Two of the biggest exchanges in the world, Tether and Bitfinex, have closed the registration of new accounts. The news came without any warning, with Bitfinex stating that in order to protect professional traders, it will be temporarily shutting down new registrations. It seems as though Bitfinex is a victim of their own success, as they are unable to handle the load of new users that are currently trying to begin trading on their exchange.
There have been rumors that Bitfinex is trying out a new invite-based system of registration. If true, this will permanently close the new registration option. The only way new users can register onto the exchange would be through invitations from existing users.
Bitfinex commented, "We are currently working on a new program, whereby, existing users will be able to invite a limited group of new users to sign-up or [sic] the Bitfinex platform. Once this has been finalized then we will notify existing users who qualify with details regarding this program. At this time, and until such a time as the new program is operational we will not be accepting new users to the platform.”
If one tries to create a new account on Bitfinex right now then the following error is displayed.
Source: Bitfinex
Tether closing registrations
Similar step has been taken by Tether, allegedly for different reasons. Just last month, Tether suffered from a severe hack where more than $30 million worth of ether from the Tether network was stolen.
In order to prevent further attacks and provide their customers with a safe platform for trading, Tether has decided to build a new platform. During the development of this platform, Tether has stopped accepting new accounts. The following were the comments of Tether:
“In light of the events of the past month, we are in the process of developing and building a new platform, and we will be slowly phasing out and discontinuing the current wallet services and all old addresses.
To prevent against possible loss of funds, users should not attempt to deposit any funds to their old wallet or deposit addresses. Additionally, while the new system is being built, we will be disabling new signups on the platform.”
The move of Tether and Bitfinex has been criticized and is not without its controversies. By stopping the buying and selling of Tether through Tether.to, the customers are stuck and are questioning the integrity of the network.
However, the exchanges explained that customers can use any of the global exchanges for the sale and buying of Tethers. The situation is unclear at the moment and “temporary” can easily become permanent. This is best illustrated with the case of the temporary ban of Chinese exchanges, which has yet to be lifted.
This might not be the case with Bitfinex and Tether, but they should clearly explain the issues they are going through in order to avoid controversies and reassure their customers that the situation is being handled.