Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has delisted the popular altcoin Litecoin (LTC). This after the altcoin performed the privacy-focused MimbleWimble upgrade.
Upgrade was already proposed 2 years ago
This informs Upbit in a public announcement on their website. Upbit cited the law on the reporting and use of specific information about financial transactions, which prohibits anonymous transactions, as the top reason for ending support for LTC.
With the new upgrade, Litecoin allows to make LTC transactions completely private and was recently released, almost 2 years after its first proposal.
30 days to withdraw LTC credits
After a thorough investigation of the exchange, it has been assessed that LTC will be delisted as a result of this upgrade. Users who own LTC will have 30 days to withdraw or exchange their LTC funds into other cryptocurrencies. Upbit’s official report said the following:
We have decided to discontinue transaction support for Litecoin (LTC) as it has been determined that the optional feature that does not disclose transaction information in this network upgrade corresponds to an anonymous transmission technology under the Specific Financial Information Act.
Not the only one
Upbit is certainly not the first cryptocurrency exchange to delist Litecoin. Bithumb, Coinone, Gopax and Korbit have also reportedly delisted the altcoin.
Regulations are therefore being tightened in various countries. It is therefore not unexpected that crypto exchanges are careful with crypto projects that enable private transactions. However, it is unknown whether more exchanges will do the same in the future.