Source: iStock/joebelanger

The Singapore-based COSS cryptocurrency exchange has announced that it will deny its 200,000 customers from accessing to around USD 2 million worth of funds for the following three to four weeks while its site undergoes maintenance.

On Tuesday, COSS told users there was no call for “panic,” but admits it had been planning its move “for months.”

Speaking to media outlet Decrypt, an anonymous COSS employee stated that the company had decided not to disclose the news to its customers in advance to “prevent a mass exodus of funds.”

The same employee admitted that the exchange was a “mess,” and said that a “clean-up” was necessary.

Per a company blog post, COSS stated,

“There is no need to panic. Please do not believe in rumors or FUD spread by false messages and groups across any channel.”

The exchange added that it was unlikely to respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner, admitting that it was “expecting a huge volume of queries,” meaning that “responses might take up to five to seven days.”

COSS states that its revamped platform will feature low latency for automated trading, a high-speed order matching engine, advanced APIs, a built-in liquidity solution, iOS, and Android apps and margin trading services.

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A number of users and commentators took to Reddit to voice their concerns in the wake of the sudden lockdown.

One wrote, “I’m surprised [COSS] lasted this long. It didn’t even look trustworthy in 2017 and evidence that something was wrong has been accumulating since then.”

Another user wrote that the “whole thing is just highly unprofessional.”

The same contributor added,

“I’ve tried COSS in 2017 […] and it was probably the worst exchange around at that point. Even exchanges run by enthusiasts from their home like Nanex had a better interface and engine. Since then they have had multiple ‘upgrades’ but nothing reallly significant. […] Users having their funds locked is the final nail in the coffin.”

Other Redditors appeared to welcome the news, however, with one enthusing,

“The new platform is going to be awesome! I’m hyped.”

COSS is ranked 293rd among exchanges, while its website has 116,000 monthly visitors, according to Coinpaprika.

Daily trading volume on COSS:

Source: coinpaprika.comSource