Cryptocurrency exchange Okx has decided to withdraw its virtual asset service provider (VASP) license application in Hong Kong. As a result, Okx will stop offering centralized virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong residents by May 31, 2024. The exchange stressed that customer funds remain secure, and withdrawal services will continue unaffected. Okx’s web3 (self-hosted […]
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Crypto Exchange Gate.HK Ceases Operations — Urges Users to Withdraw Assets
Gate.HK, the Hong Kong arm of cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, is undergoing a significant platform overhaul to enhance security and compliance, withdrawing its applications for licensing under Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO). Effective immediately, new user registrations and asset deposits are suspended. All tokens will […]
Bitcoin News
Nigerian Social Payments Platform Bundle Ceases Crypto Exchange Operations
The Nigerian social payments platform Bundle said on July 20 it was shutting down its crypto exchange services business and will now focus on its peer-to-peer platform known as Cashlink. Bundle said users must withdraw or convert their digital assets to the stablecoin tether on or before Aug. 30.
Bundle Says Transition Period Is to Last 60 Days
The Nigerian social payments platform, Bundle, said on July 20 that it was ceasing operations of its crypto exchange services and will now focus on the peer-to-peer platform known as Cashlink. In a statement, Bundle said the decision to shut down exchange services follows “shareholders’ decision to restructure the business to focus on Cashlink.”
Founded by Yele Bademosi, Bundle started operations in 2020 and at the time of the announcement the platform had 50,000 monthly active users and a monthly volume of million. Cashlink, on the other hand, is reported to have recorded over 3 million transactions in under two years.
According to a Technext report which quotes the CEO Emmanuel Babalola, the payments platform has adequately planned for a transition phase expected to last 60 days.
“Irrespective of this early exit, Bundle Africa has made its mark on the African continent, providing our users with a best-in-class experience for crypto, making it easier and safer to access crypto services. Our users can withdraw their funds into any wallet. Over the next 60 days, we will provide our users and stakeholders with unparalleled support as we transition to Cashlink and other services,” Babalola said.
Asset Deposits and Swaps Disabled
As a result of this move, Bundle asked users of the platform to withdraw their digital assets to crypto exchanges of their choice. To users holding less than , Bundle said to Nigerian users that “the last day for withdrawal if you have less than is the 30th of August 2023. After this day your funds will be automatically converted to USDT.”
For users in Ghana, Kenya, and those from Francophone countries, Bundle said they have to convert their assets to USDT on or before Aug. 30. Following the announcement, users of the platform will not be able to sign up, deposit or swap assets in their Bundle wallet (except when converting to USDT).
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Bitpay Ceases Prepaid Mastercard Program, Promises Enhanced Card Service in the Future
Cryptocurrency proponents in the United States are facing increasing challenges when it comes to utilizing digital assets for expenditures. Several crypto companies have encountered difficulties in securing banking partners. This week, Bitpay, a prominent player in the crypto payments sector, made an announcement regarding the termination of its current Bitpay prepaid Mastercard program. This decision follows the end of its partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank.
Crypto Payment Giant Bitpay Ends Prepaid Mastercard Program
Bitpay, the Atlanta-based crypto payments company, has made the decision to halt its prepaid Mastercard program, rendering the card unusable for Bitpay Mastercard holders after the specified deadline. Breaking the news through a series of informative tweets on May 18, 2023, Bitpay also notified cardholders via email. Urging users to promptly terminate any recurring payments linked to the prepaid card, the company has set June 1, 2023, as the final day for card loading.
We’ve seen some hot takes since announcing our short transition period for the BitPay Card and want to make one thing clear: we’re not going away, just taking some time to change banks and enhance the card program.
More details in the thread
pic.twitter.com/HeuGZIlst1
— BitPay (@BitPay) May 18, 2023
Bitpay has announced that the card’s final day of usability is scheduled for June 15, 2023, after which it will cease to function. On January 9, 2023, the crypto sector received news regarding Metropolitan Bank’s decision to discontinue its involvement in crypto-asset-related endeavors. At the time, Metropolitan revealed that it serviced “four active institutional crypto-asset related clients,” collectively contributing approximately 1.5% of total revenues and 6% of total deposits.
