June 26, 2026, on-chain investigator ZachXBT issued a community alert via Telegram: AscendEX (formerly BitMax) is reportedly facing a liquidity crisis. User withdrawals have been stuck for days, even weeks. Some withdrawals are not processed at all.
ZachXBT investigated the exchange’s hot wallets via Arkham and TRM. Findings: thin balances in the main assets—ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL. The EVM wallets 0x9838…/0x4240…, Tron TP523Z…, and two Solana wallets all appear depleted of high-capital assets.
Note:
Hot wallets are not a complete picture of reserves. Cold storage is not always publicly verified. However, thin balances combined with extensive user reports are a yellow flag that cannot be ignored.
Timeline:
- May 2026: AscendEX suspended trading of USDR & EURR after an abnormal minting incident involving the stablecoin StablR (an unsupported $13.5 million token was minted)
- June 2026: reports of PAXG & other assets locked in a "initiating" status without a transaction hash
- Trustpilot (207 reviews): estimated 2,000–5,000 users affected since 2024
Track record:
Founded in 2018 by George Cao & Ariel Ling. December 2021: hacked by the Lazarus Group (North Korea); $78 million vanished from Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon hot wallets.
Official response:
The help center only lists a general acknowledgement of "technical delays." There is no statement regarding insolvency. No verifiable proof of reserves is available.
A familiar pattern: stuck withdrawals, disappearing support, reserves called into question. The crypto industry has seen this script many times—and it doesn’t always end peacefully.
Users with active assets on AscendEX are advised to independently verify via Arkham, and consider next steps.
Source: ZachXBT/Telegram · The Crypto Times · AscendEX Help Center · Gizmodo/StablR · CoinDesk (Dec 2021)
ZachXBT investigated the exchange’s hot wallets via Arkham and TRM. Findings: thin balances in the main assets—ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL. The EVM wallets 0x9838…/0x4240…, Tron TP523Z…, and two Solana wallets all appear depleted of high-capital assets.
Note:
Hot wallets are not a complete picture of reserves. Cold storage is not always publicly verified. However, thin balances combined with extensive user reports are a yellow flag that cannot be ignored.
Timeline:
- May 2026: AscendEX suspended trading of USDR & EURR after an abnormal minting incident involving the stablecoin StablR (an unsupported $13.5 million token was minted)
- June 2026: reports of PAXG & other assets locked in a "initiating" status without a transaction hash
- Trustpilot (207 reviews): estimated 2,000–5,000 users affected since 2024
Track record:
Founded in 2018 by George Cao & Ariel Ling. December 2021: hacked by the Lazarus Group (North Korea); $78 million vanished from Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon hot wallets.
Official response:
The help center only lists a general acknowledgement of "technical delays." There is no statement regarding insolvency. No verifiable proof of reserves is available.
A familiar pattern: stuck withdrawals, disappearing support, reserves called into question. The crypto industry has seen this script many times—and it doesn’t always end peacefully.
Users with active assets on AscendEX are advised to independently verify via Arkham, and consider next steps.
Source: ZachXBT/Telegram · The Crypto Times · AscendEX Help Center · Gizmodo/StablR · CoinDesk (Dec 2021)