The crypto exchange giant OKEx announced to freeze all withdrawals, for the time being, meaning that all of the money that enters the exchange will be stuck there until further notice. Despite this, however, someone decided to transfer $22 million in Bitcoin from another major exchange, Huobi, directly to OKEx. The crypto exchange revealed that one of their private key holders is currently cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations where required.
An unknown user transferred $22.5 million worth BTC to OKEx.
Soon after the freezing of withdrawals by the crypto exchange, an unknown user transferred a total of 1,995 BTC worth $22.5 million from Huobi to OKEx. The transfer was reported by a crypto tracking service, Whale Alert, which explained that the funds arrived via two separate transactions. One of the transactions was worth 998 BTC, while the other brought only one coin less — 997 BTC. Both transactions were roughly worth $11.3 million. The first transaction took place at 3.51 am EST, while the second one came about three hours later, at 6:22 am EST. After the massive transfer, the crypto exchange now holds 276,184 BTC in its wallets, according to Chain.info.
🚨 🚨 🚨 3,500 #BTC (39,627,432 USD) transferred from #OKEx to #Binance
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 16, 2020
OKEx assures users’ funds are safe.
The abrupt withdrawal suspension by OKEx created an outcry in the crypto community. Interestingly, large amounts in Bitcoin, Ether, and Tron were taken out from OKEx-affiliated wallets before the suspension, Whale Alert, a blockchain tracker and analytics service revealed. The crypto exchange further noted that they would resume cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction. OKEx assured that its other services remain uninterrupted and the customers’ assets are safe.
The OKEx statement noted, “according to 8.1 Service Change and Interruption of the Terms of Service, OKEx may change the Service and/or may also interrupt, suspend or terminate the Service at any time with or without prior notice.”
