OKEx Suspends Withdrawals as Exchange Key Holder Cooperates With Law Enforcement

Zack Voell and David Pan
Updated ·1 min read

OKEx has suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals indefinitely, explaining that one of the exchange’s key holders is “currently cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations” and has “been out of touch” with the exchange.

  • The key holder’s being out of touch prevented withdrawal authorization from being completed, the exchange wrote in a notice published early Friday morning.

  • Hours before the announcement, significant withdrawals of ether, tron and bitcoin were completed from known OKEx-affiliated addresses, as picked up by on-chain transaction monitoring service Whale Alert.

  • The exchange did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

  • “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.”

  • The Malta-based exchange is the second-largest cryptocurrency derivatives platform by 24-hour volume, according to Skew.

  • The price of bitcoin on OKEx dropped 3% in 30 minutes after the announcement, touching $11,182 Friday morning.

  • 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.

Update (Oct. 16, 4:57 UTC): This article has been updated with information about coin withdrawals, price of bitcoin.

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