It has been announced that the cryptocurrency exchange BITFRONT, founded by LINE, has closed. In order to withdraw funds, users will have until March 31st, 2023, and after that date, BITFRONT will delete all personal information from the platform within forty days after that date.
Another Victim of the Winter
According to the press release for this announcement, the team says BITFRONT was established in order to give users a safe environment to store and trade their digital assets on. Their goal has always been to be a leader in the blockchain industry, and they’ve done everything they can to be a leader from the beginning.
Even though the LINE team has made significant efforts to overcome the challenges faced in this rapidly-evolving industry, they have now come to the conclusion that in order to continue building the LINE blockchain ecosystem and the LINK token economy, BITFRONT must be shut down.
A press release released by LINE claims that this decision was made in the best interest of the LINE blockchain ecosystem in light of recent issues concerning certain exchanges that have been accused of misuse of their assets. It has therefore been decided to close the BITFRONT service as a result.
According to the schedule published by the BITFRONT team, new registrations will be suspended as of November 28, 2022, at 5:00 (UTC), as well as credit card payments will no longer be accepted. Due to the end of operation of LN/LN interest products and additional deposits, these will be suspended on December 12, 2022, at 00:10 UTC.
On March 31 there will be a very important step in the closing of BITFRONT. Because all withdrawals will stop on that day.
The company says that all data collected from BITFRONT customers shall be deleted by March 31, 2023, when withdrawals will no longer be possible and all personal information collected will be deleted within the 40 days following that date.
However, it is possible that, even after termination of the service, information necessary to comply with the legal requirements of litigation notification obligations may be retained. Upon termination of the service, any personal information to be retained will be retained for a specified period of time before being irreversibly deleted at the end of the retention period.
There is yet another worrying sign regarding centralized exchanges as a result of the latest decision from the BITFRONT and LINE teams. Following the turmoil in the FTX, a number of exchanges are feeling the pressure and the industry is likely to go through more changes in the weeks to come. As far as the crypto industry is concerned, DEXs may provide the final solution.