When Bitpay took to Twitter to share the update, it assured its users that a revamped card service will make a comeback later this year. Although the current situation may be seen as a temporary setback, the company expressed its commitment to relaunching the Bitpay Card with enhancements through a new banking partner. While June 15 marks the final day to utilize the card for transactions, any remaining balances will be refunded. Within 30 days, users can expect to receive a reimbursement in the form of a paper check mailed to the address associated with their Bitpay Card.
“We will share additional details regarding the new card program, including new features, shortly,” the company’s email message detailed. “These changes will require a short transition period in which your current card will become inactive. As a cardholder, you will automatically be enrolled on the waitlist for the new program,” the crypto payments company’s card update concluded.
What are your thoughts on the challenges faced by cryptocurrency companies in accessing banking services? What do you think about Bitpay shutting down its current prepaid Mastercard program? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Silvergate Bites The Dust, Down 35% As Crypto-Friendly Bank Ceases Operations
Silvergate Capital Corporation, the holding company for crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank, announced on Wednesday its decision to cease operations and voluntarily liquidate its bank.
Shares of Silvergate (SI) have taken a significant hit, trading down over 35% on the Nasdaq in the last seven days, in light of the recent regulatory approach by authorities to the industry.
Shares of Silvergate Bank, under the ticker SI, have lost more than 5% of their value in the last 24 hours, trapped in a sideways price action between .9 and .9 per share, following the crypto crackdown by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to over-regulate the industry.
The digital asset bank has confirmed investors’ doubts about its viability after announcing on Friday that it had made a “risk-based decision” to shut down the Silvergate Exchange Network, leading to the decision to cease operations. Silvergate states:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance
Silvergate Shares Are Doomed For The Worst
Silvergate shares fell more than 2% on Friday after the opening bell on the Nasdaq Stock Market, after closing 0.9% above the .70 mark.
Moreover, on Thursday, SI shares suffered what investors feared after the public feuds between the SEC and the crypto-friendly bank. Falling to a record low as they ended the trading day down more than 95% from the all-time high of 0 per share in November 2021.
Previously, Silvergate suffered breakups with former major partners after the warning that the bank emitted from the ongoing concerts of the ability to continue its operations, which caused the sale of additional debt at a loss; Coinbase Global and Galaxy Digital dropped the company as their banking partners, according to a Reuters report.
In addition, stablecoin issuer Paxos, the former issuer of Binance’s BUSD, and Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, suspended their partnership with the bank and exchanged Gemini, Cboe’s, and Bitstamp.
After battling to stay afloat, SI shares have been hit by the company’s disclosed problems, with the genesis being the FTX case, where investors withdrew more than billion in deposits from the bank in the last months of 2022.
SI shares have closed the trading day on the Nasdaq at .91, with no hope for it to recover after the announcement by Silvergate Corporation.
Feature image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com.
Huobis US-Based Crypto Trading Platform HBUS Ceases Operations
n Finding limited traction, Huobis U.S. wing is ceasing operationsn
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Indian Crypto Exchange Zebpay Ceases All Trading Amid Regulatory Pressure
One of India’s largest digital asset exchange platforms has announced today that it will cease offering crypto buying and selling services.
Zebpay Calls it a Day Due to Regulatory Pressures
Zebpay stated that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) clampdown on digital currencies had severely impacted its ability to do business. The exchange announced that it will be halting all digital currency trading as of 16:00 (local time) today. The firm was previously one of the largest India-based digital currency exchanges.
The news comes just months after the RBI ordered domestic banks and financial institutions to cease all dealings connected to digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ether. The move was first announced this April before coming into full effect by early July.
In a statement posted on the exchange platform’s designated blog, the firm justified the decision to end operations:
“Despite regulatory and banking problems along our journey, we continued to look for solutions as we did not want India to miss the bus of digital assets that power the public blockchain. However, the recent past has been extremely difficult. The curbs on bank accounts have crippled our, and our customers’, ability to transact business meaningfully.”
