AscendEX · 65

588 days, 300+ Web3 projects fall: who's still at the table?

Source: Foresight News Author: Eric Original title: In 588 days, 300+ Web3 projects sank into the deep sea and sailed a thousand sails by the side of a sinking ship, and the disease tree is ahead of time. On the way to prosperity, any industry must go through a round of “dead bodies are everywhere” of elimination, and Web3 is no exception. According to Foresight News's review of public information, since 2025, at least 78 Web3 projects with a total funding amount of more than 1.5 million US dollars have been announced to be shut down. Of these, 69 projects that can confirm the amount of financing have taken away more than 900 million US dollars in total. If you count the small projects that didn't get financing from institutions and died silently, the total number is far over 300. This means that over the past nearly 600 days, an average Web3 project died every two days, or was famous or unknown. Of the 75 projects counted by Foresight News, 37 were shut down throughout 2025, while 41 were shut down in just half of 2026, and 17 were shut down in a single quarter in the second quarter, setting the highest number in a single quarter since this round of clearance. The “hot” DappRadar, Zapper, and established exchanges including BitMEX and AscendEX (formerly BitMax) in the last round of the bull market have all put an end to their business careers in nearly two years. The reshuffle did not stop as the market picked up; on the contrary, it accelerated. After receiving millions of dollars or even tens of millions of dollars in financing, every team that has stepped into this new world has had the proud ambition of “laughing at the sky and going out. Are our generation people from Fenghao?” But after a few years of being baptized in the market, these cold and cruel numbers are still in front of everyone's eyes. Emerging markets are also markets, and Web3 isn't more gentle than other industries. “Not being able to support myself” is the number one “cause of death”. Looking at the “cause of death” of 75 projects, the first one ranked was “insufficient funding,” with 31 projects falling on this issue, accounting for more than 40%; followed by “insufficient market demand,” and 17 companies shut down as a result. The two added up are close to two-thirds of the total. In other words, the vast majority of projects die for only one reason: they have never been able to support themselves. The expressions used by these projects in the shutdown announcement are similar. Many of them say “after trying our best to find a path to sustainable development, we have not found a path to sustainable development.” The subtext of this sentence is: At the beginning of the project, there was actually no idea how to do it, or the initial idea was very different from the actual situation in the market. Some industry observers rated this wave of bankruptcy as “a direct reflection of the failure of the business model and the breakdown of the capital chain, rather than simply fluctuating market sentiment,” which can be described as hitting the head. The investment logic of the primary market has completely changed in the past two years. The first question investors meet is no longer “how much room do you have for imagination”, but “how to make money.” The first batch of projects whose revenue did not cover operating costs or tell a new story fell after the financing floodgates were tightened. The OSL Institute summarized this shift in its annual report as the industry moving from the “first half” to the “second half”: a growth model driven by rising asset prices and innovative agreements came to an end, and the market moved “from narrative to delivery.” To put it more bluntly, the market and capital are no longer willing to pay for “experiments,” and the project's self-hematopoietic ability has become a necessity. Compared to the reason they wanted to be clear, the five projects that announced that the “model is unsustainable” seemed much more honest. For example, Goldfinch, which made unsecured credit loans, lost blood and shut down due to continued bad loans to emerging market companies; the social game Fantasy.Top, which is a popular social game that relies on tokens to motivate, makes it difficult to sustain the incentive model after the popularity recedes. The “unsustainable model” is a very interesting reason for the collapse. Most unsecured credit loans in traditional financial markets are based on big data or personal past credit records to set reasonable limits. As an emerging “lending company,” Goldfinch dares to provide unsecured credit loans in emerging markets without credit data. This is not a problem that can be solved by cryptocurrency and Web3 alone. Obviously, the reason for the birth of this company with a total financing amount of nearly 40 million is hard to convince. I don't know how top institutions like a16z were fooled into entering the market. Additionally, some companies have died due to regulation. Mango Markets shut down through a community vote after reaching a settlement with the SEC...

