BitMart Founder Sheldon Xia: Account Hacked and Accusations Are Pure Rumors! But Faced Continuous Doubts from On-Chain Detectives and Big Holders

BitCircle (120BTC.cOM) reported: On August 18, Beijing time, according to CoinDesk, in response to the official Chinese X account's whistleblower-like announcement demanding the submission of asset ledgers by August 19, BitMart founder Sheldon Xia publicly responded, insisting that the content released by the social media account is "purely fabricated rumors". He stated that the official account had previously been illegally controlled without authorization, and the company has completed evidence preservation and will send a lawyer's letter to the X platform and report the case.

However, this statement did not directly address the liquidity concerns raised on the platform, nor did it provide feasible solutions for user withdrawal obstacles and employee salary arrears. Looking back at the platform's existing withdrawal schedule, BitMart announced on July 26 that it would phase out business operations, setting August 26 as the final trading deadline. However, during the implementation of the plan, many investors reported that their account assets could not be withdrawn normally, and some former employees also reported salary arrears for July. The previously promised "orderly withdrawal" by the official is facing substantial doubts from multiple parties.

On-Chain Detectives and Big Holders Raise Continuous Questions

In response to the management's denial, well-known on-chain detective ZachXBT immediately publicly refuted, stating that if the platform indeed has sufficient liquidity for redemption, the most effective way to dispel doubts is to directly pay back the funds in full to the queued users, rather than relying on vague statements to evade responsibility.

Although the total amount of affected assets has not yet been statistically compiled across the network, specific cases of large holdings being trapped have been exposed:

1. Tens of millions of dollars frozen: User BeardStaff publicly reported that digital assets worth approximately $10 million in his account have been unable to be withdrawn since the platform announced its suspension on July 26;

2. Communication channels blocked unilaterally: After abnormalities occurred in the withdrawal process, the VIP account manager previously responsible for connecting with this user directly removed him from the Telegram VIP customer service group;

3. Lack of transparency verification mechanism: The platform has yet to provide an externally verified list of cold and hot wallet reserves (PoR) by a third-party auditing agency, further exacerbating market concerns about the safety of underlying funds.

August 19 Deadline Becomes a Key Watershed

As internal conflicts have become public, the deadline of August 19 has become the core watershed of attention from all parties. The team controlling the official Chinese account previously clearly requested the management to publicly disclose an asset-liability statement, available reserves, and a specific repayment plan verified by a third party, warning that if not fulfilled by the deadline, they would transfer the funding clues and account evidence they possess to multiple financial regulatory and judicial enforcement agencies.

For investors still having funds trapped on the platform, the future market direction will depend on the following core variables:

1. Whether the platform can timely disclose proof of on-chain wallets and available reserves audited by a third party;

2. Whether the management will introduce a legally binding phased repayment plan and timetable;

3. Whether external regulatory and judicial agencies will intervene in asset preservation procedures due to potential repayment defaults.

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