Singapore-based crypto exchange Zipmex said on Thursday night Hong Kong time (HKT) it will prolong its customer withdrawal freeze until Friday “to prevent any technical issues,” without specifying a time.
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Fast facts
- Zipmex did not say when its withdrawal function would resume on Friday, while as of 9:25 a.m. HKT, screenshots from its Telegram group showed that withdrawal was still unavailable.
- Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) questioned the exchange on Thursday to clarify its amount of customer assets under management and details of how deposited funds were used.
- Zipmex had announced on Thursday that it would lift the withdrawal freeze at 7 p.m. HKT that day.
- Zipmex paused withdrawals on Wednesday “until further notice” and blamed the “financial difficulties of our key business partners” caused by volatile markets.
- Zipmex said in an announcement sent to a Telegram group that they have US$48 million in exposure to crypto lender Babel Finance and US$5 million exposure to Celsius, while multiple media outlets citing industry sources said that it lost around US$100 million that it lent to Babel Finance.
- Crypto unicorn Babel Finance suspended withdrawals in June, while Celsius, one of the biggest crypto lenders, filed for bankruptcy a week ago.
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