As many observers had predicted , Bitconnect ended up announcing the closure of its cryptocurrency loan and exchange platform.
Since its inception, the company has been widely blamed for setting up a Ponzi scheme. It had recently been the subject of "cease and desist" orders in two US states.
Immediately after this announcement, the BCC corner course plunged, rising in a few hours from $ 290 to less than $ 20. Those who had left their BCCs on the platform had, for now, no way to recover them to sell them.
A fall announced
Bitconnect was already under fire for some time.
Many community figures, such as Vitalik Buterin or Jameson Lopp , accused her of constituting "a Ponzi" and "a scam":
Also read " Vitalik Buterin: Bitconnect is a ponzi pyramid "
Not to mention the dubious marketing videos , which evoked more a conference organized by a sect than a meeting between investors in cryptocurrencies.
In an update posted on its website, the company stated that it had terminated its lending and exchange services as a result of the "stop and abstain" orders it had received, but also a "bad press", as well as a series of denial of service attacks .
The reaction of the markets did not take long. While the BCC was still trading on other platforms, such as HitBTC or CoinExchange, its course has grown in hours from $ 290 to less than $ 20 :
40% yield per month
Just two days ago, Bitconnect promised spectacular returns , with up to 40% ROI per month :
The "secret" of Bitconnect to offer such returns has never been revealed. But for many, it was simply a Ponzi scheme : the money brought in by the newcomers made it possible to settle those who wanted to withdraw their funds.
Until the system collapses.
One can also think that Bitconnect's "intelligent trading bot", which was supposed to be able to perform profitable trades and share dividends with the community, simply never existed.
The Bitconnect platform still unavailable
If Bitconnect decided not to put back its trading platform online, this story could have positive consequences . Many similar sites (such as Ethconnect) have proliferated in recent months, all with suspicious business models. The fall of Bitconnect should act as a warning for other startups to be tempted to use the same route.
But for those who have decided to exchange some of their Bitcoins against BCC, it will be a very small consolation.
At the time of writing this article, the Bitconnect site was accessible again. There was no mention of previous events. The price evolution of Bitconnect was however not available, which suggested that the trading platform was still closed:
The company had announced the day before yesterday that the platform would be available again "within 24 hours":
On Twitter, some welcomed this fall:
When others were grieved for investors who had fallen victim to Bitconnect's promises:
The company is still planning to launch its ICO "Bitconnect X"
It was still unclear whether the closure of Bitconnect's services meant the end of the company. And one could think, a priori, that it would be difficult for him to be credible again after such a debacle .
Especially since statements of denial of service attacks have often been used by darknet marketplaces in the past to create confusion, in order to prepare an "exit scam" .
This is probably what feared this user of Twitter:
But Bitconnect seems not to have said its last word. In his last tweet, last Monday, his leaders indicated that they intend to carry out as early as Wednesday the ICO of their new token, the Bitconnect X :