly low, especially since Binance's terms state they will allow withdrawal in these cases. I think the potential profit and hedging value I can get is much greater than the risk.

If they really want to deter US traders, they should threaten to confiscate balances if caught violating terms. The wording is pretty inviting for us.