Go.Exchange has announced that it is to shut its doors after only seven months of operations, blaming the regulatory process that rendered obtaining a license impossible. Go.Exchange announced the news on their blog yesterday, stating that their final day of operations will be March 15, after which no transaction, deposits, or registrations will be processed.
Closing the exchange was a difficult decision to make. Thanks to everyone who supported us. It was a great ride. You can find the full announcement here.https://t.co/inCg9Eup87
— GO.Exchange (@GOExchangeHQ) January 30, 2020
The Right Way = The Hard Way
Having chosen to go down the official regulatory route from day one, Go.exchange blamed the difficulty in obtaining a Maltese license as the reason for the closure of the enterprise, stating that the machinations involved in obtaining it were much more complex than they had imagined. This left them no choice but to abandon the plan to register, and thus abandon the project rather than fly under the radar:
Despite our advancement on the license, we decided to stop this effort due to external factors that came into the picture, such as increasing regulatory complexities and uncertainty regarding the evolution of cryptocurrency regulations, which considerably changed the cost/benefit analysis of operating an exchange.
Go.Exchange Not Alone
The experience of Go.Exchange mirrors the challenges faced by many crypto enterprises as they struggle to adapt to ever changing rules and regulations, not knowing if they are going to change at some future date. INDX, the masternode index platform, is still wading through KYC integration almost 18 months after its ICO.
Pro-blockchain Countries Need to Step Up
Countries like Malta claim that they want to be blockchain hubs, but it seems that they are not keeping up their end of the bargain when it comes to actually helping out companies who want to do the right thing. Until the regulatory process is made easier and those same regulations aren’t at risk of being changed at will, innovation will be stifled and billions will be lost by companies trying to jump through ever-moving hoops.
