Harborly, a Texas-based bitcoin exchange, is throwing in the towel to pursue a new venture that is gaining traction. The online marketplace was a secure hub for buying and trading services. Other notable digital currency exchanges that recently closed down include the following: Vault of Satoshi, Cavirtex and Buttercoin. “We would like to state categorically that Harborly’s shutdown has not been prompted by a hack, fraudulent activity, or by a security-related incident,” stated the company in a blog post. “While that may have been true for other firms in the Bitcoin space, this is not the case for Harborly.” The fate of the exchange is currently unknown. At the moment, the business is looking for an acquirer with enough resources to preserve its original goals. Harborly was led by an experienced advisory board composed of Alem Health, founder Aschkan Abdul-Malek; KCP Capital Managing Director, Roderik van der Graaf; and Afrasia Development Corp. Chairman, Pierre Gussing. Since the company’s inception in 2014, it actively complied with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Strict policies were also in place, designed to expose fraudulent activities. The establishment’s transparent objectives helped mold its sturdy reputation in the bitcoin community. After moving from Canada to the US earlier this year, Harborly planned to launch its services in India. “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,” highlighted co-founder and CEO Connor Black. Black failed to disclose details about the new venture. He described the endeavor as a “growth hacking tool and service” that is in private beta.
Harborly, a Bitcoin-based Texas exchange known for its reputation in the Texas community for imposing strict policies and establishing transparent objectives, has closed down its operations. The company stated that the shutdown has "not been prompted by a hack, fraudulent activity, or by a security-related incident". The business is now looking to be acquired by a party with enough resources to allow Harborly to preserve its original goals.