Another bitcoin exchange may have joined the ranks of ripoffs and scams tainting the bitcoin community. Crypto-Trade recently announced its closure on January 26, with a small window for users to retrieve their funds.

In an announcement, Crypto-Trade issued their warning without any prior notice that they were having problems.

Important Announcement! Due to very low volume and lack of good userbase, Crypto-Trade has decided to shutdown permanently due to inability to cover its expenditures on rented servers, staff salary and site promotion. All the users are requested to withdraw their funds within 48 hours. The site will continue to process pending withdrawals till our private wallet is empty. The site will go offline on 29th January 6:00 UTC.

Crypto-Trade issued shares of their company in two ways, as Crypto-Trade Bitcoin (CTB) and Crypto-Trade Litecoin (CTL). The bitcoin exchange issued 50,000 shares, but the contract is what holds the pertinent information. Crypto-Trade included a section that stated situations in which Crypto-Trade was allowed to close activities.

Crypto-Trade can close their doors if they suffer a loss for six months, consecutively, if all three managers are incapable to manage or if government authorities force a closure. None of these situations were outlined in their warning to traders, and their support has reportedly been completely unresponsive.

The Suspicious Return of the Bitcoin Exchange

One day before the official closing, Crypto-Trader issued another announcement to their user base. The new plan was to not shut down as previously stated, but funds would be locked in their control regardless.

Announcement Update! There has been a slight change in our closure procedure. Instead of closing CT forever, we have decided to reopen CT after 3 months with a completely new development team and management staff. Till then your balance will remain with us if not withdrawn by 29th Jan.

The site is currently offline, and people are reporting being unable to withdraw their funds even though they requested the transaction before the unexpected closure.

It’s unfortunate to see another bitcoin exchange screw their customers like this. A discussion needs to be had to determine whether or not companies should legally be required to send out mass notifications with ample time in advance. Sudden closure like this is simply unethical.