Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency startup Melotic has announced that it is shutting down its digital asset exchange, citing a lack of sufficient growth.
In a 3rd May blog post, Melotic indicated that the cost of operating its platform had become prohibitive. The exchange, which hosts a number of altcoins and decentralized app (dapp) tokens, appears to have fallen victim to low trading volumes.
According to the post, users will have until 15th May to withdraw their balances, and deposits. After 15th May, the exchange will be shut off.
Melotic said that it intends to continue operating with an as-yet undisclosed new service or product, asking users to “stay tuned for what we have in store”. The post noted that resources previously used to support the digital asset exchange will be redirected to those efforts.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Melotic echoed the blog post, emphasizing that the platform is solvent and that the company has sufficient capital to pivot away from the digital asset exchange and toward new product initiatives.
The representative said:
“We simply didn’t see enough growth in our metrics and in the digital asset market to justify continuing devoting more resources to the exchange’s development. We still believe in bitcoin and have been working on a promising new product for the last couple of months.”
The planned shutdown comes months after the company raised new capital to help support its exchange efforts. Melotic closed $1.17m in seed funding last October, drawing support from Ceyuan Ventures, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp and 500 Startups.
Melotic is the latest cryptocurrency exchange to close its doors in 2015, adding its name to a list that includes UK-based Netagio.
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Canadian bitcoin exchange Cavirtex had officially closed.