AscendEX — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze (July 2026)
Last changed 2026-10-17 · Community evidence — A moderator accepted a piece of community-submitted evidence: The Defiant confirms AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, and moved withdrawals to manual review starting July 6, per a website notice to retail account holders. Trust score now 0. Version history →
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anchored·2mBxoZ…X4wVSummary
AscendEX (formerly BitMax), a Singapore-headquartered centralized crypto exchange founded in 2018, ceased all operations on July 1, 2026, citing a failure to obtain EU MiCA authorization and the collapse of a strategic liquidity transaction. On-chain data showed exchange reserves dropped by more than $240 million on June 20, 2026; by July 8 only approximately $13.45 million remained on-chain, over $12 million of which consisted of the exchange's own illiquid ASD and UNITE tokens. As of the investigation date, automated withdrawals have been frozen since July 6, 2026, replaced with a manual review process offering no guaranteed timeline or recovery amounts, and the exchange's own legal notice warned that formal insolvency proceedings could follow.
Connected Entities
7 entities · 60 linked investigations- KuCoin→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
- KuCoin→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Binance(60%)
- Binance→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- Polygon→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- Polygon→mentioned with→Binance(70%)
- AscendEX — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze (July 2026)→mentioned with→Polygon(65%)
- AscendEX — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze (July 2026)→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- AscendEX — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze (July 2026)→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
- + 8 more
Connected Through
7 shared actors · 592 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Ethereumorganization
- □Binanceorganization
- □ZachXBTorganization
- □Polygonorganization
Community submissions
- https://thedefiant.io/news/cefi/ascendex-halts-operations-freezes-automated-withdrawals(thedefiant.io)
“[Scout] The Defiant reports that AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, and moved all withdrawal requests to manual review starting July 6, 2026, per a notice on the company's website addressed to retail account holders.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
- https://cryptobriefing.com/ascendex-ceases-operations-zachxbt-warning/(cryptobriefing.com)
“[Scout] Cryptobriefing reports AscendEX ceased operations on July 1, 2026, less than a week after ZachXBT warned that the platform's hot wallets were running dangerously low on major assets like ETH, USDT and SOL; the article describes AscendEX's reserves as critically depleted. Withdrawals are now handled through manual review, with no guaranteed timeline for getting assets back.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
- AscendEx — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze(cryptoslate.com)
“[Scout] CryptoSlate reports that AscendEX shut down because it lacked authorization under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework and cited financial and operational pressures including a failed strategic liquidity transaction. Automated withdrawals were paused on July 6, with every request now requiring manual review and some withdrawals possibly delayed, further checked or rejected; the exchange has disclosed too little financial information to determine whether it is insolvent, and unresolved balances could become subject to a formal insolvency process if one begins.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
- https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/07/290550-crypto-exchange-ascendex-halts-all-operations-offers-no-guarantees-on-customer-fund-withdrawals/(www.crowdfundinsider.com)
“[Scout] Crowdfund Insider reports AscendEX said it is "not in a position to give assurances about timing or amounts" on customer withdrawals, which have required manual review since July 6, 2026, citing earlier on-chain observations of low liquidity in the exchange's hot wallets.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
10 submissions awaiting moderator review.
Timeline(11 events)
11 December 2021
AscendEX hot wallets hacked; approximately $77.7 million stolen across Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon. Breach attributed to Lazarus Group. Exchange pledged full user reimbursement.
CoinGeek6 May 2026
Withdrawal restrictions first imposed on AscendEX, according to the KuCoin News timeline.
KuCoin News10 June 2026
User complaints surface of USDT withdrawal stuck in 'initiating' state with no transaction hash generated, in violation of AscendEX's own two-hour processing policy.
CoinTelegraph20 June 2026
On-chain reserve balance drops by more than $240 million in a single day, reversing a liquidity injection of similar size. Reserves fall back to near the historical $50 million baseline before collapsing further.
Protos26 June 2026
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT publicly flags AscendEX, warning that hot wallets appear nearly empty of ETH, USDT, and SOL, and advising users not to deposit funds. He urges the exchange to explain the withdrawal delays.
CoinTelegraphJuly 2026
AscendEX ceases all operations — trading, deposits, staking, swaps, and lending halted. Exchange cites MiCA non-authorization and failed strategic liquidity transaction. Accounts limited to exit/offboarding only.
Crypto Briefing2 July 2026
ZachXBT reports that withdrawals remain blocked while the platform continues accepting deposits — a practice he flags as a significant concern.
Protos6 July 2026
AscendEX issues formal legal notice suspending automated withdrawals and moving all requests to manual review. Notice explicitly warns that 'withdrawals may be delayed, or may not be processed' and that formal insolvency proceedings could follow, in which case 'the treatment of unresolved balances or claims may be subject to that process.'
CryptoSlate8 July 2026
On-chain data via Arkham Intelligence shows AscendEX-labeled addresses hold only approximately $13.45 million, over $12 million of which is in the illiquid ASD and UNITE tokens. ZachXBT urges affected users to contact law enforcement.
Protos12 July 2026
Multiple media outlets confirm no change in withdrawal status; no formal insolvency filing publicly announced; founder George Cao remains silent.
TechTimesDecision Log
- slot 457986939 · hash ERnRVKZoZPV8yYWMQG69ta5CGTKtpxnFk1TCp4wEWxhf
- slot 457887260 · hash EFWAGrTmaJeChsmhDth3PCA63haRWcPY1RdnJFYus4kX
- slot 457872283 · hash DeFuL7YXLHnzH9qmzpxCixzNjiAzoSTgRufMtaS3ZKYz
- slot 457820649 · hash 37LKKVwskoE58CdDxzjxf7vj9r8P8FxjU3E7RkWSyHaf
- slot 457527700 · hash 4Gk6xcgG4yyVmycC2K3poyF7zYT5PsAfa4BuVqfVULAz
- slot 443514947 · hash AhVKDF1wpQGxEbT3WzQvYKbWYMhy2Gmevt4q86eDjQTc
- slot 443514943 · hash 6LX55UtoZz3mR6ebtXe5WXsjFt1a9ZtkcVh8dbmqmLq9
- slot 443503586 · hash 9XXSPBeCuQ3T7AyWP86bn4gBkVVevLfRVRmWQoAyWUkb
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (8 decisions). 17 of 17 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 8/2/2026, 5:07:35 PM
last updated: 10/17/2026, 9:28:37 AM
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