Coinone held a 'Bitcoin Gold' deposit event that was delisted from Upbit, sparking controversy

Beginner coin investor A lamented his failure to sell his Bitcoin Gold on Upbit after hearing news of its delisting. To his surprise, a few days later, another exchange, Coinone, announced an event offering Bitcoin to those who transfer their Bitcoin Gold from Upbit.

Coinone, a coin exchange, recently sparked controversy with a 'Bitcoin Gold' deposit event to coincide with its delisting from Upbit. The event offers up to 1 million won in Bitcoin to those who transfer their Bitcoin Gold from another exchange to Coinone. However, considering the coin's history of causing losses to users in Korea, the move is expected to draw criticism.

According to the virtual asset industry on Thursday, the recent Bitcoin Gold deposit event by Coinone, a domestic virtual asset exchange, ended early due to budget exhaustion.

Bitcoin Gold was listed on Upbit in 2017 and traded until recently. It is a coin that was created by 'hard forking' Bitcoin, a kind of code copy. Despite having Bitcoin in its name, it is not directly related to Bitcoin. Some investors, misled by their similar names, might have expected Bitcoin Gold to rise as Bitcoin prices increased. However, there is no actual correlation between the two coins.

As of 3 p.m. at the end of last year, Bitcoin Gold had a market capitalization of 237.7 billion won. According to CoinMarketCap, it still ranks in the top 300 in terms of market capitalization for all virtual assets. On the 24th, Upbit announced that it will no longer support the coin's trading in mid-January, citing the coin's low disclosure of important matters, lack of transparency in operations, and the reality and sustainability of its business. The exchange made the decision to delist the coin on its own accord. Bithumb and Coinone, the other two exchanges where the coin is still being traded, have yet to announce whether they will follow suit.

"This is part of our general marketing efforts," an official from Coinone said.

It is believed that the exchange is attempting to activate transactions by absorbing the volume of Bitcoin Gold in its users' Upbit personal accounts.

After being delisted from most global exchanges, Bitcoin Gold is now only being traded on domestic exchanges. According to virtual asset statistics site CoinGecko, at 3 p.m. on December 31 last year, Upbit handled 80.4 percent of Bitcoin Gold transactions. Bithumb (18.1%) and Coinone (0.23%) followed. Among the global exchanges, Binance, the largest exchange, delisted the coin in 2022.

If other coin exchanges decide to close down following Upbit, there is a possibility that investors could lose money. When news of Upbit's decision to end support for the coin broke on the 24th, the coin's price fell by about 36 percent, dropping from 30,000 won to 19,000 won. Since then, the price has continued to decline, forming a downward-sloping curve and reaching the 13,000 won range. On the 10th, when a transaction item was designated, the price also fell significantly. Given that Upbit handles the majority of the coin's trading volume, news of the exchange ending support for the coin appears to have had a substantial impact on its price. If Bithumb and Coinone, the two other exchanges, decide to end support for the coin, it is expected to have a similar effect on its price.