Bitcoin exchange shuts down after funding failure

Harborly, a North American bitcoin exchange has shut down little over a year since its inception, with the firm failing to find a new investor, according to a company announcement.

The cryptocurrency start-up claimed to be a cheaper and more user friendly bitcoin exchange compared to other companies. Harborly underwent a year of planning a development, before operating for little over 12 months.

During its short existence, Harborly made its services available within Canada and the United States, with plans in place to launch in India now cancelled.

Despite a number of bitcoin exchanges being victims of hacking in recent months, Harborly insist that its shutdown was not caused by a security breach.

‘‘We would like to state categorically that Harborly’s shutdown has not been prompted by a hack, by fraudulent activity, or by a security-related incident. While that may have been true for other firms in the Bitcoin space, this is not the case for Harborly,’’ explained Harborly in a statement.

The exchange went on to explain why it’s closing down, explaining that ‘‘Harborly is in the process of finding an acquirer, and we’re excited to sell to an organization with the resources to see what we started through to the end.’’

Harborly also mentioned that it has been working on a ‘‘side project’’ that now has the full attention of Harborly staff.

A lack of co-operation within the bitcoin industry could also be a contributor to Harborly’s downfall, with CEO and co-founder Connor Black explaining the dangers of launching a bitcoin exchange while celebrating the company’s launch.

‘‘Bitcoin’s core architecture is innately borderless, but, generally speaking, it’s impractical to use in most regions across the globe. Digital currency is in a unique position right now where its success is dependent on cooperation with the current financial system, and this cooperation is shaky at best.’’

Harborly is not the only bitcoin start-up that has shutdown recently. 37coins, a bitcoin remittance firm recently shut down, claiming they were ‘‘unable to deliver a quality product that showed product-market fit.’’

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