The crypto exchange Hotbit announced on its official Twitter at 12 pm on Monday (May 22) that it has officially ended its operation for 5 years and 4 months. Since then, it has stopped all exchange functions. All users must Withdraw all remaining assets before 12 o'clock. The exchange had previously reported that company executives were under criminal investigation by China, but officials did not elaborate.
"Time to step down and take a bow," Hotbit wrote.
“For 5 years and 4 months, the Hotbit team has proudly participated in a wonderful crypto show with 5 million users. However, it is with great regret that we have decided to cease all centralized exchange (CEX) operations starting from Monday. We kindly ask all Users have until 12:00 pm on June 21 to withdraw the remaining assets.”
According to Hotbit’s explanation, due to the deterioration of operations and changes in the crypto industry, it was found that the current operating model that supports multiple assets is unsustainable.
This exchange carries the memories of many senior investors in the currency circle. The official wrote: "Hotbit has been characterized by providing a rich variety of assets and value-added methods from the beginning. Hotbit was the first to list SHIB, KSM, GRIN, etc. Among the many emerging asset exchanges, it was the first to provide Staking services starting with ATOM, and the first to use Compound to carry out Defi mining business. However, due to the uncertainty of the industry, various opportunities also contain many risks. Hotbit has also It has encountered multiple cyber attacks and project flaws being exploited by malicious users, causing heavy losses. Therefore, the Hotbit team believes that from a risk management perspective, the operating model that supports diversified assets is unsustainable."
As early as August 10, 2022, Hotbit had suspended withdrawals and transactions. Officials said at the time that the suspension was due to the involvement of a former Hotbit manager who left in April in a project that allegedly violated criminal laws. Law enforcement authorities froze some of Hotbit's funds, causing Hotbit to be unable to operate normally.
The company emphasized its cooperation with law enforcement agencies in their investigations and continued to communicate with law enforcement agencies through lawyers to apply for the unfreezing of assets. The announcement stated: "Hotbit will resume normal services immediately after the assets are unfrozen. The assets and data of all users on Hotbit are safe and correct."
Although Hotbit did not announce which country's laws its former top executives violated, many netizens estimate that the company was investigated by the Chinese government and had its funds frozen. Some netizens also pointed out that even if Hotbit's assets are frozen, only cash funds will be frozen, and the cryptocurrency storage will not be affected. They are worried about whether there are management personnel involved in the escape.
Hotbit also suffered a hacker attack in 2021. At that time, more than 2 million users were affected and it was down for more than a week for maintenance.
Following the regulatory announcement issued by the People's Bank of China in 2021, Hotbit wrote: "In order to cooperate with relevant regional policies and regulations, Hotbit will impose functional restrictions on 86 mobile phone registered users in China from July 1, 2021, related account transaction functions and recharges Features will be unavailable."
It was also from that time that Hotbit's trading volume continued to plummet, and it eventually went on the road to ceasing operations.
But now it seems that everything can only become a memory, and Hotbit is about to enter history and become a new victim in a new wave of "explosion".
