Japanese messaging giant LINE has decided to
shut down its Bitfront cryptocurrency exchange and will halt all
withdrawals from the platform in March 2023.
Bitfront announced the development on Monday in a statement published on its website, noting the decision
“is unrelated to recent issues related to certain exchanges that have been
accused of misconduct.”
The collapse of FTX, a once-beloved
Bahamas-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, has been widely attributed to its misuse of
customer funds and poor
management practices.
In the Monday statement, Bitfront noted that it
had done its best “to be a leader in the blockchain industry.” “However, despite
our efforts to overcome the challenges in this rapidly-evolving industry, we
have regretfully determined that we need to shut down Bitfront in order to
continue growing the LINE blockchain ecosystem and LINK (LN) token economy,”
the cryptocurrency exchanges explained.
The Phase Out
According to details shared by Bitfront, the
closure will happen in phases and culminate in the suspension of withdrawals on
March 31 next year. As of 5:00 UTC, the exchange said it has suspended new
signups and credit card payments.
On December 12, the exchange will also cease the
addition of deposits and interest payments in LN and LN interest products “due
to the end of LN/LN interest product operations.” Bitfront added that it
will pay all interest for deposits made between December 5 and 11 on December
13.
Furthermore, the exchange plans to force
withdrawals on all deposits and interests on LN and LN interest products on
December 13. In addition, Bitfront plans to stop all crypto and USD deposits as
well as trading on December 30. The exchange’s open application programming
interface (API) service and open order are also scheduled to be cancelled on the
same day.
“We will notify corporate customers through a
separate channel,” Bitfront said.
Ripple Effect of FTX’s Collapse?
Meanwhile, there have been reports that crypto
lender BlockFi is preparing to
go bankrupt. This came after the
lender halted
withdrawals on its platform, citing
the uncertainty surrounding the beleaguered exchange FTX.
BlockFi has filed for bankruptcy in a New Jersey court, meaning that now arguably the top 3 crypto lenders in the US as of earlier…
