Getting your records out before a service closes
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 6 min
In short
When an exchange or tool winds down, the history it held generally becomes unreachable. Waiting for the announcement often means missing the deadline, so export the history of the services you use while nothing is happening.
Key points
- The window between an announcement and the deadline is usually short
- Withdraw the assets and export the history in the same session
- Data inside a calculation tool cannot be rebuilt without the original CSVs
- Confirm closure news on the official site and in email — do not follow links from elsewhere
Definition
Moving your transaction history and statements into your own storage before an exchange or service shuts down or withdraws from your market.
A shutdown does not only threaten the assets. Assets are the part everyone handles, because the announcement tells you to withdraw them; history is the part that gets left behind. That is exactly how you end up, years later, unable to establish what an asset cost you — and without evidence of a cost basis you may be pushed onto an unfavourable assumption.
The gap between announcement and closure is often shorter than expected, and the deadline for withdrawing funds and the deadline for logging in are sometimes different. Once login stops, so does any chance of an export. Treat the announcement as a single task covering both withdrawal and export, and aim to finish it the same day.
Export the trade history, the transfer history, the annual statements, and any account or identity documentation. The same problem applies to calculation tools and portfolio services: if you kept only the results computed inside a tool and discarded the source CSVs, the tool's closure leaves you with nothing to rebuild from. That is the reason to keep original data.
Be aware that fake closure and migration notices are a standard phishing pattern. No legitimate service asks you to enter a private key to migrate your assets. Check any announcement by opening the official site yourself from a bookmark, never by following a link in an email or a social post.
What documents must be retained, and for how long, is set by rules that get amended — confirm with the National Tax Agency's guidance and a tax professional.
Watch out for
- · Fake shutdown notices asking for a private key or seed phrase exist — no legitimate operator asks for these
- · The login deadline and the withdrawal deadline may be different dates
- · Required documents and retention periods are set by the rules — check with the National Tax Agency and a tax professional
Frequently asked questions
Can I still recover history from an exchange that already closed?
Usually not. You may be able to reconstruct part of it from confirmation emails, bank records and transfers into other venues. How to treat the result is a question for a tax professional.