Is Poloniex holding Steem & Steem Dollar hostage?

All the talk about Poloniex and Circle is driving me nuts, so I did some research on a few things that I would like to point out and discuss regarding the whole Steem and Steem Dollar wallets maintenance. What is happening to the Poloniex platform and what risks we might face in the near future regarding this matter.

In the past week I had recieved an e-mail from the official Poloniex Exchange that Reads as follows;

Dear Poloniex community,

We're proud to announce that Poloniex will be joining the Circle team as of today, February 26. As we have collaborated closely with Circle on this union, we have come to a deep mutual respect and strong alignment in our vision for the future of the global crypto ecosystem. Circle is thrilled to welcome Poloniex and our users into their growing global business and to work together to accelerate the evolution of the token economy.

What can you expect?

In the near term, platform updates will be behind-the-scenes and focused on improving the existing user experience instead of radically altering the product. We expect no disruptions in service nor in the availability of your funds. Circle and Poloniex have committed to preserving the features and functionality that have helped our platform grow to where we are today.

The Circle team will immediately begin working alongside us to expand customer support and technical operations to further scale our product. We know that our incredible growth over the past few years has not come without some growing pains for our users. Though we realize that no user experience can be perfect across the board, we hate disappointing you and recommit today to relentlessly pursue nothing short of excellence in our product.

We look forward to building on our foundations with the Circle team to grow our reach globally and to continue to provide access to groundbreaking projects in the cryptocurrency space. Please take a look at our press release and this blogpost from the Circle team for more thoughts on why we're excited to join forces in the months ahead.

Thank you for your support!

When we founded Poloniex in 2014, we had high hopes for the future of cryptocurrency but never could have imagined how quickly this space would expand and evolve. We'd like to thank each and every one of our users for joining us on this adventure thus far. Your early faith in the community and passion for the underlying technology has inspired us and fueled us forward on a daily basis. We couldn't have built this without you, and we look forward to continuing on this journey together in the years to come.

Onward and upward,

The Poloniex team

You are receiving this email because you are a registered user of Poloniex.

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This is not an official Logo just what I would imagine it to be...

Before I get to the whole Steem and Steem Dollar hostage story, what is happening with Poloniex and should we be concerned?

Firstly no where on an official site Poloniex talks anything about selling the company to circle and rather talking about an Partnership and working together, so all this about Poloniex selling the exchange to circle for $400 mil seems to be speculation. Read the Poloniex press release here. I might be wrong but unless I see an official statement by either Poloniex or Circle stating the company was sold or bought I remain to believe the statement as a partnership.

I would not be to concerned about the whole partnership, but in reality minor internal hacks could be possible. This will definately be a huge change for the support and service delivery from the exchange and can draw back a lot of lost traders to the platform/exchange.

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Steem and Steem Dollar Held Hostage

It has been longer than a month now that Steem and Steem Dollar deposits and withdrawals have ceased due to wallet maintenance issues. This can only mean bad news for Steem and Steem Holders on this exchange because it is forcing people to sell their Steem and Steam dollars into a different cryptocurrency and will eventually drive down the value as long as the wallets remain under maintenance.

Because Poloniex is one of the oldest and most used exchanges to date this will have an influence in price on all other major exchanges as well. My advice is just HODL until the wallet issue is resolved. Remember that trading is never risk free and without risk there won't be any great reward.

I look forward to the future of the Poloniex and Circle alliance and the changes that come allong with it. Let me know what your thoughts are on this matter. Never believe everything you read, if it doesn't come from the parties involved it is speculation, many people take one story and write on the information on that article, I want facts.