It would appear there is yet another cryptocurrency exchange crumbling under the overall market pressure. After Cryptopia got hacked earlier this week, it now appears Liqui is shutting down as well. Although there is no hack to speak of, the news is not positive in the slightest.
Liqui is Shutting Down for Good
Based on the current overall conditions, it appears as if the “golden days” of cryptocurrency exchanges are over. More specifically, there are numerous companies who either get hacked, have to shut down, or are scrutinized by governments around the world. This is not a positive development for the industry as a whole, although it is only normal custodial platforms face so many problems as well. When taking control of user funds at any given time, there will be some repercussions to contend with.
The big news of this week is how the Liqui platform will be shutting down for good. That announcement took a lot of people by surprise. While Liqui has never been a major contender among cryptocurrency exchanges, it has served a fair few people quite well. However, the ongoing market developments and associated bearish pressure have caused a lot of friction companies like Liqui need to contend with these days.
The company explains its decision as follows:
“Recently, we were happy to announce the change in our policies. We gave you the right to decide whether you want to be with us in our Crypto Exchange journey by accepting the changes. Much to our regret, after this step Liqui is no longer able to provide liquidity for the Users left. We also do not see any economic point in providing you with our services. However, we do not want to return to where we were a month ago. Hence, we decided to close all accounts and stop providing our services. It broke our hearts to do that.”
For users who have an account on this platform, getting their funds out will be the number one priority. Clients will have another four weeks to do, as the website will go into maintenance mode on March 1st. Afterward, it is likely no further withdrawal requests will be honored. As such, they warn users will in advance to take appropriate action and ensure they can get their money out without paying extra fees or never seeing their balances returned to them.
Although it appears as if Liqui is shutting down for good, the team is confident they might be back in the future. For now, the current market conditions will not allow them to offer their services. Compared to 2017, overall interest in Bitcoin and altcoins has waned significantly. Whether or not this situation will turn around in the near future, remains to be determined. It seems that is a rather unlikely outcome, unfortunately.
It is worth noting that Liqui.io and Liquid.com are two completely different exchanges. The team at Liquid commented:
“Liquid would like to clarify
that we are not associated with Liqui.io who has recently announced their closure of business. Business is as usual at Liquid.com for both fiat and crypto trading and investments.”
This is not the first major exchange-related news of 2019. About two weeks ago, it became apparent the Cryptopia platform was hacked. Further investigation revealed the criminals still managed to steal funds even when the platform had services suspended and the police were on the case. It seems unlikely Liqui has faced a similar incident, as their decision is mainly economics-based first and foremost. Even so, losing two exchanges in the first month of 2019 paints a bleak outlook for the cryptocurrency industry moving forward.
