Crypto Exchange Hotbit Suspends Service After Law Enforcement Freezes Its Funds, Subpoenas Senior Managers – Exchanges Bitcoin News

Hotbit, a crypto exchange, has suspended trading, withdraws and deposits as well as funding. The exchange said law enforcement has frozen some of its funds and subpoenaed some senior managers as they investigate a criminal case involving the exchange’s former employee.

Hotbit suspends trading, deposits, and withdrawals

Hotbit cryptocurrency exchange has announced that its services have been suspended on Wednesday. According to the company,

Hotbit regrets to announce that trading, withdraw, withdrawal, and funding will be suspended. At this time, the exact date of resumption is not known.

In the exchange it was stated that the reason the suspension occurred because an ex-management employee is suspect of violating criminal law.

In April, the employee quit Hotbit. Unbeknownst to the exchange, he was involved in a project last year that was in violation of the company’s internal practice, the announcement details.

Hotbit’s senior management have been subpoenaed by law enforcement since July. The exchange said that they are now assisting authorities with the investigation.

Hotbit’s funds were also frozen by the law enforcement, which prevented it from operating normally.

Hotbit’s website states that the exchange has more than 700,000 registered users from more than 210 countries. “By focusing on the world’s emerging markets such as the markets of Russia, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and Southeast Asian countries, Hotbit has gathered its users from Twitter, Telegram, VK, and Facebook,” the website details.

It does not offer services to users from certain countries such as the U.S. and China.

Hotbit is applying for the release of the frozen assets, the exchange noted, emphasizing that “The assets of all users are safe” on its platform. Moreover, the company claims that all users’ assets and data on the exchange “are secure and correct,” elaborating:

Hotbit will resume normal services as soon the assets are freed from frozen.

Hotbit, the most recent crypto exchange to stop withdrawing funds has been named. German crypto exchange Nuri (formerly Bitwala) filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Recent withdrawals were stopped by Zipmex, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. They also filed for a moratorium. Crypto lenders Voyager Digital, Celsius Network and other crypto companies have also filed for bankruptcy.

Hotbit’s suspension of service because of an investigation into a former employee has prompted some questions. Please comment below.

Kevin Helms

Kevin is a graduate of Austrian Economics. He discovered Bitcoin in 2011, and has been an advocate ever since. His main interests are in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, cryptography, and intersections between economics, cryptography, and Cryptography.