Ukrainian Bitcoin Exchange Halts Operations Following an Explosion at Local IT Company’s Office

17.02.2016

Ukrainian bitcoin exchange Obi.co announced it temporarily shuts down operations due to termination of financing. The company’s support service sent e-mails to all users of the exchange notifying them of the closure. Notably, the letter also states that the exchange’s employees cannot access their work places. For that reason, the support service operates at home.

The letter sent to the exchange’s customers on February 16 reads:

“We at the Obico team, regret to announce that due to termination of investment our project temporarily halts its operation. As we haven’t had access to our work places and hardware for two weeks, we have made everything possible at our homes to facilitate withdrawal of your funds from our platform.”

However, sources close to the project’s team told ForkLog on the condition of anonymity the main reason for the closure was an exlposion at the premises of a Kyiv-headquartered IT company, which had occured on February 4, 2016.

The statement bt Kyiv Police Department press office reads:

“A delivery man brought a bunch of flowers to a company’s CEO in a Kyiv-based office. As the director was away, they just put it on the table. According to preliminary data, the head of the organization engaged in software development, came to work and held a meeting with his colleagues. A hour later, the bunch of flowers exploded. Nobody was injured, however, furniture, walls, and windows in the office room were partially destroyed.”

However, when reached for comments, the police department refused either to deny or confirm the information, referencing the legal requirements on non-disclosure of ongoing investigations. Allegedly, the explosion occured at the premises of Miracor, a Kyiv-based IT company that had been running the exchange.

A company’s employees refused to provide any comments referencing a non-disclosure agreement. However, he said the exchange’s relaunching isn’t out of question.

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Tags: exchanges, Ukraine