Money Forward halts its plans to Release Crypto Exchange due to Bear Market

Apr 16 2019

It is difficult to fully escape the bear market. Despite this is going on since last few months and the price of Bitcoin is improving, its overall effects are recorded daily. From businesses shutting down to employees being laid off, the constant fluctuation doesn't seem to end soon.

Money Forward Inc., the operator of Japan's well-known Budgeting apps has decided to stop its plans to launch a Crypto Exchange. The latest announcement was being reported by Cointelegraph Japan on April 15. This is shocking as the firm had huge plans for Crypto.

As per earlier reports, Money Forward had built a special subsidiary in May 2018 for its Crypto Exchange Project. The firm had plans to release a Crypto Media Platform, a Crypto Exchange and also develop a digital assets remittance and settlement system.

The latest announcement depicts that the firm has chosen to cancel the process of applying for official registration for the exchange and delay development of the planned Crypto Exchange business.

Cointelegraph Japan quotes the board's announcement, which explains the decision to halt the decision within the context of the company's first quarter, combined loses of the fiscal year ending November 2019. The board said:

“The virtual currency market has cooled rapidly and the downside risk of profitability has been increased by continuing the business.”

Moreover, the announcement focused on growing international debate surrounding virtual currency platform hacks and risks of money laundering. The board further mentioned that the cost of building a robust system for protection and providing convenience for traders has increased a lot due to the ever-changing business environment.

The board has provided two reasons for this decision. First one is the bear market. Initially, Crypto Exchange was fully conceptualized, also the price of Bitcoin was high and people thought it will rise even higher. However, the price of bitcoin dropped in 2018 and is still not completely recovered. 

The second reason is the hacks which have been occurred on Crypto Exchanges in last 2 years. Various exchanges were highly indebted and decided to shut down after hacks. 

Hence, the firm has planned to stop the Crypto Exchange development. Also, the board also mentioned that the service provisions of the Money Forward’s crypto media platform Onbit will close on May 31. Lastly, the announcement stated that the Blockchain research and development will continue.

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