OKEx suspends crypto withdrawals as key holder is “out of touch”. OKEx has indefinitely halted all cryptocurrency withdrawals, saying that one of the key holders of the exchange has “been out of touch” with the exchange because they are “currently cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations.” OKEx’ CEO later said the investigation is due to the key holder’s “personal issue.”
Most of the top cryptocurrencies sold off on the report, with OKEx’s bitcoin price falling 3% in 30 minutes, hitting $11,182 on Friday morning, before beginning at last check to recover to $11,300.
The key holder’s being out of touch prevented the completion of the withdrawal authorization, the exchange wrote in a notice issued early Friday morning.
Significant withdrawals of ether, tron and bitcoin were completed from established OKEx-affiliated addresses hours before the announcement, as picked up by Whale Warning on-chain transaction monitoring service.
“OKEx’s other functions remain normal and stable and the security of your assets at OKEx will not affected,” the notice read. “We will resume digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction.”
OKEx CEO Jay Hao claimed the key holder’s cooperation with officials was due to a “personal issue” and the investigation would not affect the business, according to a Weibo post.
Taking to Twitter, Hao indicated that non-crypto withdrawals should still be processing, claiming that all non-crypto or digital asset operations were unaffected. The Malta-based exchange is the second-largest cryptocurrency derivatives platform by 24-hour volume.