10d ago22#WEB3

The wave of crypto shutdowns has entered a deep bear stage: over 60 well-known projects have left the market, and the cleaning of the bear market has accelerated

Comparing the news, as time entered the second half of the bear market, the cryptocurrency market experienced a clear round of industry clearance. Today, Shaw Walters, founder of ElizaOS (formerly ai16z), announced that the AI16z/ElizaOS token has completely died, and the associated foundation will gradually cease operations. This is another iconic exit event following the shutdown of over 60 well-known crypto projects in the first half of the year. According to statistics, in 2026, more than 60 well-known crypto projects, public chain/Layer2, DeFi protocols, wallets, NFT platforms, and DAO tools have announced that they have stopped operations or filed for bankruptcy, and the pace of shutdown accelerated markedly in late July. This round of exit covered almost every track. On the PT1 side of centralized trading, derivatives pioneer BitMEX announced on July 23 that it will officially close on September 23, ending 11 years of operation; AscendEX stopped trading on July 1 due to failure to obtain an EU MiCA license; and BitMart initiated a phased shutdown. In Layer1/Layer 2 and infrastructure, Polygon zkEVM, Botanix, Sophon, Powerloom, MilkyWay, etc. have been suspended one after another. In the DeFi sector, Radiant Capital, Step Finance (after being hacked for around $40 million), Ionic Protocol, Everclear, etc. withdrew due to security incidents or liquidity exhaustion. Wallet tracks include Secondfi, Ctrl Wallet, and Leap Wallet closed due to security breaches or strategic adjustments. NFTs, games, and tool projects such as Foundation, Fishing Frenzy, Tally, and Zapper have not been spared. The main reasons focus on three points: the business model fails to generate sustainable revenue (even if some projects have had high monthly activity or transaction volume), the outflow of users and funds due to the cooling of the racetrack, and hacker attacks directly cut off the funding chain. Many projects have received millions to tens of millions of dollars in financing, but it is difficult to prove the product's market fit after the market retracted. Unlike a series of explosions in leverage in 2022, this round was more about starving to death — orderly or forced exits after running out of funds. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

17d agoburnking

Sacrificing three exchanges in a month, can the Crypto bull market still come?

The midwaist exchange business seems to have come to an end. On July 1, AscendEX ceased operations. On July 23, BitMEX, which once defined a cryptographic perpetual contract and brought 100x leverage to the mainstream market, announced that it would close after two months. Three days later, BitMart, which has been in operation for nearly nine years, initiated a shutdown procedure: it stopped accepting new users and deposits, ended spot and contract trading on August 26, and officially terminated platform operations on January 31, 2027. In less than a month, three centralized exchanges (CEXs) that have gone through at least one round of bull and bear cycles have left the market one after another. In a market that is used to treating bad news as an inverse indicator, this can easily raise the question: exchanges can't survive. Has the crypto market bottomed out? This is not another FTX moment where AscendEX was originally known as BitMax. According to official data, it was founded by a Chinese team with a background in quantitative trading on Wall Street. Founder George Cao and others are closely linked to the New York financial community. BitMart was founded by Sheldon Xia. In the early days, he participated in events organized by the Yangtze River Business School and the Chinese and US blockchain community in New York, and also set up a team in New York; however, its global business has been operated through offshore entities for a long time, and public commercial data shows that it is headquartered in the Cayman Islands. Both have clear Chinese entrepreneurial backgrounds and experience in the US market, and are typical examples of the “Wall Street team plus offshore trading platform” entrepreneurial model in the early years. This model used to work very well. Between 2017 and 2021, an exchange is not required to obtain a full license in every market or have a bank-level compliance and escrow system. As long as the coin is listed fast enough, the contract leverage is high enough, and there are enough rebates, and with the Chinese-speaking community, Telegram, and KOL subscription channels, it is possible to quickly accumulate users in a round of bull markets. By 2026, these conditions are far from enough. Judging from current public information, the three exchanges can be boiled down to three “dead” methods: AscendEX faced liquidity and compliance pressure, BitMart chose to exit in an orderly manner, and BitMEX was left behind by users and trading volume. What they all have in common is that they can no longer afford the high costs of a global crypto exchange. On the face of it, exchanges have been shut down one after another, which is easily reminiscent of the FTX-style crisis in 2022. However, the transmission mechanism is not the same this time. The bear market in 2018 was the disappearance of demand. The ICO bubble burst, a large number of tokens lost liquidity, retail investors withdrew, and listing fees, transaction fees, and Taiwan dollar valuations fell together. According to CoinGecko's statistical method — which defines Bitcoin running below the 200-day EMA for 30 consecutive days as a bear market — the bear market from 2018 to 2019 continued for 385 days, with Bitcoin's biggest retracement of 83.6%. The problem in 2022 is that the credit chain is broken. After Terra's collapse, the complex borrowing and asset liability relationships between Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, Genesis, and FTX turned the failure of a single project into a credit contagion for the entire industry. According to Bank for International Settlements statistics, after the Terra incident, the market value of crypto assets of more than 450 billion US dollars evaporated; after FTX went bankrupt, the market lost about 200 billion US dollars. In the 2026 shutdown wave, there was no serial rush of the same scale. It's more like a slow but complete structural elimination: total market volume falls, regulatory thresholds are raised, liquidity is concentrated at the head, and on-chain transactions take users from the other side. Regulation has gone from a potential risk to a cost of doing business. EU MiCA will be fully applicable from December 30, 2024. According to ESMA's explanation, the original crypto service provider can continue to operate for a period of time according to member state regulations, but the transition period must not exceed July 1, 2026 at the latest. Platforms that are not authorized by MiCA cannot continue to rely on the original system to carry out related business after the transition period is over. AscendEX ceased operations on July 1st. It also acknowledged in the announcement that the platform was not authorized by MiCA. But compliance is only one reason: AscendEX also mentioned failed financing transactions, market pressure, and financial condition assessments. Regulation didn't kill this exchange alone. It just makes an already weak balance sheet more difficult to maintain. The old exchange model is dead. The “incremental sharing dividend” ended the second quarter of 2026, and the total market value of the crypto market fell 12.6%, from $2.4 trillion to $2.1 trillion, about 52% lower than the October 2025 high. More importantly, “cash” in the industry is also dwindling. The total stablecoin market capitalization fell 1.6% quarterly to 3...

