Line, the messaging giant from Japan, has decided to close its cryptocurrency exchange. The company is reportedly going to focus mainly on blockchain technology and its own LN token.
Closure of Bitfront
The crypto exchange called ‘Bitfront’ is owned by Line. They have now announced that they want to close their platform completely by March of 2023. Thus, users are given until that month to withdraw all their funds from the platform.
The closure is reportedly being triggered by the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market and some other issues within the crypto industry.
Still, Line plans to continue operating other blockchain ventures as usual, including the Line blockchain ecosystem and its Link (LN) token. The announcement notes state the following:
Despite our efforts to meet the challenges in this rapidly evolving industry, we regret to have decided to close Bitfront to continue growing the Line blockchain ecosystem and the Link token economy.
Bitfront shutdown is not due to FTX
The closure of the exchange is not directly related to the FTX fiasco, they say. She also emphasized that this decision was made in the ‘best interest of the Line ecosystem’.
The announcement states that on November 28, Bitfront will take a gradual approach to suspending its services and stopping signups and credit card payments. This is expected to be settled around mid-December.
In addition, Bitfront aims to halt all crypto and fiat deposits by the end of December, in addition to suspending crypto trading and canceling any open orders. The closure of the platform is currently scheduled for March 31, 2023, so everything should be arranged by then. This date is expected to be met.