Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance startup Bitspark, after six years, has had to suddenly shut its doors as a number of different factors forced their hands. From a company restructure, to the on-going Hong Kong protests and fears of the Coronavirus ravaging Asia, BitSpark has outlined its reasons for the closure.

The closing down statement has said that users will be able to withdraw their cryptocurrencies from February 3 to March 4 as the platform’s functionality will stay intact over the period. Following that withdrawal period, account logins will be disabled for a period of 90 days, with users being able to withdraw their funds via Bitspark customer support.

It is a poignant reminder that even in the fervent and excitable cryptocurrency sector, things are not always rosy and on an upward trend. Having accumulated six years of experience, BitSpark would have been categorized as a very settled business, but many external factors forced their hands.

Still making moves

What is most concerning about the fall of BitSpark is that, according to Bitspark co-founder and CEO George Harrap, the company was still seeing excellent performances following a 2019 product launch. In fact, they saw a 400 percent month-over-month growth after releasing the product.

However, the fall towards shutting down emerged when co-founder Maxine Ryan announced her intention to step down from her position as chief operating officer, which led to a restructuring. This, as well as unforeseen issues like the Hong Kong protests and the outbreak of the coronavirus, have also played their parts.

“Unfortunately due to internal restructuring that hasn’t worked out, and a decision taken by shareholders internally, we have made the decision to close our doors. While the HK protests and now virus epidemic haven’t affected us much, it hasn’t helped either,” it was explained

In a Twitter thread Ryan confirmed Bitspark’s reasons for the closure:

“What caused the closure. As of a month ago, I made the decision to step down from my position as COO of Bitspark. This naturally caused a need to restructure the company which unfortunately landed this result […] This paired with the landscape of Hong Kong with protests and the coronavirus where Bitspark HQ is located. The team and shareholders decided this was the best way forward to prevent integrity decay of the company.”

Despite this fall of a well-established company in the nascent space, Ryan still emphasized that Bitspark’s closure does not mean that the crypto and blockchain industry is in decline:

“Whether you call it #bitcoin #crypto #blockchain, this industry is an incredible one. Please do not take this as a sign of its decline as it’s stronger than ever and I cannot wait to see what its future holds.”

