Rialto, the AI trading platform, is to become the latest alt coin casualty when it closes its doors on Sunday. The platform, which held its ICO all the way back in July of 2017, said the reason for its closure was down to its inability to obtain a license to carry out its trading activities, which will come as a shock to users, given that the platform was updated earlier this year following months of work.
It also smacks of mismanagement, given that Rialto had a year to meet all the requirements to obtain the license and still couldn’t do so. The imminent closure ensures that another ghost will haunt the crypto landscape, alongside hundreds of other projects and exchanges that have fallen by the wayside in the past two years.
IMPORTANT/ACTION REQUIRED!!!
We are sorry to announce that effective on 15th September 2019 we will be discontinuing our https://t.co/LQTooRpLEo services.
Please ensure you place your disinvestment order(s) as soon as possible. https://t.co/zjqVjHMmG7
— RialtoTrade.com (@RialtoAI) September 1, 2019
License to Kill (Tokenholders’ Hopes)
Rialto held their ICO in July 2017, raising $10 million and spending the next few months building the platform out. The company applied to be a Maltese virtual financial assets (VFA) service provider in September 2018, with the terms of the application allowing them a year’s grace to meet all the requirements. During this time they worked on the final version of the platform, announcing its imminent arrival in October 2018, although this turned out to be four months premature.
The eventual release of the platform in February 2019 did very little to arrest the sliding token price which is sitting at $0.056, some 86% down from the ICO price, although this is largely speculative as no exchanges currently list the token.
Rialto to Rise from the Ashes?
With time running out to obtain the license and continue to operate, Rialto nevertheless pressed on, redesigning their website and continuing to engage with the community until an abrupt announcement on September 1 revealed the imminent closure of the platform. All may not be lost for fans of the project however, as Rialto injected a note of hope into the announcement:
…we will seek to partner with other companies that are pursuing licensing or alternatively seek to license our technology on its own.
Users have until the end of today to “disinvest” and move their funds off the platform, with the final withdrawals taking place on September 17.