25d agoWendy#CEX #DEX #Exchanges #Shut down the tide topic #original #Bitcoin #Bull market #viewpoints

Insiders broke the news: April ban, May layoffs, BitMart shutdown long predicted

A “wave of bankruptcies” of cryptocurrency exchanges is spreading at an accelerated pace. Following the announcement of the shutdown of AscendEX (formerly BitMax) and BitMEX, on July 26, BitMart made an official announcement announcing the decision to stop operations in an orderly manner after comprehensively evaluating the company's operating status, market environment, and future strategic direction. There was an uproar in the crypto community, but in fact, the downfall of BitMart was by no means a “sudden decision”; some signs have already appeared. Withdrawal abnormalities already occurred in April, and layoffs began in May. At the end of April this year, abnormalities have already begun to occur within BitMart. According to information circulating in Lark's internal group at the time, the platform clearly indicated that user orders were not in line and directly gambled with users — as long as users won money, funds would be locked in. The customer service response was that withdrawals are prohibited for at least three months, and will not be lifted when they expire. At the beginning of May, several BDs reported the issue of user funds being banned in an internal group. As a result, contract leader Gavin directly requested Roham, the head of the mainland region, to close the group. The BDs moved to another group and continued to report, and were also kicked out. In the same period, some employees inquired about the company's asset reserves in the group, and was harshly criticized by founder Sheldon Xia. Sheldon clearly stated that BitMart was unwilling to disclose asset reserve certificates. An anonymous Bitmart employee told Bitpush that the entire department's layoffs began in May. Interviewees said that in May of this year, the company had already begun to “silently” abolish some business divisions — no formal announcements, no separation compensation negotiations, and the entire department was notified “not to be used tomorrow.” These abolished departments mainly focus on business lines where growth is weak or compliance costs are too high, including some overseas operations teams and marketing departments. With this complete shutdown, many people only learned through the official social media that they have lost their job, without the slightest preparation. DI (@Start16Start), a whistleblower who claims to be a “former BitMart employee and current WEEX employee,” wrote on the X platform that BitMart “went from using the unattainable KPIs of CIS employees to reduce our salaries to the chaos within the entire company.” He alleges that the company has long been delinquent on employees' wages and bonuses and refuses to deliver on promises to employees, traders, and KOLs. “This endless act of deception is the reason I chose to leave and keep my key partner as far away from that conflict as possible.” DI wrote. The most absurd thing about this shutdown is that BitMart Global CEO Nenter (Nathan) Chow posted a clarifying statement on X: “On July 24, 2026, I was told that my position as Global CEO will be terminated, and the separation process will begin immediately. I have yet to receive confirmation of my final separation date. Since July 24, I have not participated in any management or decision-making of the company, nor have I been consulted on any operational matters. I was not involved in the decision announced today, was not consulted, and was not informed in advance. I only learned about it when I saw the public announcement. “Chow said he is most concerned about BitMart users and employees, advising users to only handle account matters through official channels and “not comment further on this matter”. Chow joined Bitmart as a partner at Animoca Ventures in April 2025 as Global CEO. At that time, founder Sheldon Xia became Group President. In just over a year, the CEO witnessed the end of the company by being “fired”. Just a month ago, BitMart also reported that its asset management business AUM increased by about 256% month-on-month. At the time, Chow also stated “BitMart is eight years old and we plan to work for another eight years.” Bitmart also previously claimed to have obtained an Australian AFSL license, serving more than 13 million users. It was only one month from “working for another eight years” to “announcing the shutdown”. Founder Sheldon Xia has not made any direct comments on the shutdown as of press time. KOL: Customer service and BD garbage exchanges will go out of business. Crypto KOL @tradermige posted an article on the X platform saying, “The employees at BitMart and BitMEX are all in a shambles. No wonder they have gone out of business. I had a hunch for a long time.” He recounted his experience working with BitMart: BitMart has set up a rebate agency for him, but “all...

