Changes per time in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry is not what is new to any crypto enthusiast but it’s a serious factor for crypto exchanges as Coinnest, the 5th largest Bitcoin (BTC) exchange company in Korea, abruptly shuts down.
The information was aired via the company’s official website on Thursday, 18th April. Termination of account creation features had already been effected two days before it finally shut down.
Customers possessing large volume of crypto in their wallets are to withdraw their funds on or before June 30th 2019 as the company stops trade and deposit services indefinitely by the end of April 2019.
Coinnest Exchange informed its customers that it has taken steps to make the process less challenging by reducing the minimum withdrawal amount and fees.
Possible Reasons Behind Coinnest’s Sudden Shut Down
It hasn’t been a smooth year for Coinnest Exchange following its series of court actions and rows of losses after the inconsistency that characterises cryptocurrency market.
Coinnest started having problems when two of its executives were charged with embezzlement and fraud after they were accused of listing digital assets on the platform in exchange for money.
The CEO of the Exchange, Kim Ik-hwan, was arrested for fraud and theft by the Korean police. He was later found guilty and imprisoned along with 2.5 million dollars fine.
Early this year, Coinnest exchange reportedly lost Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets worth 5 million dollars after an accidental airdrop.
Although Coinnest is not the only exchange in Korea that faced this unfortunate financial mess as the largest four exchanges in the country also accounted losses in 2018 due to elongated drop in price of digital currencies.
In 2018, Upbit exchange that recorded a profit said to be over $87 million was compelled to reduce the number of tokens it trades on its platform after being continuously scrutinized by the law enforcement and regulation agencies in South Korea, while the remaining three exchange giants in the country recorded net losses.
In another development, a Ukraine-based cryptocurrency exchange, Liqui, reportedly announced the closure of its services in late January 2019, due to unavailability of liquid assets to the company.
Liqui is a crypto exchange that allows customers to trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereun (ETH) and Tether (USDT) pair, coupled with margin and lending trading.
What possibly caused its shutdown was also related to financial losses as it recorded a devastating deficit on the 12th January 2019 prior to its closure.
As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are important to the space so are the digital currency exchanges. This incessant closure is surely not good news to crypto enthusiasts and investors especially in South Korea.
