It has been a while since the ShapeShift trading service made positive headlines. Despite providing a valuable service, many people took exception to the company enforcing KYC and AML requirements. That decision will be partially reversed in the near future. It is good to see the company nake a positive decision, as the crypto industry direly needs some positive momentum.
Back to the Roots
Since most people currently active in the cryptocurrency industry weren’t around when ShapeShift originally launched, a brief reminder is in order. During the early stages of this platform, users would not need an account. Nor was there a KYC or AML procedure, primarily because there was nothing to verify. Granted, at this time, the regulatory landscape was a lot more laissez-faire than it is today. Companies need to adhere to strict guidelines regardless of where they operate from.
That situation has caused a lot of backlash for the company. It has successfully remained popular among crypto users, yet many people moved to other solutions which did not require a verification process. In light of this preference by cryptocurrency users, the ShapeShift team has now decided to go back to its roots as well. Users will no longer need to create an account to send, receive, and hold cryptocurrency. For trading and similar actions, users will still need to sign up. A positive change, and one that could spark an increase in Bitcoin-to-altcoin exchange transfers.
Hardware Wallet Support and Better Limits
This removal of an account requirement is not the only prominent change coming to the renewed ShapeShift. users will be able to control their assets directly by connecting an eligible hardware wallet. At this time, only the KeepKey or Trezor are supported, according to the blog post. However, Ledger support was available already, thus it seems all three major hardware wallets are represented this time around. Given how secure and popular these hardware-based solutions are, a lot of users will be pleased with this news.
Other interesting changes come in the form of better trading rates and higher limits. A fair few “competitors” to ShapeShift have arisen over the past few years. Most of these services tend to offer competitive rates, thus it is pertinent for all other companies to stay ahead of the curve. By actively improving the rates, and introducing limits of up to $25,000, the company is sending a clear message to anyone else looking to operate in this space now or in the future.
DigiByte Support and A Roadmap
Another interesting change coming to the new ShapeSHift is how the platform has, for the first time in a while, enabled support for an extra altcoin. In this case, the company opted to support DigiByte. Whether this is due to demand, or simply because it is supported by the hardware wallets, remains a bit unclear. It is not the market with a lot of trading volume, albeit that can always change when people least expect it.
Last but not least, no project can survive without an actual roadmap. In the case of this company, that situation seems to be a bit different. There is no actual roadmap in place, as the team “doesn’t need roads where we are going”. A bold statement, but it will be interesting to see what they can come up with regardless.
