Bitspark Fades Out Following COO Maxine Ryan's Departure

Hong Kong-based remittance startup Bitspark is shutting down next month.

CEO and co-founder George Harrap announced Monday the company, with operations in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, would be permanently shuttering its doors on March 4. Customers will have until that day to freely withdraw their funds; customers can request withdrawals for a further 90 days after.

"Unfortunately, due to internal restructuring that hasn't worked out and a decision taken by shareholders internally, we have made the decision to close our doors," Harrap wrote.

The restructuring included COO and co-founder Maxine Ryan's stepping down from her role, she wrote on Twitter.

"While I hoped the company would continue especially due to the [month-over-month] growth, it was determined that due to its inconstancy it wasn't predictable enough to continue," she said. "I have to respect this decision."

Neither Ryan nor Harrap elaborated on the structuring issues that forced Monday's announcement. Both did reference recent events, including the long-running Hong Kong protests and the recent outbreak of the coronvirus nCoV-2019 as other factors weighing in on the decision.

"While the HK protests and now virus epidemic haven't affected us much, it hasn't helped either," Harrap wrote.

The company saw a 400 percent month-over-month growth after releasing its Cash Point product last year, Harrap said.

It appeared to be one of the few companies to raise funds through an initial coin offering in 2017 that successfully brought a product to market and serve a customer base.

"As founders we lost our dreams, as a team we lost our future, customers of their services and shareholders of equity and #ZEPH their investment," Ryan wrote.