Bitcoin Co. Ltd. (BX.in.th), one of the most popular crypto exchanges in Thailand, on Monday announced that it would terminate its digital asset trading services.
The Exchange did not provide any particular reason behind this abrupt move; instead, it only mentioned that it is going to focus on other business opportunities.
Per the official announcement, the exchange will terminate all trading services on September 30 and requested traders on the platform to withdraw funds to bank accounts or third-party wallets by November 1. It will also disable deposits on the exchange on September 6.
The Thai exchange also detailed that it will not renew its mandatory operational license from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the next year.
“We thank our loyal customers for using our BX.in.th services over the past 5 years and trust you have been happy with the service provided. Please note that all fund[s] are completely safe and all customers will receive 100% of their funds returned to them,” the exchange noted.
Bloodbath in the Thai crypto market
Meanwhile, the sudden decision has created a situation of panic among the Thai traders. The offloading of Bitcoin after the announcement of the exchange has pushed the price of the crypto down to THB 200,000 (around $6,500) at a point, while at press time, it is trading at a discounted price of $9,050, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin, on other exchanges, is trading at $9,763.
Bitcoin was sold on BX for as low as $6,500 (200K THB) following the announcement -- that's a steep discount on the current price of $9,760, although prices have risen since then
Right now, BTC trading for around 270K, which is roughly $8,800 pic.twitter.com/M3tMU6vd4i — Jon Russell (@jonrussell) September 2, 2019
Scammers are always ahead
With the sudden announcement of the exchange, fraudsters also jumped quickly to take advantage of the panic among traders. The Thai SEC warned against a fake Facebook page claiming to be associated with the crypto exchange, trying to receive funds from traders.
