Cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC has rejected allegations by some of the industry’s best-known figures that it was deliberately freezing user accounts, the company told Cointelegraph in an email Jan. 3. Responding to a request for comment, Peter Swen, a representative from the exchange’s marketing team, denied any link between account freezes and Thursday’s ongoing Proof of Keys event. After user complaints on social media, Proof of Keys’ organizer Trace Mayer had publicly suggested that HitBTC may be deliberately disabling withdrawals in response to the event. He was subsequently joined by others in his suspicion, including John McAfee, wallet manufacturer Bitfi and …

Cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC has yet to respond to accusations it deliberately froze account withdrawals on Jan. 1, days prior to entrepreneur Trace Mayer’s Proof of Keys event. In a series of tweets, Mayer joined names such as crypto advocate John McAfee in voicing concern and even suspicion about HitBTC after users reported being unable to withdraw their funds. On both Twitter and Reddit, users acknowledged that the practice of freezing accounts had occurred often in the past, and that the timing two days before Proof of Keys was not necessarily deliberate. Proof of Keys, which Mayer announced last month, calls …

After banning Japanese residents from trading on its platform over “compliance” issues, cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC said it plans to reopen trading in Japan via a “registered entity,” Cointelegraph Japan reported June 4. In a blog post, the world’s eighth-largest exchange by volume - according to Coinmarketcap data - outlined its plan of action after users received letters warning them that the exchange would freeze Japan-linked accounts over “compliance” issues. “The company has been in consultation with the regulator and decided to suspend its operations for Japanese residents to comply with current regulation,” the post reads. “The measure has been taken …

PATRON, a Japanese Blockchain-based platform, intends to transform the social influencer market by eliminating intermediaries taking a large share of profits. The company has partnered with Orlando’s Switchboard Live, allowing users to publish a single live stream on different platforms and grow the audience. Broadcast all at once The company is developing a sharing economy system which could work similar to Airbnb, with ‘hosts’ purchasing influential posts, Cointelegraph previously reported. Additionally, PATRON’s smartphone application allows social media influencers to stream live videos simultaneously to more than ten different platforms including the leading social media such as Facebook Live, Periscope, YouTube. …