Litecoin (LTC) has been delisted from Korea’s leading crypto-exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, after the Mimblewimble update introduced new privacy features.
Litecoin (LTC) delisted by Bithumb and Upbit over new privacy features
According to reports, the two Korean crypto-exchanges Bithumb and Upbit said they had to delist Litecoin (LTC) due to new privacy features introduced with the MimbleWimble update.
In practice, the new MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) privacy protocol implemented on Litecoin allows for the hiding of transaction data, while maintaining the ability to process them quickly.
These upgrades do not comply with South Korea’s strict coin privacy laws, so much so that the two major crypto-exchanges had to act by deleting and removing LTC.
Following this, other smaller crypto-exchanges such as Coinone, Korbit and Gopax also notified users of the removal of Litecoin markets.
Litecoin (LTC) non-compliant with South Korean privacy laws
Due to non-compliance with South Korean privacy laws, both Upbit and Bithumb have already removed LTC from their crypto-exchanges.
Specifically, Upbit stated that Litecoin’s new privacy framework is related to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations that require exchanges to record data on cryptocurrency transactions.
For this very reason, Upbit’s LTC support will be discontinued as of 20 June, so that users have a month to withdraw their funds.
Bithumb, on the other hand, has given until 25 July to keep LTC withdrawals active, but deposits will already be discontinued as of today, 8 June 2022. In its notice, Bithumb stated:
“Bithumb decides to terminate transaction support for virtual assets in accordance with the revised Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information, in compliance with regulations on virtual assets with high anonymity”.
The historic crypto is 20th in market capitalization
Litecoin (LTC) is among the top 20 crypto by market capitalization, now exceeding $4 billion. Founded in 2011, Litecoin has already celebrated its first ten years, establishing itself as one of the most historic cryptocurrencies in the industry.
Not surprisingly, Litecoin is always one of the first crypto assets to be involved in businesses that decide to accept crypto as a method of payment. Recently, Italian luxury giant Gucci announced that it will accept 10 cryptocurrencies as payment methods, including LTC, in some US shops.
Today’s news of PayPal allowing crypto transfers to external wallets is also expected to involve Litecoin in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Holding Litecoin on @PayPal?
In response to customer demand, #Paypal will now allow customers to transfer $LTC and move it from its app to external crypto addresses including exchanges and hardware wallets and send crypto to other PayPal users “in seconds.”#Litecoin ⚡ https://t.co/a5fOAvyrhk
— Litecoin (@litecoin) June 7, 2022
“Holding Litecoin on @PayPal? In response to customer demand, #Paypal will now allow customers to transfer $LTC and move it from its app to external crypto addresses including exchanges and hardware wallets and send crypto to other PayPal users in seconds”.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/06/08/litecoin-delisted-bithumb-upbit/