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Cryptocurrency Investors Left High and Dry After Hong Kong Stock Exchange Fails to Deliver Missing $57M – DL News
- BitForex disappeared with deposits earlier this year.
- It is one of several Hong Kong stock exchanges under scrutiny by the authorities.
- BitForex says high volume is slowing down withdrawals.
Users of the now defunct cryptocurrency exchange BitForex breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday when it was announced that withdrawals would reopen later that day.
Oddly enough, two days later, users are still reporting that they are unable to withdraw their money.
BitForex social media had come back to life on July 19, after being inactive since disappearing with approximately $57 million in user funds in February.
Detention of personnel
In posts on its Telegram and X channels, the exchange attributed its absence to a Chinese police investigation that led to the detention of staff members in Jiangsu province.
BitForex said it will soon reopen withdrawals, so users can withdraw their money, although trading, deposits and creating new accounts will remain unavailable.
The website came back to life. People could log in. It looked like the company was keeping its promise.
In a Telegram group for BitForex users with over 900 members, no one has reported a successful withdrawal.
Instead, they are experiencing delays in Know Your Customer verification requirements (although some have reported they were approved), issues with two-factor authentication and receiving confirmation text messages, and a lack of response from customer support.
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25% barrier
Those attempting to make a withdrawal are greeted by a screen that appears to track the transaction processing as a percentage, although it is not entirely clear how this is measured.
At its best DL News knowledge, no withdrawal has progressed beyond 25%.
In a message posted Friday evening Hong Kong time, BitForex said it was having difficulty processing the high volume of withdrawal requests and needed additional time to verify account details and other necessary verifications.
‘Unscheduled maintenance’
Among those trying to withdraw money, the lack of communication has fueled fears that the inability to withdraw is due to technical issues, the large number of requests that may need to be manually approved, or that someone else has taken control of the platform and its social media channels.
BitForex did not respond to DL News request for explanation.
In February, BitForex initially claimed its disappearance was due to “unscheduled maintenance,” a reason at odds with later claims from a police investigation.
The company did not specify who was arrested in Jiangsu, their roles, what they were doing in Jiangsu, or the number of employees involved.
Updated on July 26th to report BitForex’s post that they were having trouble processing withdrawals.
Have a cryptocurrency story? Contact DL News’ Asia correspondent at callan@dlnews.com.