As per the announcement by the developers, the masternode hosting service for the GIN platform will be shut down officially on 1st August 2019. The team behind the GIN project states that it is due to recessing interest, hosts and changing markets. Masternode hosts will be refunded accordingly.
Reasons Behind the Shutdown of Masternodes
Maybe the most important question that has been on the minds of masternode holders in the GIN network is “why?”. Well the developers answered that and have advised that it is mostly due to the large drop of hosted nodes, while still using the scaled-up GIN infrastructure. In other words, it is now financially impossible to keep the system running while staying profitable.
Of course, a large portion of the community started asking why they are not willing to keep the system running at a loss until the markets stabilize and the developers made a statement regarding that. They advised that the whole masternode market has been changing as well as the blockchain technology as a whole. They don’t feel comfortable to place their hopes in just assumptions that it maybe will get better or not.
There are people that pre-paid their masternode hosting in advance on the GIN platform and they will be reimbursed for whatever remaining time they have left from the pre-paid period. If you would like to know more about your refund, please write an email to refunds@ginplatform.io from the same email address you use to log in to the GIN platform containing your GIN address where your funds can be received.
About the GIN Platform
In February 2018 Gincoin and GIN platform combined forces after a new wave of investors joined the market and invested into the type of “set it up and forget” of masternode projects. Both managed to create a tool for inexperienced investors to automatically build and manage masternodes for more than 120 masternode coin networks, lowering the entry barrier for this type of service. The platform is the first of its kind and within 12 months of its creation many more followed the same path. The whole network for the platform is made from the existing Gincoin masternodes that adhere to the new GEA protocol (GIN Ecosystem Apps Protocol). The network has a DAM (Distributed Apps Marketplace) and the masternodes that follow the GEA protocol are called Freighters, who can band together and create their own subset network called a Freighter Fleet.
Conclusion
Although the news may come as a shock or a letdown for a lot of people that participate in the GIN network, especially the masternode holders, developers feel that they have made the right decision in order for the network to survive in the long run.