The cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit announced on Thursday that it has “suspended trading, deposit, withdrawal, and financing activities.”
Hotbit did not specify when they would be resumed. The cryptocurrency exchange explained the choice as follows:
It’s not yet apparent how a former employee’s suspected criminal behavior resulted in a law enforcement budget freeze.
“A former Hotbit management employee who left in April this year was, unbeknownst to Hotbit, involved in a project in 2021 that law enforcement authorities now think is suspected of violating criminal laws. As a result, a number of Hotbit senior managers have been subpoenaed by law enforcement since the end of July and are assisting in the investigation.”
The company further asserts that the remaining staff members are not working on the project and are unaware of the suspected illegal acts. According to the cryptocurrency exchange, the assets have been frozen:
“Horbit will resume normal service as soon as the assets are unfrozen. All user’s assets and data on Hotbit are secure and correct. However, we are still actively cooperating with the law enforcement authorities in their investigations and are continuously communicating with them through our lawyers and applying for the release of funds.”
The present headquarters of the cryptocurrency exchange is in Hong Kong. All unfulfilled orders will be canceled as a result of the trading halt, and all holdings in leveraged exchange-traded funds will be closed out. When the website is restored, a “compensation plan” for consumers will be published. The profits from users’ investment items would also be distributed properly. Hotbit handled digital asset transactions totaling $25.6 million over the course of the previous day.