26d agoWendy#bitmart #Exchanges #Shut down the tide topic #original #Withdrawal #BEARISH

No thunderstorms, no hackers, why are more projects falling in 2026?

Author: Claude, Shenchao TechFlow Original title: 100 Crypto Projects Died in 2026: There was no explosion this time, only starving. On July 17, BitMart released an enthusiastic report for the first half of the year: the scale of asset management increased by about 256%, newly launched predictive market products, and just obtained an Australian financial services license in June. The report also acknowledged that the background board was not very good. Bitcoin fell 30% in half a year, Ethereum fell to a standstill, and spot ETF had a record net outflow. Nine days later, at 01:30 UTC on July 26, the same company announced an orderly shutdown. New user registration was stopped, deposits were closed, contract accounts were switched to a position reduction mode, trading was completely stopped on August 26, and completely closed on January 31, 2027. The BMX platform coin fell by nearly 60% on the same day. What's even more absurd is former Global CEO Nenter Chow's statement on X: He was notified of his dismissal on July 24, and has not participated in any management decisions since then. He has seen the news of the shutdown, just like everyone else. Three days ago, BitMEX just announced the closing of the exchange at 04:00 UTC on September 23, ending 11 years. Moving forward, AscendEX was shut down on July 1, and EXMO was liquidated because it was included in the UK's sanctions list against Russia. Within a month, four well-known centralized exchanges withdrew. RootData's 2026 list of dead projects in the crypto industry has reached number 100 and is still being updated. The number isn't 100 big is scary to put in the title; it's not that scary when you put it in a historical coordinate system. According to RootData's own statistics, 67 in 2021, 250 in 2022, 230 in 2023, 171 in 2024. After seven months in 2026, there are fewer than 100, and the full year is unlikely to catch up with 2022 and 2023. So 2026 can't be called the coldest summer in the crypto industry, in a really cold place, in the texture of a death list. Go through the names on the list: Wallets include Family, Ctrl, Leap, BitMart, BitMEX, and AscendEX; infrastructure and DeFi include Zapper, Stream Finance, Parsec, Loopring, Goldfinch. BitMEX has lived for 11 years, BitMart has been alive for 9 years, and Loopring is the first batch of zkRollups on Ethereum. These aren't air projects that were issued in 2024 and ran off the road in 2025; they have brands, users, real income, and veterans who survived the previous bear market. Lever and Ponzi died in 2022, and the longer the death list, the cleaner the industry. What died in 2026 is the business model. The shorter the list, the more it means that the blade has been cut into meat. The law changed from explosions to starvation. The common features of the 2022 deaths were violence: Luna returned to zero for three days, 3AC security deposit recovery was in default, FTX misappropriated customer assets were squandered, and Celsius froze withdrawals. The death occurred instantaneously, and the user's assets were directly evaporated, and the judicial process has not been completed until today. The common characteristic of the 2026 batch is decency. BitMEX gave users a full two-month liquidation period, and the withdrawal window was opened until 2027; BitMart gave users one month to close their positions and withdraw for six months, repeatedly reminding users to complete authentication before applying; Storj followed Chapter 11 restructuring rather than liquidation; the network was running as usual, and customer service was not interrupted. The wording of the announcement is almost exactly the same: after careful evaluation of the business situation, market environment, and future strategic direction, it was decided to exit in an orderly manner. Translate adult sayings, this is a business that is not profitable anymore. There were no hackers, no hacking, no law enforcement raids, it was just that the accounts couldn't be calculated. Starvation and explosion are two completely different market signals. An explosion means that systemic risk is spreading, and the collapse of a family will be destroyed; starving to death means that individual businesses fail, and the risk is isolated in one's balance sheet. The distribution of the lumbar collapse death list is not random; it accurately hits the industry's waist. Moonrock Capital's Simon Dedic put the problem with mid-sized exchanges straight: the fatal flaw in this model is that it must...

