Although using cryptocurrency is very much frowned upon in Russia, Bitcoin exchanges do exist. Unfortunately, some of these platforms are suspected of defrauding users. More specifically, these exchanges have not distributed Ethereum Classic tokens to their rightful owners. These accusations encompass Exmo, BTC-E, and Livecoin, two of which are blaming Poloniex for opening their ETC trading market too soon.
Russian Exchanges Have Some ‘Splaining To Do
Ever since Ethereum Classic came into the world, there has been a lot of debate among exchange owners. Some platforms do not see the point in issuing these ETC tokens to their rightful users, as they were simply caught off guard. BTC-E went as far as calling ETC a scam, and never issued these tokens to its users. Exmo and Livecoin, two other Eastern European exchanges, are dealing with similar issues.
Regardless of how these platform operators want to look at things, not issuing the Ethereum Classic tokens to users is fraud. Everyone using either of these exchanges to store Ethereum in a wallet before the hard fork is eligible to receive the same balance in ETC. So far, no one has received the money they deserved, and the blaming game has begun.
According to Livecoin and Exmo, Poloniex is to blame for launching their ETC trading market so soon. They didn’t give a heads up to other cryptocurrency exchanges, but they are not obligated to do so. It is the sole responsibility of exchange owners to keep an eye on what goes on with the currencies they support on their platform.
Contrary to what the operators of BTC-E, Exmo, and Livecoin may think, running a cryptocurrency exchange is not just about trading fees, making a profit, and answering support tickets. It also means taking responsibility for one’s actions – or lack thereof, in this case. Blaming this debacle on another exchange is sheer laziness, as Ethereum Classic trading was enabled nearly two weeks ago. None of those exchanges as mentioned earlier have undertaken any action to accommodate the demands of their users.
This entire situation goes to show why centralized cryptocurrency platforms remain a critical platform in the world of Bitcoin and Ethereum. None of these platforms can be fully trusted, and by not giving customers the funds they rightfully own, the cryptocurrency situation in Russia and Eastern Europe will get even more negative attention.
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