Withdrawals on Hong Kong-based crypto exchange BitForex have been suspended for an undisclosed reason for at least three days. Prior to the halt, approximately $56 million in cryptocurrency had been withdrawn from the exchange’s wallets. An on-chain investigator named ZachXBT noted that three of BitForex’s hot wallets experienced outflows of around $56.5 million before the suspension of transactions. BitForex’s X account has not been updated since May 2023, and users have reported various issues with their accounts, such as being unable to access them or the dashboard not displaying any assets. Some individuals have also received a pop-up screen indicating that they are blocked from accessing the company’s website. While certain pages of the BitForex website are still active, the overall website is blocked. In September 2023, BitForex was one of the leading global crypto exchanges in terms of market capitalization, with a daily trading volume of approximately $2.6 billion. However, CoinMarketCap no longer provides live data on BitForex. In April 2023, Japan’s Financial Services Agency accused BitForex of violating the country’s fund settlement laws by conducting business without proper registration. Since then, BitForex has not faced significant scrutiny from regulators or the media. Last week, another Hong Kong exchange, Atom Asset Exchange (AAX), transferred around $55.6 million worth of Ether from its wallets before ceasing operations. AAX’s former CEO and a board member were arrested by Hong Kong police in 2022, but the founder of AAX, who remains unidentified, is reportedly still at large with HKD 230 million ($29.41 million) and the private keys to the exchange wallets.
BitForex, a cryptocurrency exchange, suspends user withdrawals and ceases communication