Hong Kong Bitcoin Exchange Gatecoin Finds Banking Lifeline, Adds Litecoin
Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin has confirmed plans to resume HKD and USD bank transfers through new partners after suffering a banking blackout in September.
It has been two months since Gatecoin suspended HKD and USD transfers due to “abrupt” bank account freezes in Hong Kong.
“It was a major disruption to our business”, Gatecoin marketing chief Thomas Gluksmann said recently, particularly after the exchange had “tripled” its customer base in a 2-3-month period prior to the banking freeze, due to this year’s bitcoin price rally. A timeline summary of multiple banking freezes is detailed here .
Now, Gatecoin is on the verge of resuming transfer options for the two fiat currencies through new partners based in Europe.
All USD and HKD transfers, both deposits and withdrawals, will be supported by a licensed European payments processor, Gatecoin revealed . Bank transfers through the processor will go live in 4-6 weeks. Secondly, a Swiss bank in partnership with an asset management house will power larger USD transactions for over the counter trading, to be made available within 2-4 weeks.
The exchange confirms it “will be thoroughly testing both services” until their launch.
Litecoin Enabled
Gatecoin has now added support for Litecoin, allowing users to buy and sell Litecoin with Bitcoin, Ethereum’s ether (ETH) and the Euro.
Litecoin ‘rode the coattails of bitcoin’ as it underwent its own advancement and “has been working as a test network for bitcoin,” Gatecoin’s development team wrote today, explaining their reasons for listing the alternative cryptocurrency. “One such notable test is litecoin’s SegWit integration that fixes transaction malleability and facilitates long-term and secure scaling solutions,” Gatecoin said. It went on to add that Litecoin, commonly seen as the digital silver to bitcoin’s gold, has proven to be a successful cryptocurrency in its own right with “a lot of popularity among traders and merchants.”
Further, the cryptocurrency exchange claimed Litecoin could prove a safer bet for investors during times of volatility among other cryptocurrencies.
It wrote:
Investors may also see litecoin as a hedge against the potential volatility that will accompany any future bitcoin or ethereum forks.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
