Crypto Exchanges are rage-quitting as crypto winter drags on

Bitcoin at $3,400 and Ethereum at $100, how the crypto winter feels like a weight. In 2019 it isn’t just “crypto” that’s a bad word, it’s even blockchain as well.

It’s a rag tag banking mafia proclaiming the death of crypto exchanges, and this is how it looks on Twitter:

The crypto priests vs. the banking evangelists police. Lack of liquidity huh? Cryptocurrency exchange Liqui, ranked 181st by 24 hour volume on Coinmarketcap, is shutting down. This makes it the first cryptocurrency exchange to go down in 2019

If altcoins shimmer out of existence every few days, that some Crypto Exchanges would go under in the crypto winter should not surprise is, it’s all business. The use case of blockchain, the scalability of dApps, the alternative value of digital assets, the consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies — well, we have a ways to go.

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.

What was the economic point of ICOs and airdrops again? To build community? To foster blockchain innovation? To see who is the last man standing?

If only the SEC was a more aggressive and responsible regulator, we might see the blockchain startups that have true viability left. No all altcoins are built equally. Not all blockchain startups are working on actual products, same old story.

Here is the list of a few crypto exchanges that announced their shutdown since the beginning of 2018:

Mr. Exchange: Japan-based crypto exchange announced cease-and-desist citing regulatory concerns.
Tokyo GateWay: Another Japanese exchange that withdrew its application with Financial Services Agency
ZebPay: India’s premier crypto exchange closed operations after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut their banking links.
BTCX India and ETHEX India: Other Indian exchanges which opted to shut its door after RBI’s anti-bitcoin stance.
BitGrail: Italian crypto exchange forced to close down operations after three hours of launch. They blamed a court order.
1Broker: US-based crypto trading platform announced closer after SEC crackdown.
Cryptopia: New Zealand-based crypto-to-crypto exchange discontinued operations after claiming that it got hacked.

As stock markets and stocks bounce back, so too should crypto. Though it’s not clear what will drive it or the objective measures that crypto market prices are actually tethered to besides sentiment and some mysterious demand for it.

Liqui, a small but a long-running crypto trading company in the Ukraine said its exchange was unable to provide liquidity to its customers. If you go broke after a little hardship perhaps you aren’t a legit startup. If you weren’t running lean all the while, you might be taking your last breath.

More Crypto Exchanges, crypto hedge funds, and bockchain startups are expected to rage quit in 2019.

Published at Wed, 30 Jan 2019 13:17:19 +0000

November 9, 2017

Technology & Choice #23, People and Projects at the Texas Bitcoin Conference (part 1)

I had some great talks with folks at the Texas bitcoin Conference in late October.

This episode:

Paul Puey, CEO of Airbitz and the new Edge wallet, on taking the core concepts and success of Airbitz and taking it to a new level of reach and implementation, rebranding as Edge, and making it much more than just a wallet, but a real tool for security.

Julian Smith, Pres. and CEO of Blockfreight, about integrating blockchain tech into the vastly important movement of freight round the world.

Dhruv Bansal, Co-founder and CSO, Unchained Capital, about why “friends don’t let friends sell bitcoin” and the advantages of borrowing rather than selling an appreciating asset.

John Bushe, Pres. and Permaculture Designer for ZeroWaste, about the vast resources squandered in wasteage, the opportunities and benefits of exploiting them, and how blockchain tech is being targeted for integration to improve outcomes.

Ernest Hancock, Editor and Chief of the publishing and activist site Freedoms Phoenix, and host of the broadly popular radio show, Declare Your Independence. Ernie was at the conference to network and share the collaborative project called “Pirates Without Borders.”

Thanks to Paul and Linda Snow, and all who made the Texas bitcoin Conference possible.