I consider my $500 investment lost. It is what is. Even tho bitconnect released my deposit in bitconnect coins. But the coins are worthless at this point. And you can't exchange them to Bitcoin because the exhange is closed.
Check out the offical statment below:
coming-for-the-bitconnect-system-halt-of-lending-and-exchange-platform
Changes coming for the Bitconnect system - Halt of lending and exchange platform
This is to inform all community members that we are closing the Bitconnect lending and exchange platform. We are closing the lending operation immediately with the release of all outstanding loans. With release of your entire active loan in the lending wallet we are transferring all your lending wallet balance to your BitConnect wallet balance at 363.62 USD. This rate has been calculated based on last 15 days averages of the closing price registered on coinmarketcap.com. You are free to withdraw your BitConnect coin currently in QT wallets that was used for staking as well. We are also closing BCC exchange platform in 5 days. In short, we are closing lending service and exchange service while BitConnect.co website will operate for wallet service, news and educational purposes.
The reason for halt of lending and exchange platform has many reasons as follow:
The continuous bad press has made community members uneasy and created a lack of confidence in the platform.
We have received two Cease and Desist letters, one from the Texas State Securities Board, and one from the North Carolina Secretary of State Securities Division. These actions have become a hindrance for the legal continuation of the platform.
Outside forces have performed DDos attacks on platform several times and have made it clear that these will continue. These interruptions in service have made the platform unstable and have created more panic inside the community.
Closing the lending and exchange platform doesn’t mean that we will stop supporting BitConnect coin. Closing the lending platform will allow Bitconnect to be listed on outside exchanges giving more options for trading.
We will keep working to make BitConnect coin available to merchant websites providing them API access to accept BitConnect Coins on their platforms.
BitConnect X ICO is still functional and we are building an exchange platform on the BitConnect X website. With BitConnect X operating as an exchange platform, BitConnect Coin (BCC) will be listed there.
This is not the end of this community, but we are closing some of the services on the website platform and we will continue offering other cyptocurrency services in the future.
Best Regards,
The Team BitConnect
https://bitconnect.co/system-news/94/changes-