Users of the Spanish bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchange 2gether are receiving notifications announcing the closure of their individual accounts.
“After 5 years serving the crypto community, we are forced to close the private account service”, this is how the message sent by the company via email to its users. Some of them they have made the complaint about this fact on Twitter.
The argument for making this decision is that due to the “lack of resources and the crypto winter”, cannot provide services “with the quality and guarantees with which other similar providers are doing it”.
When they talk about crypto winter they mean the current bear market for cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. A situation that, as CriptoNoticias has reported, has affected other digital asset service platforms, including Coinbase, BlockFi, Gemini and BitMEX. The most recent company affected is the exchange Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy a few hours ago.
For its part, the Spanish exchange also announced that they cannot continue to operate for free. For this reason, users must now assume part of the cost that the company has incurred in recent years for the maintenance and management of the accounts.
In this sense, the Spanish company explained that they will charge 20 euros corresponding to said cost to all users, from next July 10. “This fee will be charged in cryptocurrencies by discounting said amount from your positions in the different crypto assets that you have in your account and any remaining balance will be charged in euros.”
In the case of those clients who do not have the amount of funds necessary to cover the 20 euros, the exchange will proceed to close your accounts. Although the company announces a date for users to catch up with what was requested, in the same statement they report, contradictorily, that they have already begun the process of orderly closure of said accounts.
Process for withdrawing funds
Among 2gether’s recommendations for their clients to receive the funds they have invested, they suggest that all staking positions be closed, to be transferred to bitcoin or ether (ETH). Later withdraw it from the exchange application to their respective bank accounts.
If by July 20, users have not withdrawn their digital assets from the exchange, the company ensures that will sell the cryptocurrencies of customers who do not cancel their accounts and it will also do so by charging an additional 30 euros.
The remaining balance in euros that remains in favor of the user will be deposited in the client’s account of the electronic money provider Pecunpay. “From there users will be able to request a transfer to their current account to recover their funds.”
This decision of the 2gether exchange was propitious for the Spanish tax economist, José Antonio Bravo, will comment that, in his opinion, the concept of exchange-custodian of digital assets or “crypto bank” “is not viable”.
Bravo believes that these types of platforms “have their days numbered” due to the crypto winter and for anti-money laundering regulations and tax that are coming in Spain.
“We are going to the exchange only for traders and/or buying and selling from/to private wallets, and the big custodian,” added the economist.