Peer-to-peer crypto exchange LocalCryptos announced on October 21 that it would close the platform after five years of operation.
In a statement, the P2P exchange stated that it plans to make the winding-down process as smooth as possible so that it can transition smoothly to other exchanges.
The exchange launched on October 21, 2017, and within five years, had around 400,000 registered users. Though it initially focused solely on Ethereum, it soon added support for non-custodial P2P trading for Bitcoin and other UTXO-based cryptocurrencies.
According to LocalCryptos, its decision to close shop was influenced by many factors. The first among these reasons is the current bear market affecting the industry.
Other reasons given by exchange include the personal health of team members and the challenges that regulatory development might pose.
“While any of these alone are not the sole reason, they are each motivating factors in our decision. We weighed up all the options, attempted various alternative solutions to keep the LocalCryptos vision alive, but in the end, we made the decision to gradually end our services and recommend our users to other P2P platforms.”
LocalCryptos Will Stop Taking New Accounts on Nov. 4
The timeline for winding down stipulates that the creation of new accounts will stop by November 4. And new trade creation will be disabled by November 18.
However, existing users would still be able to use the platform. And use the non-custodial web wallet and complete any open trades.
The LocalCryptos website will remain accessible indefinitely for its wallet user interface. Because the exchange is non-custodial, its users’ assets are mostly in self-hosted wallets. Or on the blockchain in a non-custodial escrow mechanism.
LocalCryptos Eye’s new Adventure
Meanwhile, the platform will continue publishing its newsletter Bytes.
The exchange revealed plans to expand the newsletter into an independent entity. Covering the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector and technologies.
Crypto Companies Feel the Bear Market Pinch
While LocalCryptos’ decision might come as a surprise, the current market situation has made several crypto-focused companies file for bankruptcy.
Apart from that, several others have also begun to close down due to their failure of getting new funding. Siacoin developer Skynet Labs revealed it was closing its operation because it couldn’t raise enough funding.
German crypto bank Nuri announced that it was shutting down after it could not find a buyer.
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