Not all developments in the world of cryptocurrency are positive. That is only to be expected, especially given that not all companies can succeed in this industry. A lot of people had high hopes for LitePay, a company designed to bring Litecoin payments to the masses. Unfortunately, it seems the company has gone bust and the venture will be sold.
Curtain Call for LitePay
Not too long ago, people were still genuinely excited about the concept of LitePay. Although the company seemingly had a winning business model, we never got to see the full potential of this venture. The company intended to make Litecoin payments more appealing to merchants, as well as introduce Litecoin-related debit card services.
However, the debit card aspect immediately had some people concerned. Given the stance of both Visa and Mastercard regarding cryptocurrencies in general, it was only normal that there was some initial skepticism. It now seems all of those concerns were more than justified, as the company is essentially done for. All operations were ceased earlier this week, and it seems the current plan involves selling the business venture altogether.
Doing so will be quite a challenge, although it remains to be seen how this will all work exactly. For instance, it is unclear if the new owners will maintain a similar Litecoin-oriented business model or simply decide to pursue other avenues. For the Litecoin community, this news comes at a troublesome time, as there was a lot of hype surrounding LitePay as a merchant tool.
Moreover, given the current Litecoin price dip, this news regarding LitePay could trigger another shock wave of sell-offs pretty quickly. To be sure, global interest in various cryptocurrencies has not slowed down by any means. At the same time, none of the markets have seen much positive momentum so far throughout 2018, and this new development is sure to cause more bearish pressure moving forward.
The big question is why the company decided to take this particular approach all of a sudden. The LitePay team asked the Litecoin Foundation for more funds after their most recent AMA. Moreover, the CEO of LitePay, Kenneth Asari, has been less than transparent when it comes to the operation he was trying to set up. When the Foundation refused to offer more money to the company, it quickly became evident this new venture simply would not happen.
Thankfully, this news doesn’t necessarily affect the future of Litecoin as a whole. There are several other ways to accept LTC payments as of right now, although it would have been good to see LitePay succeed after all of the media attention it has gotten. Unfortunately, shady people are all too common in the world of cryptocurrency, and this venture will not be going ahead as planned.
