- OKEx users will be able to withdraw their funds from the exchange from November 27 following over four weeks of stasis
- Star Xu, the OKEx founder, has “completed assisting the authorities” and will return to the business imminently
- OKEx users have been unable to withdraw since October 16
OKEx has announced that withdrawals on the platform will resume on November 27 after the “private key holder” whose absence had caused withdrawals to be suspended was cleared to return to the company. The individual, founder Star Xu, was known to have been cooperating with a police investigation since mid-October. According to OKEx he has now “completed assisting the authorities” and is back at OKEx HQ, meaning that the exchange will be able to become fully operational again.
Xu Back In The Office
OKEx withdrawals have been halted since October 16, when rumors that Xu was being investigated by Chinese officials began to surface. China is known to be cracking down on illicit practices in the cryptocurrency markets, as evidenced by the alleged investigation of Huobi COO Zhu Jiawei and the news that Chinese Bitcoin miners are having difficulty paying their electricity bills due to their bank accounts being frozen.
There is no suggestion now that Xu was under arrest and may instead have been assisting the authorities in explaining how OKEx operates in order to help clear the exchange of any wrongdoing. Wu Blockchain broke the news of Xu’s release on Wednesday, with OKEx confirming yesterday via a blog post.
OKEx Prepares For Potential Run on the Exchange
Following Xu’s release, OKEx users can now withdraw their funds, with the team conducting “strict security checks” of the hot wallet system to make sure everything is in place for what could be a small scale run on the exchange.
The exchange has also promised to launch “significant user loyalty reward campaigns” in the near future in order to “express our deep apologies and most sincere gratitude to our community”.
