Bithumb Resumes Service For Ten Suspended Cryptocurrencies

Bithumb has announced it will resume allowing deposits and withdrawals for some of the cryptocurrencies that the South Korean exchange froze following a major hack in June. In that hack, Bithumb lost the equivalent of more than $30 million. Starting tomorrow, deposits and withdrawals of the following coins will again be allowed on the exchange: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, Ether, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Mithril, Qtum, Ripple, and Zcash.

The June attack was only one piece in a long string of bad news for the exchange. In May, Bithumb services were brought to a halt in 11 countries following anti-money laundering efforts, and in January, the company came under investigation by the South Korean National Tax Service. Then, the company announced it recovered almost half of the money lost in the hack, and things were looking up for Bithumb. The recent announcement seemed to indicate the exchange might be returning to normal after a difficult and troubled year.

Then some more bad news arrived. Earlier this week, Bithumb ceased issuing new accounts because it was unable to reach an agreement with a partner bank, a recently added regulatory requirement. Those customers who already had accounts could continue buying and selling. However, apparently, those customers are not particularly inclined to.

Since the news broke that Bithumb was unable to create new accounts, volume on the exchange has been precipitously declining. Its 24-hour volume, at last check, was $165 million, down over 8 percent from the previous day. The exchange started the week with a 24-hour volume of $350 million on Tuesday, which would mean its volume is down more than 50 percent.

Of the «big four» Korean exchanges, Bithumb had been the biggest by volume. A year ago, the company boasted $870 million worth of trades as its single-day record. But with these declining numbers, Bithumb has fallen to second, behind UPbit which had a 24-hour volume of $219 million.

Tim Prentiss is a writer and editor for ETHNews. He has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno. He lives in Reno with his daughter. In his spare time he writes songs and disassembles perfectly good electronic devices.

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