Irish crypto exchange Bitsane disappears in a suspected scam worth millions

Ireland-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitsane has reportedly disappeared in a suspected scam worth millions of euros.

Irish Mirror reported the news Thursday, saying that it has learned that Bitsane “vanished” last week, and over 100 people have lost between €5,000 (~$5,700) and €132,000 (~$150,000).

Bitsane reportedly went offline on June 17 and its Twitter and Facebook accounts have also been deleted. On June 19, one Twitter user posted that he can’t withdraw XRP from Bitsane. Another user replied, “me too.”

One user named Shane Johnson, who claims to be “a US Army veteran,” tweeted that he is missing over $7000 worth of crypto in Bitsane.

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Another user from India, named Vikas Tak, tweeted that Bitsane closed their exchange “without any notice” and that he is unable to recover his 6,400 XRP tokens. Tak further said that there are “Many Victims.”

Data captured by Archive.org shows that Bitsane had 246,000 registered users as of May 30, 2019.

The exchange first went live in November 2016. At the time, it said: “At any point, if a customer needs help with anything on the platform, quick professional support is always within reach on Bitsane.” And today, customers are reportedly unable to reach them.

Bitsane page on data provider CoinMarketCap shows nil volume currently, with the last update being made "260 hours ago" i.e. about 11 days. 

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.