On-chain investigator ZachXBT has raised concerns about the financial health of crypto exchange AscendEX after multiple users reported withdrawal delays lasting from several days to weeks.
The warning comes after ZachXBT reviewed wallet activity linked to the exchange and claimed its publicly identified hot wallets appear to hold limited amounts of major cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and Solana (SOL).
I recommend your team answers the following questions for the community:
1) Why are AscendEX users reporting delayed or incomplete withdrawals?
2) Why do the AscendEX hot wallets currently not have any liquid assets?
No one should deposit funds to this CEX. pic.twitter.com/tXDSm3bo2E
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 26, 2026
AscendEX, formerly known as BitMax, had not responded publicly to the allegations at the time of writing.
Are delayed withdrawals a sign of liquidity problems?
ZachXBT said he reviewed wallet data using blockchain analytics platforms Arkham and TRM Labs after users complained that withdrawal requests remained unprocessed.
According to his findings, the exchange’s known hot wallets appear to lack significant balances of large-cap assets commonly used to process customer withdrawals.
“I have observed multiple reports that the centralized exchange AscendEX is delaying user withdrawals for days/weeks or not processing withdrawals,”
ZachXBT wrote.
While the findings have raised concerns about the exchange’s liquidity, they do not confirm that AscendEX is insolvent. Exchanges often store assets in cold wallets or with third-party custodians, meaning not all reserves are visible through publicly identified hot wallets.
Missing TXIDs leave users seeking answers
AscendEX’s support documentation states that withdrawals pass through internal verification before being broadcast to the blockchain. Once a transaction is submitted, users are expected to receive a transaction ID (TXID), allowing them to track the transfer on-chain.
The exchange advises customers to contact support if a TXID has not been generated within two hours of a withdrawal request.
Several users, however, claim their balances were deducted without receiving a TXID, preventing them from confirming whether funds were ever sent to the blockchain. Such situations often increase concerns during periods of withdrawal delays because users have no way to independently verify the status of their assets.
Exchange faces renewed scrutiny over reserve transparency
Founded in 2018 by George Jing Cao and Ariel Ling, AscendEX rebranded from BitMax after expanding its trading services. The platform also suffered a major security breach in December 2021, when about $78 million in digital assets was stolen in an attack later linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
The latest concerns come as crypto investors continue to pay close attention to exchange reserves following several industry failures in recent years. Earlier this month, ZachXBT also questioned the reserve backing of crypto exchange JuCoin after users reported similar withdrawal issues.
For now, ZachXBT’s claims remain unverified by AscendEX. A public update explaining the reported delays and providing verifiable proof of reserves could help address growing concerns among users awaiting access to their funds.
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