26d agoburnking#ETF #Ethereum #Shut down the tide topic #Bitcoin #Predicting the market

The wave of bearish shutdowns of crypto projects continues, and deep clean-up of the industry accelerates reshuffle

Comparing news, crypto projects are shutting down again. Crypto trading platform AscendEX announced yesterday that it will cease operations, and the reason is due to the current market environment and the impact of the European Union's “Crypto Asset Market Regulation Act” (MiCA); Zapper, a DeFi data panel and asset portfolio tracking tool, announced that it will completely shut down websites, mobile apps, and APIs on August 3; YGG Play, a game distribution division under the Web3 gaming association YGG, will also cease operations and lay off 35 jobs on August 1. Although the crypto market has picked up from its previous low, the overall industry has not escaped the impact of the bear market. Capital, financing, and user growth continue to be under pressure, and many projects are difficult to maintain under operating costs and commercialization pressure. In recent years, a large number of projects, from trading platforms and DeFi infrastructure to NFTs, wallets, and Web3 games, have announced that they will stop operating or reduce their business one after another, and the crypto industry is still in a continuous clean-up phase. For users, they should pay timely attention to the project's official announcements, withdraw platform assets as soon as possible, and avoid financial risks caused by service termination or insufficient liquidity. At the same time, priority is given to choosing platforms and agreements with transparent capital, sufficient reserves, and compliant operation, and decentralized asset escrow to reduce potential losses caused by the shutdown or operating risks of a single platform.

44d ago

Gate users were robbed of 1.7 million US dollars; Ho Yi shouted a meme; SK Hynix subscribed more than 7 times...

Dear readers, what have the KOLs on X been talking about in the past 24 hours? Note: The following content is compiled from the X platform. They are all personal opinions. They do not represent the platform's position, let alone constitute investment advice. Gate users were robbed of 1.7 million US dollars, and their rights protection fell into Rashomon! In a nutshell, memes turn into dogs? AscendEX has officially ceased operations. ZachXBT has disclosed the founder's contact information for details, please click to read: Chinese University of Science and Technology+Shibata Shuang, a master in the money industry, is running away from New York? SK Hynix's US listing subscription ratio has exceeded 7 times. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)Twitter：https://twitter.com/BitpushNewsCN比推 TG Exchange Group: https://t.me/BitPushCommunity比推 TG Subscription: https://t.me/bitpush

44d agoWendy#KOL

[Comparative Daily News Picks] Bloomberg: SK Hynix's US IPO was oversubscribed by more than seven times; storage giant Changxin Technology began an IPO on July 16; crypto venture capital firm Paradigm raised 1.2 billion US dollars to bet on AI and crypto integration; Federal Reserve minutes: Most officials believe shortening the statement has its advantages and supports the removal of “easing tendencies”

