On November 6th, the cryptocurrency BTM experienced a sharp decline, dropping over 30% in a short period and recording a 24-hour loss of 37.81%. At the time of reporting, BTM's price stood at $0.019.
This significant downturn occurred following an official announcement from the exchange OKX regarding the delisting of the token.
Official Exchange Announcement and Delisting Schedule
OKX officially declared that it would remove the BTM-USDT trading pair on November 10th between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM UTC. The exchange had already suspended deposit services for BTM on November 3rd at 4:00 PM UTC, confirming that these services would not be reinstated.
This decision directly impacts all traders holding BTM on the platform, necessitating immediate action to manage their assets before the trading pair becomes inactive.
A representative from the Bytom ecosystem communicated to media outlet BlockBeats that the team had just learned of the situation through their community channels and was attempting to engage with OKX for further clarification. The representative also hinted that new announcements concerning BTM were expected in the near future.
Project Inactivity and Security Concerns
BTM is the native token of the Bytom blockchain. An analysis of its activity reveals that updates and significant developments related to BTM have been scarce since 2020. The project's official Twitter account, for instance, last posted a routine weekly update in June of this year, indicating a prolonged period of low public activity.
A notable security incident occurred on October 27th when the official Bytom Twitter account posted a warning that a Telegram group administrator's account had been compromised. The tweet included a link to a new Telegram group. However, this new group had gathered fewer than 80 members more than ten days after its creation, pointing to a vastly diminished and disengaged community.
Historical Context: From 'Top Three' to Obscurity
Bytom was initially conceived in January 2017, with its mainnet launching in April 2018. During cryptocurrency's earlier boom periods, Bytom was often grouped with NEO and Qtum as one of China's "top three public blockchains."
The project was founded by Chang Jia (who is also the founder of the media platform BaBit) and Duan Xinxing (who served as the executive president of BaBit and vice president of OKCoin). Duan Xinxing departed from the project in October 2019.
Chang Jia himself is a notable figure in the Chinese crypto community. He is widely known for a 2011 post on the website Zhihu where he advised a university student to invest his 6,000 yuan savings into Bitcoin. With Bitcoin's price fluctuating around $30 at its peak that year and falling below $3 by November, this advice later became a famous anecdote, bringing significant attention to Chang Jia and, subsequently, to the launch of Bytom in 2017.
A key differentiator for Bytom was its early focus on the "asset on chain" concept, leading many in the community to now regard it as one of the earliest Real-World Asset (RWA) projects. This vision was outlined in a 2017 blog post by Chang Jia, which detailed the value proposition of Bytom's sidechain model for tokenizing physical assets.
In September 2019, the Bytom team launched MOV, a DeFi protocol built on its Bystack mainchain-sidechain architecture. This protocol's economic model was designed to integrate closely with the BTM token. By September 2020, MOV's total value locked (TVL) in its liquidity pools had surpassed $70 million, and its daily trading volume ranked fifth among all decentralized exchanges (DEXs) at the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean for a token to be delisted?
Delisting means a cryptocurrency exchange removes a specific token's trading pairs from its platform. After delisting, users can no longer trade that token on the exchange and must withdraw their holdings to a private wallet or another platform that supports it.
Why would an exchange decide to delist a token like BTM?
Exchanges typically delist tokens for reasons such as low trading volume, lack of project development and updates, failure to meet the exchange's updated listing criteria, or potential security and compliance concerns. The exact reason for a specific delisting is not always publicly disclosed.
What should I do if I hold BTM on an exchange that is delisting it?
If you hold BTM on an exchange that has announced its delisting, you should immediately stop any open orders for the token and withdraw your BTM balance to a compatible self-custody wallet before the withdrawal deadline passes. 👉 Explore secure wallet options for your assets
What was Bytom's (BTM) original purpose?
Bytom was designed as a blockchain protocol aimed at facilitating the registration and exchange of physical and digital assets. Its core "asset on chain" concept aimed to bridge the physical and digital worlds, making it an early precursor to the modern RWA (Real-World Asset) narrative in crypto.
Is the Bytom project still actively being developed?
Public indicators suggest development activity has significantly slowed. The lack of recent updates on official social channels, low community engagement, and the recent security incident point towards a project that is largely inactive, though the team has hinted at upcoming news.
How can I stay updated on projects to avoid investing in inactive ones?
Conduct thorough due diligence before investing. This includes monitoring a project's official communication channels (Twitter, Telegram, blog), checking its code repository on GitHub for recent commits, reviewing its token trading volume across exchanges, and reading independent audits or reports. 👉 Learn more about advanced research strategies