Cryptocurrency exchanges have always been in the scope of regulators because of the cloud of judgment surrounding the industry. This indecision also resulted in several closures within the sector with many companies going under.
The latest organization to take a hit was Wowoo Exchange Singapore [WES], a cryptocurrency exchange that was quite popular with the masses. The company, which first launched in June 2019, decided to halt all operations in the wake of the current market conditions.
This was not the first time that crypto companies have been affected by changes in the industry. WES had made news when they allowed users to trade Singapore dollar on Bitcoin and Ether along with a BTC/ETH market. The company claimed that they were halting operations because of changes within the company’s framework.
According to the WES team:
“The management of Wowoo Exchange Singapore (WES) is sad to announce that due to strategic realignment, WES will be halting operations in Singapore with immediate effect. All users can be assured that all assets in their WES accounts are safe and being held securely. Users are asked to withdraw all their assets from the WES platform by March 30th, 2020 at the latest. All Wowoo Exchange fees will be waived until this date.”
WES’s latest decision comes in the midst of market instability caused by COVID-19. The impact was so significant that the cryptocurrency market along with the Dow and the Nasdaq also fell by multiple points. Bitcoin, which usually behaves as a safe haven asset, also crumbled under the pressure of the bear.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading for $6625 with a total market cap of $121.15 billion. The 24-hour market volume was clocked at $41.82 billion after a 22.3 percent hike over the past week. Bitcoin’s volatility began at the start of this month when the prices dipped so much that the cryptocurrency fell below the $4000 mark.
WES was part of an industry that was hit drastically by the spread of the Coronavirus. Several financial analysts stated that people would be more focussed on their own well being right now than trading digital assets. This sentiment shift may be one of the reasons why the financial markets were suffering at the moment.
During WES’s launch in 2019, the company revealed that they were adding three new pairs to their roster: SGD-Bitcoin, SGD-Ethereum and Bitcoin-Ethereum. WES had also partnered with several fintech solution providers that included Cynopsis Solutions and Xfers.
