<div>

Ireland-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitsane has apparently vanished, taking as many as 246,000 users’ crypto deposits with it.

Ireland-based <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/crypto/top-5-cryptocurrency-exchange-hacks-of-2019/">cryptocurrency exchange</a> Bitsane has apparently vanished, taking as many as 246,000 users’ crypto deposits with it. The news was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2019/06/27/crypto-exchange-and-xrp-refuge-bitsane-vanishes-scamming-as-many-as-246000-users/#40149e6277fa" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">reported</a> by Forbes on June 27.

<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitsane-cryptocurrency-exchange-platform-is-now-live-300365977.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Launched</a> in 2016, Dublin-registered Bitsane LP was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190309010304/https://ripple.com/xrp/buy-xrp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">formerly listed</a> as one of Ripple’s approved exchanges — a January 2018 CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/02/how-to-buy-ripple.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">article</a> had also pitched the exchange as an option for investors seeking to trade XRP ahead of its listing on major platforms such as Coinbase.

According to Forbes, user withdrawals on Bitsane began faltering in May of this year, with allegedly technical reasons cited as the reason for their temporary disabling. By June 17, both the Bitsane site and its social media accounts had been deleted, with emails to Bitsane accounts bouncing back as undeliverable.

Moreover, neither the exchange’s CEO — Aidas Rupsys — nor its chief technology officer, Dmitry Prudnikov, could be reached by Forbes during the magazine’s investigation into the case. At press time, Prudnikov’s LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/unavailable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">profile</a> appears to have been deleted.

As of May 30 2019, Bitsane <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20190530045834/https://bitsane.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">counted</a> 246,000 registered users, with a daily traded volume of just over $7 million on March 31, per <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190331021920/https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bitsane/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a>.

User groups on messaging platform Telegram and Facebook <a href="https://t.me/bitsane" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">reveal</a> users <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/942138942788479/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">claiming</a> to have typically lost up to $5,000, with Forbes citing an anonymous U.S. resident who says he had $150,000 in XRP and bitcoin (BTC) on the exchange prior to the company’s disappearance.

Forbes further reports on a separate firm, incorporated in the United Kingdom as Bitsane Limited by Maksim Zmitrovich in August 2017, which apparently attempted to purchase the intellectual rights to Bistane’s code and use it as the basis for its own platform, dubbed Azbit.

According to Zmitrovich, the firm has assumed the Bitsane name to fulfil a condition set by Bistane’s developers, yet the desired partnership between the two firms failed to materialize.

In a blog post <a href="https://medium.com/azbit-news/official-statement-azbit-has-nothing-to-do-with-bitsane-df62a660b489" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">published</a> earlier this month, Zmitrovich has vehemently denied any substantive link between Azbit and the apparent exit-scam, noting that the Bitsane team has failed to respond to any of his correspondence since April of this year.

While Forbes notes that multiple Bistane users based in the U.S. have reportedly filed complaints with the F.B.I., solutions for those affected by the platform’s disappearance currently remain unclear.

Earlier this month, reports <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/report-polish-exchange-shuts-down-and-disappears-with-customers-funds">surfaced</a> that Polish <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/cryptocurrency-exchange">crypto exchange</a> Coinroom reportedly shut down its operations and disappeared with customer funds, having notified users they had just one day to withdraw funds before their contracts would be terminated.

</div>
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/exit-scam-dublin-based-exchange-bitsane-vanishes-with-users-funds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Go to Source</a>
Author: Marie Huillet

Exit Scam? Dublin-Based Exchange Bitsane Vanishes With Users’ Funds

The dynamics of Crypto Fraternity is changing at a lightning speed. Access to most critical information in a timely and curated manner is extremely critical for the health of your investments. Cryptoknowmics is the fastest platform to bring and deliver news and critical information from above 3000 sources at your fingertips. We cover almost all aspects of cryptoworld from exchange, tokens, coins, dapps, ICOs, IEOs, STOs, events, airdrops, jobs, services, wallets, etc. We strive to be the complete solution for your crypto needs.

Exit Scam? Dublin-Based Exchange Bitsane Vanishes With Users’ Funds

Top Picks