Cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit has announced that it will cease operations on May 22. The exchange asked its users to withdraw their funds by 4 am UTC on June 21.
The exchange said in an announcement that its operating conditions had deteriorated since August 2022 when a former team member was investigated. According to the exchange, the investigation forced it to cease operations for several weeks.
Additionally, Hotbit cited various events within the crypto space as reasons for its decline. The exchange cites the FTX crash and banking crisis that led to USD Coin, The decoupling event became the reason for the deterioration of its cash flow. According to Hotbit, these incidents led to the continuous outflow of funds from centralized exchanges. The Hotbit team also believes that centralized exchanges are becoming "increasingly cumbersome" and "unlikely to meet long-term trends." The exchange said the only options were to become more de centralized or accepted regulation.
The exchange also blamed repeated cyberattacks and "exploitation of project flaws by malicious users" for its demise. Following the announcement, several community members reported that they were unable to withdraw funds from the exchange. Some also warned community me mbers about phishing links masquerading as Google's official Hotbit exchange.
While Hotbit exited, other exchanges continued, with some launching campaigns to address issues in the crypto industry. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently launched a "system update" campaign. OKX goes one step further; write the system".
