Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb restarts withdrawal, deposit services

Withdrawals and deposits for South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb were restarted on Saturday, per an announcement on the company’s website. The exchange noted that it had initially intended to relaunch the services at 11 a.m. local time, but had to delay them until 7 p.m. Bithumb indicated, in a separate announcement, that the services would be first made available for nine cryptocurrencies, adding that the delay was due to efforts “to provide a more stable environment.”

Bithumb has said that it has been conducting a multitude of security checks and enhancements to protect its users assets. It explained that those digital currencies who have a fluctuation in price between the Bithumb and the standard markets of around 10% would be excluded for now.

First to see withdrawals and deposits will be Bitcoin Cash (BCH), BTC, Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), Qtum (QTUM), and Mithril (MITH). Bithumb has changed all its wallet addresses for making deposits and users will need to request the new addresses, emphasizing that any deposits sent to the old addresses accidentally cannot be retrieved.

Bithumb added that deposits and withdrawals tied to IOS (EOS) and TRON (TRX), which were transferred to the company’s main net during the suspension, are “scheduled to open after the conversion work is completed.”

The services were halted after the exchange was hacked at the end of June. At the time, the thieves reportedly got away with $30 million worth of crypto, but Bithumb later amended the announcement to say that only $17 million was stolen thanks to the “ongoing participation, support, and cooperation of the cryptocurrency exchanges and cryptocurrencies foundations across the world.”

The renewed services are a welcome relief and come at a time when Bithumb is dealing with problems opening real-name accounts with its now former banking partner, Nonghyup Bank. The bank has raised concerns over data protection and money laundering, leaving Bithumb as the only one of South Korea’s big four crypto exchanges without a banking partner.

According to CoinMarketCap, Bithumb is currently ranked as the 16th largest crypto exchange by volume. It was ranked 12th two days ago before dropping down due to slower trading volumes.