Russian cryptocurrency substitution Livecoin has announced it is shutting down after abruptly halting operations in tardily December 2020.

According to Livecoin's principal page, the exchange is unable to go on operations due to financial and technical damages acquired by an alleged assail on its servers in late 2020. Livecoin announced the shutdown on Jan. 16 on Twitter, linking to its new domain "Livecoin.news." Livecoin'southward previous domain Livecoin.net is not bachelor at publishing time.

Livecoin said that information technology is looking to "pay the remaining funds" to its clients, request users to contact the commutation via e-mail to complete verification. In order to initiate the procedure, Livecoin users have to send their usernames and the registration date on the platform.

The commutation promised to provide detailed instructions in a answer, noting that reimbursement claims will be accustomed until March 17, 2021. "After this date no new requests will be accepted," Livecoin said. The commutation did not specify when Livecoin expects to repay its customers.

Livecoin also warned users about unofficial Livecoin chat groups that may be spreading false data and trying to defraud users. "Participating in these groups you run a high adventure, because nosotros [do not have whatever] groups," Livecoin wrote, claiming that its website is the only source of official data. The company also said that there is an ongoing investigation.

Livecoin did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph'due south request for annotate.

As previously reported, Livecoin halted operations on Dec. 24, claiming that the exchange suffered a "carefully planned set on" causing it to lose control of all of its servers.

As office of the incident, hackers managed to take over Livecoin's infrastructure and modify the prices on the commutation to abnormally loftier values. As such, Livecoin reportedly traded Bitcoin (BTC) at above $300,000, while its market place price amounted to around $24,000 at the time. Some users subsequently suggested that Livecoin's "hack" could be an exit scam.

While Livecoin urges its users to stay away from media channels, its supposed clients are struggling to go their funds back using Livecoin'southward unofficial Telegram group. Some reported users speculated that Livecoin's latest announcement could have been made by hackers, while others filed complaints with local enforcement proceedings.

Some users have refused to send their personal data to Livecoin over privacy concerns. One declared exchange user provided a list of information supposedly required by Livecoin'due south reimbursement procedure including passport scans, residence information, high-resolution selfies, data well-nigh the first transaction on the exchange, devices used on the platform, likewise every bit a video of a withdrawal of the first incoming transaction.