Daily AI · Crypto · Macro · Market News, Bitpush helps you focus ↓ AI · News [Bloomberg: SK Hynix's US IPO was oversubscribed by more than seven times] Comparative news. According to a Bloomberg report, SK Hynix's US IPO was oversubscribed by more than seven times. [Storage giant Changxin Technology opens IPO on July 16] According to the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, storage giant Changxin Technology disclosed the Science and Technology Innovation Board listing prospectus and “Issuance Arrangements and Preliminary Enquiry Notice” on July 9, revealing that the company's online IPO date and online subscription date were both July 16, 2026. The announcement also showed that Changxin Technology's securities code/offline subscription code is “688825,” and the online subscription code is “787825.” According to the announcement, it is proposed to publicly issue 668,80886.08 million shares (before the over-allotment option is exercised). At the same time, the issuer grants CICC an over-allotment option of no more than 15.00% of the number of shares initially issued. If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the total number of shares issued will expand to 769,1316.08 million shares. [Musk: Grok's 2 trillion parameter model is expected to be offered to customers next month] In comparison, Musk wrote on the X platform that according to user needs, he continues to improve the Grok Build tool chain and the 1.5 trillion parameter basic model almost every day, and Grok's 2 trillion parameter model is expected to be provided to customers next month. [BlackRock Global Chief Investment Officer: Investment Exposure to Companies Directly Related to Artificial Intelligence has been reduced and readjusted] In comparison, according to CNBC, BlackRock's Global Fixed Income Chief Investment Officer Reed said in an interview that investment exposure to companies directly related to artificial intelligence has been reduced and readjusted. Crypto Market [DeFi Dashboard Zapper Announces Shutdown on August 3] Comparing news, Seb Audet, CEO of DeFi portfolio tracker Zapper, announced on social platforms on Wednesday that after nearly 7 years of operation, the company decided to completely shut down. All features, including the official website, mobile apps, and API services, will be officially launched on August 3. Established in 2019, Zapper was a mainstream portfolio tracking tool in the DeFi sector. Features include liquidity pool monitoring, yield farm tracking, DEX aggregation, and NFT support. At its peak, the project had 2 million monthly active users and processed over $13 billion in transactions. Zapper previously received $15 million in Series A funding led by Framework Ventures, with investors including Mark Cuban and other well-known investors. Audet said that after evaluating various options, the company believes an orderly shutdown is currently the best option. [AI Financial, a crypto company supported by the Trump family, seeks to sell its core business for up to $15 million] In comparison, AI Financial (formerly Alt5 Sigma, stock code: AIFC), a cryptocurrency company supported by the Trump family, is in talks with blockchain technology company Perpetuals.com to sell its core business at a price of up to $15 million. The news marks a major reversal in the company's strategy—just one year ago, AI Financial bought a small payments company for $750 million, but since then the deal has cost almost everyone except the Trump family. Currently, the terms of the deal have not been finalized, negotiations are still ongoing, and there is a possibility of variables or breakdown. [Crypto venture capital firm Paradigm raised 1.2 billion US dollars to bet on the field of AI and crypto fusion] Comparing news, Paradigm, a venture capital firm focusing on the crypto sector, has raised about 1.2 billion US dollars and plans to increase its investment layout in artificial intelligence (AI) related projects. According to people familiar with the matter, this fundraising will focus on AI infrastructure, intelligent agents (AI Agents), and the direction of AI and blockchain technology integration. With the new fund, Paradigm hopes to capture the next wave of technological innovation and expand its investment footprint in emerging technology sectors. Founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm is an industry-leading crypto venture capital...

44d agoWendy#Compare Daily Picks

Are Chinese University of Science and Technology+Shibata's college bullies and money industry bosses running away from New York?

