HitBTC Freezes Customer's Account for Months, Apologises After Exposure

Cryptocurrency Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectively relevant with real-time pricing.Depending upon where you reside, an exchange may be referred to as a bourse or a share exchange while, as a whole, exchanges are present within the majority of countries. Who is Listed on an Exchange?As trading continues to transition more to electronic exchanges, transactions become more dispersed through varying exchanges. This in turn has caused a surge in the implementation of trading algorithms and high-frequency trading applications. In order for a company to be listed on a stock exchange for example, a company must divulge information such as minimum capital requirements, audited earnings reports, and financial reports.Not all exchanges are created equally, with some outperforming other exchanges significantly. The most high-profile exchanges to date include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Nasdaq. Outside of trading, a stock exchange may be used by companies aiming to raise capital, this is most commonly seen in the form of initial public offerings (IPOs).Exchanges can now handle other asset classes, given the rise of cryptocurrencies as a more popularized form of trading. An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectively relevant with real-time pricing.Depending upon where you reside, an exchange may be referred to as a bourse or a share exchange while, as a whole, exchanges are present within the majority of countries. Who is Listed on an Exchange?As trading continues to transition more to electronic exchanges, transactions become more dispersed through varying exchanges. This in turn has caused a surge in the implementation of trading algorithms and high-frequency trading applications. In order for a company to be listed on a stock exchange for example, a company must divulge information such as minimum capital requirements, audited earnings reports, and financial reports.Not all exchanges are created equally, with some outperforming other exchanges significantly. The most high-profile exchanges to date include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Nasdaq. Outside of trading, a stock exchange may be used by companies aiming to raise capital, this is most commonly seen in the form of initial public offerings (IPOs).Exchanges can now handle other asset classes, given the rise of cryptocurrencies as a more popularized form of trading. Read this Term HitBTC has become reluctant to give its customers their money back, according to multiple sources.

On the 26th of July, the company apologised to the son of one of its customers after he used social media to pressure the company into allowing his mother to access her frozen account. Apparently, she had been locked out for three months and lost a considerable amount of money.

Update on my mom's saga with @hitbtc. Her account is still locked, & after submitting a driver's ID, passport, bank statements, utility bills, txids & screenshots, she had a skype convo with them this morning. This is their response. Her acc. has been frozen for 3 months #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/ms8baB5qaP

— sicarious (@Sicarious_) July 25, 2018

HitBTC versus Sicarious

A Twitter user called Sicarious, who describes himself as a 'semi-retired crypto trader' and who boasts 58,800 followers, informed those followers of his mum's problems with HitBTC.

HitBTC is the fifth most-popular cryptocurrency exchange in the world, handling $316 million worth of cryptocurrency trading in the last 24 hours according to coinmarketcap.com. According to its website, the exchange was launched in 2013 and offers trading in more than 300 Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term.

Apparently, the 65 year-old's account had been locked for three months, and because of this she lost "thousands" as she was not able to respond to changes in the market. The exchange requested that she verify her identity, but apparently continued to refuse her access despite receiving a pile of documents including her driving licence, utility bills, bank statements and more. Sicarious decided to get his friends together to help out.

I rarely ask for such, but for once I'm going to ask something from my 50k followers. If you could retweet the thread and share any similar issues you've had with @hitbtc, I would greatly appreciate it. #bitcoin $crypto https://t.co/zLfQGmqnIU

— sicarious (@Sicarious_) July 25, 2018

Sure enough, the story quickly gained traction and at this point HitBTC was quick to respond and apologise.

Dear @Sicarious_, please accept our sincere apologies. We have sent your mom a personal message in the ticket. Please know that we will be happy if, despite this experience, she continues trading with us. Best regards, HitBTC team.

— HitBTC (@hitbtc) July 26, 2018

Coincidentally, HitBTC was verbally attacked only a month ago by John McAfee, eccentric computer programmer and cryptocurrency zealot. He wrote to his own hefty social media following that HitBTC "has increased suffering for millions of poor people who cannot afford the minimum buy-in since it is greater than their monthly income." He called for a boycott, and almost 3,000 people clicked 'like', which indicates something nowadays.

On top of this, only yesterday a Reddit user posted that he has not been able to access his coins for four months. Judging by the responses that he has received, is not alone in being unimpressed with the service.

In December 2017, we reported when a group of HitBTC customers threatened the firm with a class action lawsuit because it wasn't honouring withdrawal requests, some of which were worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Where in the world is HitBTC?

According to its website, the exchange is owned by a company called HIT Solution Ltd ("Provide information technology IT and business intellegance [sic] BI solutions") which according to its Linkedin page is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The profiles of all of its eight registered employees are hidden.

The exchange's mailing address is listed as in Hong Kong and its representative office in Las Condes, Chile.

According to Digiconomist, neither the location of its headquarters nor the identity of its owners can be confirmed. The review site points to another owner of the exchange, a Danish company called Ullus Corporations K/S, which was actually dissolved in February 2015.

Interestingly, when you enter hitbitc.com into an IP location tool, the result that comes back is Arizona.