Another exchange in the crypto space is about to go under.
AscendEX (formerly BitMax) has ceased operations.
According to the official announcement from AscendEX, the platform will fully cease all business operations starting July 1, 2026—no longer providing account opening, deposits, trading, staking, lending, or promotional services, while retaining limited account access solely for withdrawals, KYC updates, complaints, and transaction record exports. Starting July 6, all withdrawal requests will be automatically suspended and processed manually.
The official statement even explicitly said: "Withdrawals may be delayed, or may not be processed during the review period. The timing or amount of withdrawals cannot be guaranteed at this time."
AscendEX attributed its shutdown to the "current market environment" and the impact of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), stating that it was forced to cease operations due to the lack of MiCA authorization, combined with "broader regulatory, financial, and operational factors."
ZachXBT consecutive alerts: from "withdrawal delays" to "nearly zero liquid assets"
As early as June 26, 2026, on-chain detective ZachXBT posted a community alert on X: multiple AscendEX users reported withdrawal delays ranging from several days to weeks, or even complete failure to process.
According to feedback from communities such as Reddit and X, since early June, many users' withdrawal requests have remained stuck in the "Initiating" state for extended periods.
But signs of the issue appeared as early as May.
An AscendEX user told Bitpush: "My withdrawals were restricted starting May 6, well before AscendEX's official shutdown announcement. AscendEX asked me to cease public activities and notified me on June 12 that I was entering a phased settlement process. On June 24, they authorized the first settlement withdrawal, but it was later marked as 'Refunded' with no TXID. This is not merely a MiCA issue."
The user claims that 34,174 USDT and 25,592 XRP have not yet been settled and withdrawn.
After reviewing AscendEX's known hot wallets, ZachXBT found that the platform has almost no reserves for major assets such as ETH, USDT, and SOL.
Blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence shows that, as of July 8 Eastern Time, the AscendEX labeled address holds only about $13.45 million in crypto assets, with over $12 million concentrated in the platform’s own ASD token and Unbound Science’s UNITE token. In simple terms, there is virtually zero mainstream stablecoins or liquid assets available to fulfill user withdrawal requests.
However, while the platform has frozen withdrawals, it continues to accept user deposits normally.
By July 2, the situation had worsened further. ZachXBT revealed that the official AscendEX X account had remained inactive for nine consecutive days since the initial warning.
A major victim stated that they repeatedly contacted AscendEX co-founder George Cao to report the issue but received no response.
At the time, ZachXBT publicly advised users whose funds were frozen to report the incident to law enforcement and regulatory authorities in their respective countries or regions.
By July 8, ZachXBT stated that the verified user claims had reached millions of dollars, but based on the publicly available information on AscendEX’s hot wallet, there is virtually no liquid asset available to fulfill related withdrawal requests.
Another detail is also worth noting.
On-chain records show that on June 20—six days before ZachXBT’s initial warning—the AscendEX wallet balance suddenly plummeted, losing over $240 million in a single day.
Curiously, just under two months ago, this address received a fund injection of a similar scale, after which its reserves remained stable at around $50 million. The $240 million injection briefly boosted the balance, but was completely withdrawn on June 20.
This means that 11 full days before the official claim of being forced to shut down due to MiCA regulations, the platform’s core liquidity had already been artificially drained.
Is it a preemptive transfer? Debt repayment? Or someone’s final “exit”? No one knows for sure. The only certainty is:
The money is gone.
Founding team controversy
AscendEX founder Cao Jing (George Cao, real name Jing Cao) has an impressive background.
According to LinkedIn, Cao Jing holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Chicago. He founded the quantitative trading fund Delpha Capital Management and served as Chief Investment Officer. Previously, he worked at Barclays Capital’s New York and London offices as Director of Quantitative Investments, overseeing quantitative trading of equities and index products across U.S., European, and Asian markets.
In 2018, Cao Jing co-founded BitMax with Ariel Ling, and in March 2021, the brand was upgraded and renamed AscendEX.
At its peak, AscendEX ranked among the top ten centralized exchanges globally. In 2021, the platform completed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC, with a valuation of $450 million.
Cao Jing also controls Aimfinity Investment Corp., a SPAC listed on Nasdaq (listed in 2022), which announced in October 2023 a merger with the Taiwanese health smartwatch company Docter for a consideration of $60 million.
The Wall Street doctor with brilliant prospects and controller of a Nasdaq-listed company is now silent toward users trapped with their funds.
The X account CryptoWiki (@forevergalxy) disclosed additional internal team information, including that Cao Jing’s wife, Jasmine Ma, served as the platform’s financial lead in New York, allegations of unpaid wages, claims that internal parties fabricated false investment and financing relationships with the Malaysian royal family and the office of the Turkish president to reassure employees, and accusations of asset transfers from users. Due to the lack of publicly verifiable evidence, further details are not elaborated here; interested parties may refer to: (https://x.com/forevergalxy/status/2074021795858952588)
From the "peak" to the "abyss," just five years.
Previously had a record: In 2021, $78 million was stolen by hackers.
AscendEX is not facing a crisis for the first time.
In December 2021, the platform's EVM hot wallet, Tron hot wallet, and Solana hot wallet were hacked. Security firm PeckShield estimated losses of approximately $77.7 million, with Ethereum-based tokens accounting for about $60 million alone.
This attack has been linked to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group.
At the time, AscendEX transferred unaffected assets to cold wallets and committed to compensating users for their losses. The platform indeed weathered that crisis and continued operating for nearly five years.
But now it seems that the $78 million loss back then may have laid the groundwork for today’s collapse. Coupled with the industry’s trust crisis following the FTX collapse in 2022 and intense competition among exchanges during the bear market, AscendEX ultimately could not survive.
As the shutdown announcement was officially revealed, more victims have come forward.
ZachXBT publicly warned on X: "No one should deposit funds to this CEX," and directly advised users affected to report the incident to law enforcement and regulatory authorities in their country or region to hold the responsible parties accountable.
As of publication, AscendEX's official X account remains inactive, and Cao Jing has made no public statement regarding this incident.
Another "too good to be true" story
The collapse of AscendEX illustrates a familiar crypto narrative:
Glamorous Wall Street backdrop + multi-million-dollar funding + ambitious brand overhaul → Hacked → Liquidity drained → Quietly shut down → Founder disappeared → Users lost everything.
This is not only a nightmare for AscendEX users, but also another blow to trust in the entire CEX industry.
There are also rumors within the community that other industry players attempted to offer assistance, but given the current situation, it’s likely they are powerless to turn things around, and the matter will probably fade away without resolution.
The peak has passed—who will be next?
Note: The data screenshots and information in this article are compiled from publicly available sources.
Author: Bear Cookie
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