Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange BitForex suddenly ceased operations, with its website and trading app becoming unavailable on February 23. This stop occurred after about $56 million worth of cryptocurrencies were withdrawn from the platform's hot wallets in one day. FinTech Insider writes about this.
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Exchange account on social network X remains silent. The BitForex team also remains silent in other channels, not answering questions in Telegram or on the Discord server.
Users complain about problems with their account: some cannot log into their account, others do not display the control panel. Some users shared screenshots showing that they were blocked from accessing the exchange website.
Well-known blockchain investigator ZachXBT was the first to report suspicious activity, noting that the crypto exchange had deactivated the withdrawal of funds, and some of its team members had stopped communicating. There is currently no additional information about how long user funds have been blocked, for what reason, and how long the recovery period will last.
ZachXBT noted that the Bitforex team has not published in X since May 2023, but a month ago CEO Jason Luo resigned. This was the latest announcement published on the Bitforex website.
The BitForex exchange was founded in 2018. It did not require identity verification from its clients and did not follow KYC procedures for account creation, which raised well-founded concerns that the platform was being used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
In September 2023, daily trading volume cryptocurrency reached $2.6 billion on the exchange.
The trading platform has repeatedly attracted the attention of regulatory authorities in different countries.