The statement continued, announcing a halting of all exchange activities as of 16:00 on September 28, 2018. All non-completed crypto-to-crypto orders were cancelled and those traders impacted would receive their coins and tokens back into their Zebpay accounts. The statement concluded:
“No new orders will be accepted until further notice.”
We are stopping our exchange. At 4 PM today, we will cancel unexecuted orders & credit your coins to your Zebpay wallet. No new orders will be accepted. The Zebpay wallet will work even after the exchange stops.
Read more: https://t.co/W8ygzPIYz1 pic.twitter.com/tPWCnyu7Yu
— zebpay (@zebpay) September 28, 2018
In the three years since its launch, Zebpay has quickly established itself as one of the leaders in the Indian cryptocurrency exchange industry.
It was one of India’s most-downloaded digital asset application on Android (the nation’s most popular smart phone operating system). According to the Zebpay website, there were three million active users of the platform who had access to 20 different digital assets across 22 trading pairs.
Whilst the RBI ban has meant that Zebpay has been forced to call it a day, other smaller operations have changed their business models to skirt around the bank’s order. According to a report in Quartz, many domestic exchanges (included Zebpay itself before today’s announcement) have moved to crypto-to-crypto only trades.
Instead of using the convenient on-ramp exchange services provided, first time investors must rely on peer-to-peer services such as LocalBitcoins to gain exposure to Bitcoin. Following this, they can transfer their funds to crypto trading platforms without using a traditional bank or financial institution at all.
Whilst this approach completely circumvents the RBI’s order, the additional steps required have clearly hurt the industry sufficiently for leaders such as Zebpay to cease operations.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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Litecoin Takes a Dip as LitePay Ceases Operations
Litecoin has taken a significant price hit since promised payment processor LitePay has informed them that it has closed up shop.
What Went Wrong?
On Monday, March 26 the Litecoin Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of Litecoin and an investor in LitePay, announced on its website that LitePay CEO Kenneth Asare informed them that LitePay had ceased operations and was being sold.
As news that LitePay had folded went public Litecoin dropped down to 1 having lost nearly ten percent of its value since 4:08 ET. Continuing on a downward trend of losing 28% this month and over 37% so far in the year according to CoinMarketCap.
Litecoin experienced a mid-February bump when LitePay announced its merchant payment processing system for Litecoin would be up and running on Feb. 26.
As the go date came and went LitePay eventually sent an email to customers on March 5 saying that it was “checking all perspective merchants” and suspending card registrations “due to the negative perception and drastic actions card issuers have towards cryptocurrency companies.”
This statement was in reaction to an announcement made by Mastercard and Visa that they were changing the way cryptocurrency transactions would be processed from purchases to cash advances resulting in more fees for users.
LitePay was supposed to be an easy way to make cryptocurrency transactions anywhere with only a couple of clicks of the mouse. It was also supposed to include LitePay Debit Cards. Cards that would enable users to transfer Litecoin units from any digital wallet to the card in order to pay for goods and services wherever major credit cards are accepted. It was also supposed to enable the exchange of LTC to any currency in the world via ATM.
Litepay has not sent out a customer update since the March 5 email.
Charlie Lee Reacts
The Litecoin Foundation said it had refused a request from Asare for more funding after his “Ask Me Anything” Reddit session raised serious questions about what the funding was for.
The creator of Litecoin Charlie Lee took to Twitter to express his disappointment and to apologize for not thoroughly vetting Litepay before throwing the support of the Litecoin foundation behind the venture, he wrote.
Like everyone else, we got too excited about something that was too good to be true and we optimistically overlooked many of the warning signs. I am sorry for having hyped up this company and vow to do better due diligence in the future. https://t.co/khIjeHnyZ1
— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) March 26, 2018
The declines Litecoin experienced on Monday were felt by other coins as well. Bitcoin went under ,000 as the all top ten Cryptocurrencies fell into the red according to CoinMarketCap.
The Litecoin Foundation looked to reassure it’s investors by posting “Litecoin was doing perfectly fine before the promise of LitePay and will continue to do so,” on its site.
The post Litecoin Takes a Dip as LitePay Ceases Operations appeared first on NewsBTC.