Thailand’s biggest crypto exchange, BX Thailand, announced it was ceasing services at the end of the month. | Source: Shutterstock
By CCN Markets: BX Thailand, also known as BX.in.th and Bitcoin Co. Ltd., the largest bitcoin exchange in Thailand according to data published by CoinGecko, has announced it is shutting down its cryptocurrency trading platform by September 30.
“Bitcoin Co. Ltd. has decided to discontinue offering digital exchange services and wallet services at our BX.in.th website in order to focus on other business opportunities. This means that after September 30th 2019 all trading on the BX.in.th will be stopped,” the company said.
BX Thailand becomes 18th biggest exchange in volume as investors rush to sell cryptocurrency (source: CoinGecko)
The team said that it will not reapply for a license to operate a cryptocurrency trading platform in Thailand with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). BX Thailand was one of the four exchanges in January 2019 to receive the first batch of licenses issued by the Thailand SEC.
The exchange operator added:
“The company will not be seeking to hold an SEC issued Digital Asset Exchange license for the year 2020, and we ask all customers to withdraw their funds before November 1st, 2019. After 1 November 2019, the company will continue to open the BX.in.th website only as a method for customers to contact the company about outstanding issues.”
Why is it shutting down bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange?
According to CoinGecko, BX Thailand has a volume of over $12 million for the BTC/THB (Thai baht) pair, accounting for 68 percent of the exchange’s volume. The platform also provides fiat pairings for XRP, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies.
Although the exchange has primarily focused on the local cryptocurrency exchange market of Thailand, it has competed against exchanges in major cryptocurrency markets like Japan in the likes of bitFlyer in daily volume.
The daily volume of the exchange spiked on September 2 following its abrupt announcement to close down its services by the month’s end. Prior to that, the exchange is said to have seen an overall decline in volume and interest as the overall volume in the cryptocurrency market dropped since early 2018.
The decline in volume, as well as the exchange’s relatively low fees and its focus on a single market, could have created a difficult environment for the company to sustain the firm’s operations over the long term, leading the company to close down after five years of operations.
“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 are completely safe and all customers will receive 100% of their funds returned to them,” the company said.
Thailand has Coins, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Southeast Asia that operates in the Philippines and Malaysia, along with Bitkub and Satang Pro, which received licenses to operate in Thailand from the SEC, to provide fiat pairings to local users.
Bitcoin price on BX Thailand drops to $9,100 after its announcement to close down (source: CoinGecko)
Still, the bitcoin price on BX Thailand plunged to $9,100 following the release of the company’s announcement.
The post appeared first on CCN
