Today, cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit announced “suspending trading, deposit, withdrawal and funding functions” without a specific deadline.
In explaining the decision, Hotbit stated:
“A former Hotbit manager, who left in April of this year, was involved in a project in 2021 that law enforcement now believes is suspected of violating criminal law, but Hotbit does didn’t know. As a result, several Hotbit senior managers have received subpoenas from law enforcement since the end of July and are assisting with the investigation. Furthermore, law enforcement has frozen some of Hotbit’s funds, which has prevented Hotbit from operating properly.”
The company further stated that its remaining employees were uninvolved in the project and had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activities.
Regarding frozen assets, Hotbit said:
“All user’s assets are safe on Hotbit. Hotbit will resume normal operations once the asset is ‘released.’ All user assets and data on Hotbit are safe. However, we are still actively cooperating with law enforcement agencies in their investigations and are constantly communicating with them through our attorneys and seeking the release of funds.”
Hotbit is currently headquartered in Hong Kong. Due to the trading freeze, all unfilled orders will be liquidated. Meanwhile, Hotbit stated that income from users’ investment products would be distributed normally, and a “compensation plan” for users will be announced when the site is back up and running.
