Bithumb Launches Voting Platform to Screen New Cryptocurrencies

Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has beta launched a public voting system for screening new coins to be listed on its exchange. The platform, Pickthumb, aims to boost transparency and fairness in Bithumb’s listing process. Five coins are currently being evaluated with the current voting round ending in nine days.

Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations

Bithumb’s Voting Platform

One of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bithumb, announced on Thursday the beta launch of Pickthumb, its public voting platform for coins vying to list on the exchange. The aim of this new platform is to strengthen the “transparency and fairness” of Bithumb’s cryptocurrency evaluation and listing process, the exchange detailed. According to its website:

Pickthumb is a platform for screening excellent coins based on your fair evaluation … users can directly evaluate, validate and vote on cryptocurrency projects that will be listed on global cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb.

Bithumb explained that any registered users can participate, adding that members can actively give their opinions and “exert more influence” on coins to be listed on the exchange. Going forward, Bithumb says it “will try to promote a healthy cryptocurrency ecosystem that investors can believe in.”

Five Projects, Over 40,000 Voters so Far

Pickthumb’s website currently lists five crypto projects in its first round which has nine days left. Each round lasts two weeks. At the time of this writing, there have been 41,778 voters and a total of 94,983 votes.

The five projects are Rom, Amo Blockchain, Ttcprotocol, Olivecoinole, and Contentos.

Users can vote for or against projects in each round. Coins attracting a large number of downvotes can be disqualified from listing consideration. After each voting round has ended, Bithumb will conduct an internal review of the winning project. According to the announcement, members who vote for the winning project will receive an airdrop of the winning coin.

Penalties for Vote Manipulation

On Friday, Pickthumb published a notice about how it will handle vote manipulation. The notice reads:

Pickthumb is constantly monitoring the voting situation 24 hours a day for fair voting.

In the event of unfair voting, the cryptocurrency project identified with fraudulent activity shall be immediately excluded from the voting round, the notice details.

Furthermore, activities designed to manipulate votes can result in user accounts being permanently suspended. They include impersonating others to vote, buying votes, selling votes, and motivating or recommending others to vote in favor of a project.

Pickthumb’s website states:

Any act that requires money (or coins) for the benefit of a candidate listed for voting is a fraud.

What do you think of Bithumb’s voting platform? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Pickthumb, and Bithumb.

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