Another exchange in the coin industry is about to disappear. AscendEX (Pinnacle, formerly BitMax) ceased operations. According to AscendEX's official website announcement, the platform will completely stop all business operations from July 1, 2026 — it will no longer provide account opening, deposit, trading, pledge, loan and activity services, and will only retain limited account access to handle withdrawals, KYC updates, complaints and export transaction records. Since July 6, all withdrawal channels have been automatically processed, and all have been reviewed manually. The official even bluntly stated in the announcement: “Withdrawals may be delayed or may not be processed during the review period. There is currently no guarantee on the timing or amount of withdrawals”. AscendEX blamed the shutdown on the “current market environment” and the impact of the European Union's Crypto Asset Market Regulation Act (MiCA), claiming that it was forced to shut down due to a lack of MiCA authorization combined with “broader regulatory, financial, and operational factors.” ZachXBT serial warning: From “withdrawal delays” to “almost zero liquid assets” as early as June 26, 2026, on-chain detective ZachXBT issued a community alert on the X platform: several AscendEX users reported that withdrawals were delayed for several days to weeks, or even impossible to process at all. Judging from feedback from communities such as Reddit and X, starting in early June, many users will stay in the “Initiating” (initiating) state for a long time after submitting their withdrawal requests. The problem seems to have come to an end as early as May. An AscendEX user told Bitpush: “My withdrawals have been restricted since May 6th, long before AscendEX's official shutdown announcement. AscendEX asked me to stop my public activity and notified me to enter a phased settlement process on June 12. On June 24, they authorized the first settlement withdrawal, but then the withdrawal was marked “Rejected” without any TXID. This isn't just a MiCA issue. ” The user claims that there are still 34,174 USDT + 25,592 XRP that have not been settled or withdrawn. After reviewing AscendEX's known hot wallets, ZachXBT found that the platform had almost no reserves on mainstream assets such as ETH, USDT, and SOL. Blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence shows that currently (as of July 8, EST), AscendEX label addresses only hold about $13.45 million in crypto assets, of which more than $12 million is concentrated in the platform's own ASD token and Unbound Science's Unite token. To put it bluntly, there are almost zero mainstream stablecoins and liquid assets that can actually be used to pay user withdrawals. However, while the platform freezes withdrawals, it still accepts user deposits normally. By July 2, the situation had worsened further. ZachXBT revealed that AscendEX's official X account has been suspended for 9 consecutive days since the initial warning. A victim of large sums said he had contacted AscendEX co-founder George Cao several times to report issues and received no response. At the time, ZachXBT publicly advised users whose funds were frozen to report cases to the law enforcement authorities and supervisory authorities in the country or region where they are located. By July 8, ZachXBT stated that its verified user claims had reached millions of dollars, but judging from AscendEX's public hot wallet situation, there is currently almost no current assets available to pay for relevant withdrawal requests. Another detail is worth noting. On-chain records show that on June 20 — six days earlier than ZachXBT's initial warning — the AscendEX wallet balance suddenly crashed, evaporating more than $240 million in a single day. Strangely enough, less than two months ago, the address had a capital injection of about the same size, and since then the reserves have stabilized at around 50 million US dollars. That $240 million capital injection held up the books for a short time, but it was emptied all at once on June 20. This means that the core liquidity of the platform had already been artificially taken away 11 days before the official claim was forced to shut down due to MiCA regulations. Was it an early transfer? Is debt repayment? Or is it the last “retreat” for some? No one knows yet. The only sure thing is: the money is gone. The founding team disputes AscendEX founder George Cao (real name Jing Cao), who has a gorgeous resume. According to Linkedin, Cao Jing has a doctorate degree in computer science from the University of Chicago. He...

45d agoWendy#AscendEX #CEX #Exchanges #Shut down the tide topic #original #Cao Jing #Run away #Zenith #hacks

ZachXBT: AscendEX has almost no liquid assets available to pay user withdrawals

Comparing news, on-chain detective ZachXBT released verification information. The crypto exchange AscendEX has officially announced that it will stop operating, and the platform's current liquid assets can hardly cover users' withdrawal needs. The platform announced that the shutdown was mainly affected by the market environment and EU MiCA regulatory policies, and the official admits that withdrawals may be drastically delayed or even impossible to process. ZachXBT's inspection found that the amount of claims to be paid by users amounts to millions of dollars, but the amount of liquid assets available in the platform's hot wallet is seriously insufficient. Currently, AscendEX is evaluating its financial and user asset disposal plans, and subsequent disposal arrangements will be announced separately.

45d agoWendy#AscendEX #ZachXBT