BitMart is facing a new insolvency allegation after an OpenGradient co-founder said his market-making team could no longer withdraw funds locked on the exchange.
Summary
- An OpenGradient co-founder said his market maker’s BitMart withdrawals remain frozen.
- He alleged BitMart encouraged token holders to lock assets shortly before restricting services.
- BitMart is winding down operations but maintains that withdrawals remain available.
- Founder Sheldon Xia denied misusing funds, but BitMart has not published a full proof-of-reserves report.
Market maker questions BitMart’s solvency
Matthew, a co-founder of decentralized AI network OpenGradient, said his market-making team has funds trapped on BitMart and questioned whether the exchange remains solvent.
According to Matthew, the team cannot withdraw its assets from the centralized trading platform. He also alleged that BitMart continued encouraging token holders to lock funds on the exchange about one week before halting the related services.
Matthew described the timing as “shocking” and claimed the lockup campaign may have been intended to bring additional liquidity onto the platform. BitMart had not issued a direct response to his allegations at the time of writing.
The claims have not been independently verified, and Matthew did not disclose the value or type of assets held by the market maker. There is currently no confirmed evidence establishing that BitMart is insolvent.
However, the complaint adds to mounting questions about the exchange’s ability to process withdrawals during its wind-down.
Withdrawal complaints follow BitMart shutdown
BitMart began a phased shutdown of its global exchange on July 26. It stopped accepting new registrations, crypto and fiat deposits, and new spot orders, while futures accounts entered reduce-only mode.
All spot, futures and other trading services are scheduled to end at 01:00 UTC on Aug. 26. BitMart plans to terminate its trading-platform operations on Jan. 31, 2027.
The exchange says withdrawals remain available. However, requests may undergo identity checks, source-of-funds reviews, wallet-ownership verification, sanctions screening and other security procedures.
BitMart recommended that customers submit withdrawal requests before 05:00 UTC on Aug. 26. Requests submitted later will move into a separate process that the company has yet to detail fully.
Scandic Coin has also reported delayed withdrawals. The project said requests involving approximately 21,898 USDT, 926,635 SNC and another 256 USDT remained unprocessed after being submitted on July 26.
The project did not state that BitMart was insolvent but called on the exchange to provide verifiable evidence that it had enough liquidity to meet its obligations.
BitMart founder denies misusing customer funds
BitMart founder Sheldon Xia responded to broader concerns on Aug. 8, saying the exchange had “not run away” and “will not run away.”
Xia said the company’s core team was conducting an asset inventory, consolidating assets and maintaining its systems. He promised that formal announcements would follow but did not provide reserve figures, withdrawal-processing data or a repayment timetable.
BitMart said in May that it was preparing to publish proof of reserves after earlier withdrawal complaints. That report has not been released.
Proof-of-reserves disclosures can help verify that exchanges control assets corresponding to customer balances. However, they do not establish solvency unless users can also assess the company’s liabilities and off-chain obligations.
The case resembles recent liquidity concerns involving AscendEX, where delayed withdrawals and apparently low hot-wallet balances preceded the exchange’s shutdown. BitMart has not acknowledged any asset shortfall.
US users face additional restrictions
BitMart stopped registering new US customers in May 2022, but the exchange said some older accounts could still be linked to US residents.
The company instructed affected US users to close positions, redeem assets and withdraw their remaining crypto by Aug. 8 at 23:59 UTC. It warned that accounts could face further restrictions after the deadline and that additional compliance reviews might be required.
For users unable to withdraw, the immediate questions are whether BitMart can publish verifiable asset and liability data and provide a clear processing schedule. Until then, the insolvency allegation remains unproven, while reports of frozen funds continue to test the exchange’s claim that its wind-down is orderly.
