At the beginning of the month of October, we saw the United States’ Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charging the co-founders of the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX with operating an illegal trading platform and violating multiple regulations. Now, another popular cryptocurrency exchange has been struck hard by the authorities. Reportedly, the founder of the Malta-based digital currency exchange OKEx has been taken by the Police. In the wake of this incident, the global cryptocurrency exchange suspended its withdrawal service for users earlier today.
Suspension of withdrawals for users by OKEx
As per an official announcement published on October 16, 2020, the OKEx exchange halted the service of withdrawals for users as the founder of the exchange Star Xu is under investigation by the Police. While explaining why the crypto exchange has suspended withdrawals it said that the company is not in touch with one of its private key holders which is reportedly cooperating with a “public security bureau in an investigation” that is currently going on.
The withdrawal service was stopped today as of October 16, 2020, at 11:00 am. OKEx said that all of the other functions of the exchange are operating normally and have not been affected. Also, it assured its users saying that their funds are completely safe and secured. Therefore, they need not worry about their funds.
While announcing the suspension of the crypto assets’ withdrawal service, the cryptocurrency exchange apologized to users for this inconvenience. The company has said that it will inform through a public announcement if any development is made regarding this matter “in a timely manner”.
OKEx refused to unveil the actual nature of the ongoing investigation. It also has not revealed when it plans to resume the withdrawal service. However, the exchange has said that the cryptocurrency withdrawal service will be resumed soon after “the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction”.
Maintaining Security standards
Commenting on this, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the OKEx exchange Jay Hao said that the withdrawal service has been halted temporarily and that they took this decision keeping in view the security of users.
He said that this step they took is crucial for the maintenance of their high-security standards. The OKEx exchange will never compromise when the security of its users is concerned, he added.
All trademarks, logos, and images displayed on this site belong to their respective owners and have been utilized under the Fair Use Act. The materials on this site should not be interpreted as financial advice. When we incorporate content from other sites, we ensure each author receives proper attribution by providing a link to the original content. This site might maintain financial affiliations with a selection of the brands and firms mentioned herein. As a result, we may receive compensation if our readers opt to click on these links within our content and subsequently register for the products or services on offer. However, we neither represent nor endorse these services, brands, or companies. Therefore, any disputes that may arise with the mentioned brands or companies need to be directly addressed with the respective parties involved. We urge our readers to exercise their own judgement when clicking on links within our content and ultimately signing up for any products or services. The responsibility lies solely with them. Please read our full disclaimer and terms of use policy here.