Bitberry, a popular South Korean digital currency wallet, has decided to terminate its services, citing market deterioration and uncertainty of the Blockchain industry.
Per local news outlet NewsTomato, the platform will close its services on February 29. The platform is requesting users to withdraw their funds and has also scrapped all withdrawal fees.
In an announcement on January 29, Jang Sung-hoon, CEO of Root One Soft, the operator of the wallet, said: "We decided to close the business due to the market deterioration and uncertainty of the blockchain industry."
A popular option for crypto users
Released in 2018, Bitberry focused on ease of usability of the digital asset wallet platforms. It even allowed users to sign-in using a Kakao Talk id, the leading messaging platform in the country.
The wallet even simplified sending and receiving digital currencies between users using their mobile number instead of complex public addresses. It was also adding features to expand its client base as last month, it added a 'secure transaction' service to directly exchange peer-to-peer (P2P) Cryptocurrencies .
The platform's operator is also a subsidiary of Dunamu, which runs one of the country's top crypto exchange UpBit.
Despite its popularity, Bitberry is facing deep financial troubles, primarily due to the long-reigning crypto winter. Though digital currencies are showing signals of good recovery, the dent made in the books of the firm could not be restored, forcing it to take the harsh decision.
The firm was also in talks with Lambda 256, the research arm of Dunamu; however, it headed to a dead end.
South Korea is one of the top markets for crypto trading. However, it is also one of the most affected due to the two-year-long crypto winter. Bitberry has just become a part of the 97 percent crypto exchanges in the country, which were close to insolvency and bankruptcy.