Centralized cryptocurrency exchange AscendEX announced it will cease operations as of July 1, 2026. The company stated that user accounts will remain accessible only for limited withdrawal transactions, and all withdrawal requests will undergo manual review.
According to AscendEX, withdrawals may be delayed, users may be asked for additional information, or some requests may not be processed. This statement comes after blockchain researcher ZachXBT issued warnings about the exchange.
ZachXBT had previously stated that it had received numerous delayed or unprocessed withdrawal notifications related to AscendEX. It also alleged that the exchange’s publicly accessible hot wallets lacked large liquid assets such as ETH, USDT, and SOL.
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AscendEX, formerly known as BitMax, was founded in 2018 by George Cao and Ariel Ling. At one point, the exchange was among the top 10 centralized cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume. According to publicly available information, co-founder George Cao holds a doctorate in computer science from the University of Chicago.
AscendEX completed a $50 million Series B funding round in 2021, led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC. In December of the same year, the exchange reportedly suffered a $78 million attack linked to the Lazarus Group.
ZachXBT stated in its latest assessment that AscendEX attributed its decision to cease operations to current market conditions and MiCA regulations.
ZachXBT also argued that AscendEX lacked the liquid assets in its publicly accessible hot wallets to fulfill the millions of dollars in user requests it claimed to have verified.
*This is not investment advice.
