Crypto Exchange Bitstamp Cancels Plans to Charge Inactive Users
"Keeping inactive accounts on the books is a cost," said Bitstamp at the time.
Bitstamp Scraps Plan For Inactivity Fees
According to an official blog post from today, Bitstamp scrapped plans to charge non-US users an 'inactivity fee' of 10 euros ($10.18) a month on accounts that haven't traded, deposited, withdrawn, or staked assets for a year with a total balance of fewer than 200 euros. The fee would have gone into effect on August 1.
But now, Bitstamp backtracked on its original plans to scrap the decision altogether, citing customers' concerns following the announcement.
"After listening to our community's response, we've changed course. There will be no inactivity fee. Our goal has always been to be a secure and reliable trading platform that provides industry-leading services, and we do not intend to deviate from this path," the company wrote in its blog post.
Cost-Cutting Measures Amid Bear Market
Bitstamp had earlier said its decision to introduce the fees was to "save cost" as most exchanges usually make money from fees on trading volumes, which tend to fall during prolonged market downturns. For instance, in the last two months, Bitstamp has seen a 47% decrease in daily trading volume, according to data from CoinGecko.
At the time of the announcement, the company stated,
"In order for us to continue providing great services to all our customers, we made the hard decision to implement the inactivity fee."