Chinese Exchange IDAX Freezes Withdrawals, Confirms CEO’s Dissappearance

After days of uncertainty and rumors among the community, the Chinese exchange IDAX Global confirmed that its CEO has disappeared. As a result, withdrawal processes are still not functioning after initially being stopped earlier this week.

IDAX Global CEO Disappears

IDAX Global cryptocurrency exchange has been the subject of its fair share of negative news over the last several months. After reportedly leaving the U.S. and Canada due to strict regulations, the company had to stop serving users in its home country as well. An announcement published a few days ago confirmed that IDAX will no longer be available for mainland Chinese users, “due to policy reasons.”

Naturally, having to leave such large markets could have a severe impact on the exchange. After exiting them, a lot of users began withdrawing their funds, which were previously stored on IDAX. However, some clients have reported having issues accessing their assets.

While rumors kept circling the community with what was the real reason behind these events, IDAX published a statement today explaining what has happened. It confirms the most widely-spread theory that IDAX Global CEO has disappeared and staff members cannot reach him:

“[…] IDAX Global CEO has gone missing with unknown cause, and IDAX Global staffs were out of touch with IDAX Global CEO. For this reason, access to the Cold wallet, which is stored almost all cryptocurrency balances on IDAX, has been restricted, so in effect, deposit/withdrawal service cannot be provided. […] IDAX Global is drawing up an emergency plan about platform services, including deposit/withdrawal service, so it is recommended that you refrain from using our all platform services.”

The statement doesn’t clarify if and when the exchange will resume normal business, nor when the users will have full access to their funds.

Security Issues or Exit Scam?

While it’s still unclear what could happen with the funds on the exchange, the negative trend continues spreading among the community. Some people are even calling it another “exit scam,” insinuating that the CEO has allegedly run away with the cold wallet’s private keys.

Others appear more reserved in their opinions and are actually comparing it with the hack of UPbit. As CryptoPotato reported this week, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange confirmed that hackers had stolen over $50 million in Ethereum. It’s worth noting that the CEO of the company operating the exchange said that they will cover all lost assets.