Withdrawals Locked Days Before BitMart’s Closure: Founder Rejects Audit Call

As the final trading day on August 26 approaches at BitMart, users report being unable to withdraw their funds and some employees claim unpaid salaries and severance, while founder Sheldon Lee claimed the X account calling for an independent audit was “hacked.”

According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange BitMart announced last month that it would cease operations and that August 26 would be the final trading day. However, some users on the platform, which is in the process of shutting down, stated they have been unable to access assets in their accounts and that withdrawal transactions have not been processed since the announcement on July 26.

In a post from the exchange’s Chinese X account, Lee and business partner Yi Li were urged to open the company’s financial records to an independent audit. The post requested independent verification of wallets, assets, liabilities, and available reserves, giving a deadline of August 19 for a response. The same post also alleged that some employees had not received their July salaries and the severance pay they were owed.

BitMart founder claims hack

Sheldon Lee argued that the X account in question was hacked and that the claims in the post were “fabricated rumors.” Lee stated they would contact the police during U.S. daytime hours and send a lawyer’s letter to X requesting a technical investigation and data analysis. Regarding unpaid employee salaries, he stated that employee assets are not prioritized over customer assets.

Some users reported that VIP managers cut off communication with them the day withdrawals stopped, while one user asked about $10 million in assets they could not access. On-chain researcher ZachXBT also said that if the company has sufficient liquidity, it should return funds to all users. Echo Base CEO Roshan Dharia stated they had offered a funded restructuring package to BitMart but received no response.