AscendEX to Shut Down July 1, 2026 as Liquidity Dries Up and Founder Remains Silent

AscendEX (formerly BitMax) is preparing to wind down as user withdrawal problems intensify and on-chain data points to a severe liquidity shortfall. In an official notice, AscendEX said it will fully cease business operations beginning July 1, 2026. The exchange will stop offering account opening, deposits, trading, staking, lending and promotional services. It will keep only limited account access for withdrawals, KYC updates, complaints and exporting transaction records. The platform added that starting July 6, all withdrawal requests will be automatically suspended and handled manually. The statement explicitly warned users: "Withdrawals may be delayed, or may not be processed during the review period. The timing or amount of withdrawals cannot be guaranteed at this time." AscendEX attributed the shutdown to the "current market environment" and the impact of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), saying it is being forced to stop operations due to the lack of MiCA authorization alongside "broader regulatory, financial, and operational factors." ZachXBT: from withdrawal delays to near-zero liquid reserves On June 26, 2026, on-chain investigator ZachXBT posted an alert on X after multiple AscendEX users reported withdrawals delayed for days to weeks, or not processed at all. Community feedback on Reddit and X said that since early June, many withdrawal requests remained stuck in an "Initiating" status for extended periods. One user told Bitpush that restrictions began much earlier. "My withdrawals were restricted starting May 6, well before AscendEX's official shutdown announcement," the user said, adding that AscendEX asked them to stop public activity and informed them on June 12 they were entering a phased settlement process. The user said AscendEX authorized a first settlement withdrawal on June 24, but it later showed as "Refunded" with no TXID. The user claims 34,174 USDT and 25,592 XRP remain unsettled. After reviewing AscendEX's known hot wallets, ZachXBT said the exchange appeared to have almost no reserves of major assets such as ETH, USDT and SOL. Arkham Intelligence data shows that as of July 8 (Eastern Time), an AscendEX-labeled address held roughly $13.45 million in crypto assets, with more than $12 million concentrated in the exchange's own ASD token and Unbound Science's UNITE token. In effect, the wallet held little in mainstream stablecoins or other liquid assets that would typically be used to meet withdrawal demand. ZachXBT also noted that while withdrawals were effectively frozen, the platform continued to accept user deposits. By July 2, ZachXBT reported that AscendEX's official X account had been inactive for nine consecutive days since his initial warning. A major affected user said they repeatedly contacted AscendEX cofounder George Cao but received no response. ZachXBT urged users with frozen funds to report the situation to law enforcement and regulators in their respective jurisdictions. On July 8, ZachXBT said verified user claims had reached millions of dollars, while the public hot-wallet information still showed virtually no liquid assets available to satisfy withdrawals. A $240 million one-day drain On-chain records cited by ZachXBT show a sharp wallet balance drop on June 20—six days before his first alert—with more than $240 million leaving in a single day. The same address had received a similarly sized injection less than two months earlier, after which reserves appeared stable around $50 million. The roughly $240 million top-up briefly boosted the balance, but the funds were fully withdrawn on June 20. That timing suggests that well before the exchange publicly framed its closure as MiCA-driven, core liquidity may already have been removed. Whether it was a preemptive transfer, debt repayment, or an attempted exit remains unclear. Founder profile and internal allegations AscendEX founder Cao Jing (George Cao; real name Jing Cao) has a Wall Street and quantitative finance background. LinkedIn lists him as holding a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Chicago. He founded quantitative trading fund Delpha Capital Management and served as CIO, and previously worked at Barclays Capital in New York and London as Director of Quantitative Investments, overseeing quantitative trading of equities and index products across U.S., European and Asian markets. Cao co-founded BitMax in 2018 with Ariel Ling; the exchange rebranded to AscendEX in March 2021. At its peak, AscendEX ranked among the world's top ten centralized exchanges. In 2021, it raised a $50 million Series B led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC at a $450 million valuation. Cao also controls Aimfinity Investment Corp., a Nasdaq-listed SPAC (listed in 2022). Aimfinity announced in October 2023 a merger with Taiwanese health smartwatch company Docter for $60 million. CryptoWiki (@forevergalxy) shared additional claims about internal operations, including that Cao's wife Jasmine Ma served as finance lead in New York, as well as allegations of unpaid wages, alleged fabrication of investment and financing relationships with the Malaysian royal family and the office of the Turkish president to reassure employees, and accusations of user-asset transfers. These allegations are not publicly verifiable. A history of major hacks AscendEX has faced a major crisis before. In December 2021, its EVM, Tron and Solana hot wallets were hacked. Security firm PeckShield estimated losses at about $77.7 million, including roughly $60 million in Ethereum-based tokens. The incident has been linked to the North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group. AscendEX moved unaffected assets to cold storage and promised to compensate users, continuing to operate for nearly five more years. Now, as the shutdown takes effect and new complaints surface, ZachXBT has reiterated on X: "No one should deposit funds to this CEX," urging affected users to report the case to local law enforcement and regulators to pursue accountability. As of publication, AscendEX's official X account remains inactive, and Cao has not issued a public statement. A familiar crypto collapse playbook AscendEX's downfall fits a pattern the industry has seen repeatedly: a polished Wall Street narrative, sizable funding and rebranding, followed by a hack, dwindling liquidity, a quiet shutdown, and leadership silence—leaving users facing potential losses. The episode adds fresh strain to confidence in centralized exchanges, already under pressure since the 2022 FTX collapse. Note: Figures and wallet data referenced above are drawn from publicly available sources.