AscendEX — Insolvency and Withdrawal Freeze (July 2026)
Summary
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
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 1 more
Timeline(11 events)
2021-12-11
AscendEX hot wallets hacked; approximately $77.7 million stolen across Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon. Breach attributed to Lazarus Group. Exchange pledged full user reimbursement.
CoinGeek2026-05-06
Withdrawal restrictions first imposed on AscendEX, according to the KuCoin News timeline.
KuCoin News2026-06-10
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.
CoinTelegraph2026-06-20
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.
Protos2026-06-26
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.
CoinTelegraph2026-07-01
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 Briefing2026-07-02
ZachXBT reports that withdrawals remain blocked while the platform continues accepting deposits — a practice he flags as a significant concern.
Protos2026-07-06
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.'
CryptoSlate2026-07-08
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.
Protos2026-07-12
Multiple media outlets confirm no change in withdrawal status; no formal insolvency filing publicly announced; founder George Cao remains silent.
TechTimesDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending8/2/2026, 5:07:44 PMhash: 9XXSPBeCuQ3T7AyWP86bn4gBkVVevLfRVRmWQoAyWUkb
15 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: 8/2/2026, 7:33:28 PM
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