- The exchange was selected as one of the top 3 exchanges with the highest satisfaction by Russian media in 2019.
- Hotbit, launched in 2018, managed to obtain licenses in 4 countries including the US.
- The team attributed this decision to deteriorating working conditions, which worsened with the investigation of a former employee last August.
The cryptocurrency exchange, claiming to have more than 5 million users, announced today that it is ceasing operations.
Crypto Exchange with 5 Million Users is Closing!
Crypto exchange Hotbit has suspended operations, citing a series of issues and claiming that the likelihood of centralized exchanges being valid in the long term is low.
Hotbit, launched in 2018, had MTR license in Estonia, MSB license in the US, AUSTRAC in Australia, and MSB license in Canada. The exchange was selected as one of the top 3 exchanges with the highest satisfaction by Russian media in 2019.
#Hotbit exchange halts operations, urges users to withdraw funds
— CoinOtag EN (@coinotagen) May 22, 2023
In its statement, Hotbit said that its operations would be suspended in the early hours of May 22 and asked users to withdraw their remaining assets by 07:00 on June 21 (Turkey time).
The team wrote, “We want to thank and say goodbye” and added, “We still believe in a bright future for crypto innovation, and some of us will continue to fight for it.”
The platform, which claims to serve 5 million users, attributed this decision to deteriorating working conditions, which worsened with the investigation of a former employee last August.
Hotbit also said that the direction of the crypto industry is uncertain for centralized exchanges. The company said that with the collapse of FTX and other major crypto institutions, the industry had to choose between regulation or increased decentralization.
The company also pointed to other problems, such as high risks on certain assets and repeated cyber attacks, which made the model of offering a wide range of investments “unsustainable.”
Tough Times for Centralized Exchanges
Hotbit, founded in January 2018, is currently based in Shanghai and Taipei, according to its website. The platform said it serves users from more than 170 countries outside of China.
Bittrex, another centralized exchange, ended in the same month by filing for bankruptcy, saying that continuing to operate in the “current US regulatory and economic environment” was not economically feasible.
The collapse of FTX and other high-profile centralized exchanges has raised doubts about centrally operated crypto storage and trading formats and led to calls for more people to hold their own cryptos or trade on decentralized exchanges.
