On-chain analysis reportedly found limited holdings of major assets, raising concerns about the exchange’s liquidity.
ZachXBT says AscendEX users are experiencing withdrawal delays, with some requests not being processed at all.
Several individuals reported that the transactions have been stalled for days, sometimes even weeks.
AscendEX Users Report Withdrawal Issues
The on-chain sleuth issued a warning in his Telegram group, alerting members to potential liquidity challenges.
“I have observed multiple reports that the centralized exchange AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) is delaying user withdrawals for days/weeks or not processing withdrawals,” he wrote.
After reviewing Arkham and TRM for known hot wallets, ZachXBT has observed that the exchange’s reserves seem to be lacking the large-cap tokens like USDT, ETH, and SOL. This indicates that the platform is quite likely to have some liquidity problems. He also provided some Solana, Tron, and EVM wallet addresses used in the investigation.
According to community reports, users who have tried to move funds out of AscendEX have seen their transactions stuck in “initiating” for over a week.
On Reddit, one user described their experience, stating that the withdrawals don’t even produce a transaction ID. Their funds were debited from their available balance and are now locked without any explanation from the platform, they said.
For its part, the exchange is reportedly yet to offer any meaningful assistance or explanations across its support channels and has also not issued any public response to the concerns.
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AscendEX, formerly known as Bitmax, was founded by George Cao and Ariel Ling in 2018. North Korea’s Lazarus Group hacked the platform in December 2021 for $78 million.
ZachXBT Flags JuCoin Reserves Amid Withdrawal Problems
This isn’t the first time an exchange has faced scrutiny over transaction processing delays. ZachXBT recently flagged JuCoin for similar problems, alleging that its reserves are not backed by liquid assets.
The blockchain detective questioned JuCoin’s reported $511 million reserves, saying most of this appeared to be tied to USDC and USDT issued on its JuChain without clear backing. He also challenged the publicly listed team, saying that the project seemed to be out of their control, but the team responded, saying the disruptions had been caused by ongoing upgrades and restructuring.
However, affected users continued to ask for clear timelines, transparency, and assurance that their assets are available for transfer.
Attackers have also exploited JuDAO for $225,000 in April and a $20 million incident last year. Meanwhile, the East Asian exchange has rebranded several times in the past.
