Open Letter to HitBTC

tl;dr; I’m writing an open letter to address a concern about how your exchange handles user trust and control over their accounts. HitBIT can fix this problem and restore user trust by allowing cancellations.

Dear HitBTC Management:

I recently had difficulty withdrawing funds from your exchange. My problem is solved now, but in the process of researching my situation, I discovered that there are many others with similar frustrations with HitBTC. I think there are some important, but simple, things that HitBTC can do to improve user trust.

HitBTC’s trade and withdrawal policy, in ToS §5.3 says that the user cannot “change, withdraw or cancel” their transaction, once placed. Thus, from the very point of execution of a withdrawal request, the user relinquishes all control over the money to the exchange, and the transfer proceeds—or not—and the user has no right to change that. The problem is that transactions can cycle for days, weeks, and some may never complete. Users need the ability to adjust their transactions for timing outside congested periods, or to adjust transaction fees. The Blockchain is intended to empower users to make these decisions, but this one-sided ToS provision does the opposite.

The fix for this is relatively simple: provide users with a cancellation option other than the manual approach of emailing staff. The ability to cancel transactions should be made as easy for users as it is for them to place orders. In order to strike a balance between HitBTC’s needs and users needs, a reasonable time could be set for this option to become exercisable. For example, if a transaction has been unconfirmed after 72 hours, the user can choose to cancel it via their control panel.

This one change, together with a minor rewrite of the relevant part of your ToS would go a long way to restoring trust and putting users in control of their accounts.

—papacabeza