In a shocking announcement made on April 14, online Bitcoin marketplace Brawker revealed that the company’s growth has been below expectations, which is the prime motivation for the complete closure of services.
“Our growth rate did not meet our expectations, and the service does not scale as we would have expected to. The Bitcoin community came up with many great startups and the environment is very different from what it was 18 months ago, when we started working on this project.”
The Bitcoin buying and selling place will dissolve by the end of April 2015 until which users can resolve all outstanding orders and withdraw their Bitcoins. Although Brawker stopped holding Bitcoins from users last year, those who have their Bitcoins held by the company’s old system can withdraw them here.
The unfortunate development came just a couple of weeks after the CEO of Brawker Cyril Houri left the company in a management shakeup. The marketplace was being managed by the developers.
The Brawker team has better plans for the Bitcoin community. The company remains confident of the digital currency and will now focus on other projects and create something even more useful in the rapidly changing Bitcoin landscape.
The company has a great parting gift for the industry as well; it will open source the multisignature framework among other parts of the code. Parties interested in using the technology can contact the experts at Brawker.
Founded in 2014, Brawker allowed customers to order almost anything (something as simple as a coffee) with Bitcoin by negotiating a discount with merchants. The service helped enthusiasts buy Bitcoins using a credit card or Paypal.
This is a proof that the digital currency space is getting more competitive and product and technological innovations remain the need of the hour. It would be interesting to see what the Brawker’s team comes up with next after a wonderful initial offering.
