By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 19th, 2024
Despite the sudden announcement of the closure of the LINE-backed Bitfront platform, the timeline of events has been designed such that it will give all of its stakeholders a proper time to adjust to the changes required.
Bitfront, a digital currency trading platform that is backed by the LINE Messaging platform has announced plans to unwind its operations. The company said the current outlook of the crypto industry which has continued to evolve in unpredicted ways has contributed to its decision to close shop.
“Despite our efforts to overcome the challenges in this rapidly-evolving industry, we have regretfully determined that we need to shut down BITFRONT in order to continue growing the LINE blockchain ecosystem and LINK token economy,” the exchange said in its issued statement.
The digital currency ecosystem has been seeing quite a lot of company collapse over the past 11 months with top players like Celsius Network, BlockFi, Zipmex, and Voyager Digital going bankrupt. The latest bankruptcy of FTX Derivatives Exchange has further fueled a contagion that many believe will spill to other smaller players as the bankruptcy proceedings take shape.
In a bid to vindicate itself, Bitfront said its decision to shut down its services was not related to the collapse of FTX, a position it shared to wade off speculations of exposure to the estranged company.
Bitfront said it was established to help users store and safeguard their assets, and it has unveiled its plans to stick to this even after the exchange’s operations have been halted. According to the exchange, the user’s information will still be kept secure. While it plans to delete most personal information in 40 days after March 31, Bitfront has revealed that it may need to keep data that are needed for compliance and regulatory obligations.
“Even if the service is terminated, the customer’s right to their personal information remains valid as long as the personal information is stored,” the exchange said, “However if there are statutory requirements, the fulfillment of legal obligations of LVC USA Inc. may take precedence over the exercise of rights by customers.”
Timeline of Events for LINE-Backed Bitfront Shutdown
Despite the sudden announcement of the closure of the LINE-backed Bitfront platform, the timeline of events has been designed such that it will give all of its stakeholders a proper time to adjust to the changes required.
From the point of the announcement, Bitfront said signups for new users as well as the payment of credit cards have been suspended while the suspension of additional deposits and interest payments of LN/LN interest products due to the end of LN/LN interest product operations will take effect from December 12.
The extended timeline will see the Forced withdrawals of all deposits and interest of LN/LN interest products come into effect by December 13, while as of December 30, trade suspensions, cancelation of open orders, and suspension of Open API Service will be activated.
Bitfront did not give an indication whether it will come back to operations when conditions are right and unlike firms that have gone bankrupt, users can continue to withdraw their funds up until March 31.