BitForex, a crypto exchange based in Hong Kong, has suspended withdrawals for an undisclosed reason. Prior to the suspension, approximately $56 million in cryptocurrencies had been withdrawn from the exchange’s wallets. ZachXBT, an on-chain investigator, noted in a post on February 23 that three of BitForex’s hot wallets had experienced outflows of around $56.5 million before the exchange halted transaction processing.
The exchange’s X account has not been updated since May 2023, and users on BitForex’s official Telegram channel have reported various issues with their accounts, ranging from being unable to access their accounts to the dashboard not displaying any assets. Some users have shared a pop-up screen indicating that they are blocked from accessing the company’s website.
Cointelegraph attempted to access the BitForex website and encountered the same problem. However, certain pages of the exchange’s website are still accessible, including a January 31 announcement about the departure of BitForex CEO Jason Luo.
BitForex was one of the leading global crypto exchanges in terms of market capitalization in September 2023, with a daily trading volume of approximately $2.6 billion in cryptocurrencies. Currently, CoinMarketCap does not provide real-time data on BitForex.
In April 2023, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) accused BitForex of violating the country’s fund settlement laws by conducting business without proper registration. However, since then, BitForex has not been subject to significant regulatory attention or media coverage.
Last week, AAX, another Hong Kong exchange, transferred approximately $55.6 million worth of Ether (ETH) from its wallets. AAX ceased all operations on November 13, 2022, just two days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. Following its closure, AAX’s former CEO Thor Chan and board member Haoming Liang were arrested by Hong Kong police in 2022.
The founder of AAX, whose identity remains unknown, is reportedly still at large with 230 million Hong Kong dollars ($29.41 million) of users’ funds and private keys that grant access to the exchange’s wallets.