LocalBitcoins is shutting down operations after serving its customers for more than 10 years.
LocalBitcoins officially announced the termination of services on Feb. 9, citing the tough market conditions of the ongoing cryptocurrency winter.
LocalBitcoins encouraged all customers to withdraw their crypto assets from the platform, asking them to proceed with withdrawing Bitcoin from the LocalBitcoins wallet. According to the announcement, users can withdraw crypto assets from LocalBitcoins for 12 months.
According to the termination timeline, LocalBitcoins will immediately suspend all new registrations from Feb. 9. Trading will be suspended Feb. 16, while after that date users will only be able to login into the wallet to withdraw their funds.
LocalBitcoins’ abrupt closure comes soon after the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network mentioned the platform among the biggest Bitcoin senders to the Russia-linked exchange Bitzlato. U.S. authorities launched a major enforcement action against Bitzlato, accusing the firm of money laundering and allegedly facilitating circumvention of sanctions against Russia.
