Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has warned the crypto community about potential liquidity issues at AscendEX following numerous user reports of significant withdrawal delays. On June 26, 2026, several users reported that their withdrawal requests had been pending for days or even weeks, with no visible on-chain movement. ZachXBT publicly highlighted unusually low balances in the exchange’s known hot wallets for major assets such as ETH, USDT, and SOL.
Blockchain analytics platforms Arkham show that several AscendEX-linked wallets, including the Ethereum address beginning with 0x983873…d2f679 and associated addresses on Solana and Tron, currently hold limited liquid reserves. This mismatch between ongoing trading activity and available hot wallet liquidity has sparked concerns within the crypto community. Many users have shared on social media that their funds remain stuck despite repeated follow-ups. Customer support responses have reportedly been slow, with some users succeeding only in withdrawing smaller amounts or specific tokens that still have available balances.The concerns surrounding AscendEX emerged amid a busy period for blockchain investigations, with ZachXBT recently drawing attention to frozen scam proceeds tied to an alleged Indian crypto mule network. The case highlighted how illicit funds can move across multiple wallets and exchanges before being identified and frozen.
Founded in 2018 as BitMax by George (Jing) Cao and Ariel Ling, AscendEX has operated for nearly eight years. In December 2021, the exchange suffered a major hack attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, resulting in losses of approximately $78 million from its hot wallets. The platform stated at the time that cold storage assets remained secure and that affected users would be fully compensated.
Centralized exchanges typically keep only a portion of customer funds in hot wallets for daily operations, while the majority is stored in secure offline cold storage. Low visible hot wallet balances alone do not prove insolvency. However, when combined with widespread and prolonged withdrawal delays, they serve as a serious warning sign that could indicate liquidity constraints or operational stress.
More recently, ZachXBT also reported that $12.6 million in Zama cUSDC was frozen after Circle blacklisted an Ethereum address, underscoring the growing role of on-chain monitoring and compliance actions in tracking questionable fund movements across the crypto ecosystem.
ZachXBT also pointed to continued trading activity on the platform and referenced past spending patterns as potential contributing factors. As of June 26, 2026, AscendEX has not issued a detailed public statement addressing the withdrawal complaints or concerns surrounding its hot wallet reserves.
