Coinpulse, a “community-based” cryptocurrency exchange launched at the end of June 2018, has published an “urgent notice” advising all users to withdraw their tokens by February 7th, 2019, when the exchange will be closed for “maintenance until further notice.” the Coinpulse founder confirmed in the Chipin interview that Coinpulse would airdrop 20 million CPEX tokens, a token which could only be used as a native coin on the exchange (presumably to allow cheaper trades).
January 31, 2019, notice states that all trading and deposits have been suspended since February 1, 2019.
As well:
“In next one week, we expect all users to move their funds out of CoinPulse wallets to their personal wallets or other exchanges to avoid them being locked out during the maintenance.”
The company started the blog off with the efforts they have made, saying that they have been trying to work alongside an investor that would’ve helped their brand continue operation. Unfortunately, it notes, “This has been taking longer than we thought.” At this point, there will be no more deposits or trading performed from February 1st, going forward. However, they have given consumers extra time to withdraw their funds, which will be available until February 7th.
Over the course of the next week, CoinPulse advises users to move all funds out of their wallets with the platform to one that is separate, ensuring that they will not have their access revoked during maintenance. The blog includes information on the correct way to withdraw, which needs to begin with BTC, then ETH, before withdrawing anything else.
Previously, While they reassured users that their funds would be returned, they also mentioned that they would not be able to continue their business in the subcontinent due to “regulatory and banking problems”. They explained that the curb on the ability to use bank accounts has “crippled [their] ability to transact business meaningfully”.
The Reserve Bank of India, which is the regulatory party for banking-related activities in India, continues to enforce the ban on banks doing transactions with businesses that deal in cryptocurrencies. While many exchanges have gotten around the problem with solutions such as Peer-to-Peer transaction for fiat withdrawal and deposit, the drying up of liquidity on the Zebpay platform has led to the company shutting down.
One source from The ICO Journal has a background in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF). That source claims that “geography is not a factor” for US regulators:
“There will be more actions taken. That much I am certain about. Geography is not a factor as they formulate any strategy and are having back-channel conversations. One important point to make here, sticking your thumb up the nose of the SEC over the past six months, or any other regulatory agency, has been noticed and cataloged. It is incredibly stupid to basically dare a federal or state organization to come after you. Which led our conversation to Kraken and the dialogue there CEO decided to air in public. They are firmly in the crosshairs here.”