OKEx Exchange suspended asset withdrawal due to ongoing investigation.
The OKEx cryptocurrency exchange has suspended the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies due to the “inaccessibility” of one of the holders of private keys. On this news, the BTC rate fell to $11 200, and the OKB price fell to $4.8.
OKEx CEO Jay Hao said on Twitter that all operations on OKEx, except for withdrawals, are performed as usual, and user funds are safe. The output of all cryptocurrencies will be available immediately as soon as the holder of private keys can authorize transactions. Without his participation, the withdrawal of assets from exchange wallets will not be confirmed.
Hao explained that the lack of a key holder is associated with an investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies, but it is associated with personal issues of this person, and not with the exchange.
OKEx CEO Jay Hao said the decision to temporarily suspend the withdrawal was made “to ensure user safety.” “As the leading global exchange, OKEx cannot and will never sacrifice user security. We will do everything in our power to resume the withdrawal as soon as possible, and provide updated information on this issue, “Hao said.
Leo Viz, president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, said he was extremely surprised by the fact that one person could affect the entire asset storage system on OKEx. On his Twitter, he wrote:
“The fact that one person sits in China and holds the keys of an offshore cryptocurrency exchange is probably the most amazing thing in the industry that I learned about this year. The fact that customers do not require transparency in key management issues is in second place. “
Dovey Wan, a partner at venture capital investment firm Primitive Ventures, wrote that the investigation is being conducted by Chinese police. Beijing journalist Colin Wu suggested that it could be related to money laundering, so centralized exchanges are “in a dangerous position.”
In turn the co-founder of portal 8btc Red Li reported about emergence of rumors that at a “certain” exchange more than 800 accounts were noticed in money laundering. Six hours before the OKEx management statement, 1180 BTC, 50 million TRX, 21,000 ETH, as well as USDT worth about $13.9 million were withdrawn from the exchange.
Recall that last month, the Chinese police began to investigate the activities of an over-the-counter cryptocurrency trader due to participation in a deal with $73 500. It is assumed that the funds originally received were deposited on the OKEx exchange.
