Hong Kong-based crypto trading platform AAX halted withdrawals on Sunday and claims it will try to resume trades in 7-10 days, according to a press release from the company. But we’ve certainly heard that one before in crypto land.
AAX claims the halt is due to a “third party partner” whose system was failing during a “system upgrade” that was previously “scheduled,” and has nothing to do with the implosion of FTX, which has sent shockwaves through the fake money community. FTX, which was valued at $US32 ($44) billion, halted withdrawals and then filed for bankruptcy last week, leaving many users with nothing.
“In light of the insolvency of one of our industry’s largest players last week, crypto users are rightfully concerned about the operational and financial stability of centralised digital asset exchanges,” AAX said in a statement published online.
“At AAX, we have always put our users first, and here we would like to share with you the following updates regarding our current situation. We are hopeful that as a community we can brave through these troubling times, together,” the statement continued.
AAX, which reportedly has over 2 million users in 100 countries, according to a press release, claims that it’s suffered “multiple malicious attacks” and is limiting services like withdrawals because, “the technical team has had to manually proofread and restore the system to ensure maximum accuracy of all users’ holdings.”
Interestingly, AAX has created a Google form where users can request withdrawals manually. But this seems like a shockingly bad idea, if only because literally anyone with a Google account can make a Google form and try to spoof AAX’s own form.
“Our Customer Service Team will follow up and strive to resolve the requests manually one by one in close coordination with our security, operations and compliance team to ensure a smooth process. Expect manual withdrawals to take longer than usual,” AAX said in a press release.
AAX says it has set up a “dedicated task force” to provide updates every day at 12:00 p.m. local time in Hong Kong, which is 11:00 a.m. the previous day on the east coast of the U.S. right now.
AAX ends its press release by noting that AAX would never ask for your password, two-factor authentication codes, or any other sensitive information, but acknowledges that the Google form where it’s processing manual withdrawals definitely asks for a copy of ID.
The crypto market was recovering slightly Monday morning after a weekend slide that saw bitcoin dip below $US16,000 ($22,211). Bitcoin is currently trading at $US16,704 ($23,188), up slightly from 24 hours before, and Ethereum is currently trading at $US1,255 ($1,742), up 2.38% from the day earlier.
AAX did not immediately respond to questions emailed early Monday. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.