Some interesting things are happening in the world of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More specifically, the BItrex exchange has made another controversial decision. They no longer allow users to create new ETH and asset deposit addresses for the time being. Existing addresses are not affected by this decision. All of this is the direct result of incredibly high gas prices plaguing the Ethereum network.
All major cryptocurrencies struggle with major network fees these days. Bitcoin has become far too expensive to spend, for most people. Although the costs are coming down a bit, there’s still a two-digit fee attached to transactions. It now seems Ethereum has similar issues to contend with. The gas prices are going up, which doesn’t bode well for ETH supporters. Moreover, it also causes issues for any assets issued on top of this blockchain as well.
Bittrex Halts Ethereum Deposit Address Creation
As a result, Bittrex has made another unpopular decision. The company claims users can no longer generate new deposit address. Existing addresses will remain operational for the time being. Anyone looking to deposit ETH or ERC20 tokens to Bittrex for the first time, will have to wait until things improve. This is not something most people will appreciate, for obvious reasons. It is unclear how long this situation will remain in place.
Due to incredibly high gas prices, we're preventing new ETH and asset deposit addresses from being created. Existing deposit addresses will work as normal.
— Bittrex (@BittrexExchange) January 6, 2018
The general public seemingly doesn’t like this stance by Bittrex whatsoever. It is true the Ethereum network has seen major issues with network fees throughout 2017. At the same time, they are the only exchange to take this course of action right now. It will be interesting to see how things will evolve moving forward. Moreover, other exchanges may follow Bittrex’s example in the coming weeks.
Cryptocurrency exchanges are struggling quite a bit these days. Not only is their infrastructure stressed to the max, but the network issues affecting different currencies should not be overlooked. It is evident something will need to change in this regard. Decentralized trading and atomic swaps are the next logical step in the evolution of cryptocurrency trading. For now, Bittrex users have to deal with these issues until the networks stabilize again.
Header image courtesy of Shutterstock
