Key Takeaways:
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT warned that AscendEX may be facing liquidity issues after its hot wallets showed minimal holdings of major cryptocurrencies such as Ether, USDT and Solana.
"ZachXBT observed multiple reports that AscendEX is delaying user withdrawals for days or weeks, or not processing withdrawals," the investigator said in a Telegram post on June 26, citing on-chain data from Arkham and TRM Labs.
AscendEX-tagged wallets tracked by Arkham held about $20.2 million in crypto as of Friday, concentrated in small-cap assets. The largest position was $10 million in UNITE tokens, followed by $5.24 million in REUR, $2.9 million in ASD and $600,000 in Reservoir rUSD stablecoins. Holdings of Ether, USDT, USDC and Solana — assets typically kept liquid to process customer withdrawals — appeared insufficient, according to ZachXBT's analysis.
The warning follows mounting user complaints. An account using the name Lorenzo Navarro Rodriguez said on X that a 4,196 USDT withdrawal had remained stuck in an "initiating" state since June 10, with customer support inquiries going unanswered. At least five other users reported similar delays in replies to that post. Questions about exchange liquidity carry heightened sensitivity after FTX's collapse in 2022, when a wave of withdrawal requests exposed a multibillion-dollar shortfall that forced the exchange into bankruptcy.
AscendEX, which rebranded from BitMax in 2018, suffered a $78 million security breach in December 2021 that was later attributed to the Lazarus Group. In May 2026, the exchange halted trading for two stablecoins after what it described as a security incident involving irregular token minting. The exchange has not issued a public statement addressing the current liquidity allegations or provided a timeline for normalizing withdrawals.
Scammers have begun targeting affected users with fraudulent fund recovery services that demand upfront payments, ZachXBT warned. Such operations represent a secondary scam that should be avoided entirely.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
