Key Points:
- Delisting Date: Upbit will stop trading support for Bitcoin Gold (BTG) on January 23, 2025.
- Withdrawal Window: Users can withdraw BTG for up to 30 days post-delisting, until February 22, 2025.
- Market Impact: Bitcoin Gold’s price dropped by nearly 25% within 24 hours of the announcement.
South Korea’s Leading Crypto Exchange to Delist Bitcoin Gold
South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has announced its decision to discontinue trading support for Bitcoin Gold (BTG). According to a notice published on December 24, 2024, BTG trading will cease at 14:30 KST on January 23, 2025.
What This Means for Users:
- Order Cancellation: All buy and sell orders for BTG placed after January 23 will automatically be canceled by the exchange.
- Service Termination: Upbit will no longer support BTG-related services, including airdrops, wallet upgrades, and hard forks.
- Withdrawal Period: Users can still withdraw their BTG holdings for 30 days after the delisting, until February 22, 2025.
- Delayed Returns: After this withdrawal period, Upbit warns that processing returns could take longer.
Why Is BTG Being Delisted?
Upbit flagged Bitcoin Gold as a “virtual asset subject to caution” on December 10, 2024, citing concerns over:
- Volatility in trade.
- Transparency in operations.
- Disclosure of important matters.
- Practicality and sustainability of the project.
Despite ongoing evaluation, Upbit concluded by December 24 that these issues remain unresolved, prompting the decision to delist BTG.
Market Reaction:
- Following the delisting notice, Bitcoin Gold’s price plunged by nearly 25% within 24 hours.
- BTG has experienced a 35% decline over the past week and a 60% drop in the past month.
- Currently, Bitcoin Gold ranks 346th by market cap with a total valuation of $226 million and a trading volume of $147 million.
About Bitcoin Gold:
Launched in 2017, Bitcoin Gold is an open-source cryptocurrency and a hard fork of Bitcoin (BTC). Its goal is to decentralize mining by utilizing the Equihash Proof of Work algorithm, enabling mining via Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) rather than specialized ASIC hardware.
Although BTG was once considered a user-friendly alternative to Bitcoin, its market performance has steadily declined in recent months.
For Upbit users, it’s essential to take note of the delisting timeline and withdraw any BTG holdings before the final deadline.
