BitForex to Open for Withdrawals Following Chinese Police Investigation

As a researcher who has closely followed the developments at BitForex, I cannot help but feel a sense of relief and anticipation as the exchange prepares to resume withdrawals after a long five-month hiatus. The news came as a surprise, following the sudden detainment and investigation of the team by the Jiangsu Province police in China on February 23, 2024. This unexpected event led to a complete halt of all operations and services on the exchange, leaving users unable to access their assets or make withdrawals.

BitForex, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it will allow users to make withdrawals once more after being offline for five months due to an ongoing investigation led by the Jiangsu Provincial police in China.

As an analyst, I’ve come across a post on the X forum where the exchange announced that trading and deposit functions would be temporarily unavailable. However, they assured clients that they could still initiate withdrawals after completing the mandatory Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification process.

On February 23, BitForex unexpectedly shut down, resulting in a substantial withdrawal of approximately $57 million. Consequently, users were prevented from making withdrawals or accessing the platform, triggering a warning from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong.

On February 23, 2024, the Bitforex team encountered unexpected difficulties when they were detained and investigated by the Jiangsu Province police in China. As a result, the platform became unreachable, preventing users from making asset withdrawals that day.

BitForex announced that they will be returning users’ assets to them before shutting down permanently for a thorough correction process.