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At the moment, Bitcoin is still at the center of a lot of market attention whether people are still excited about the Bull Run, shocked and a little anxious about the recent pullbacks or unfazed about all of these.
However, one piece of information that is also gaining rounds comes from Hong Kong. If a certain thread on Twitter is to be believed, it would seem that HitBTC – a major cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong Kong – is currently bankrupt as account holders have had serious difficulty withdrawing funds for quite a few weeks now.
The Twitter Thread
An account known as CryptoMedication (@ProofofResearch) has posted a thread on Twitter with the aim of informing its more than 20 thousand followers, that HitBTC is having serious problems. The first tweet read:
1/ @hitbtc is insolvent. Surprised they’re still in operation. Here’s a thread showing how.
That’s when I discovered that @hitbtc has liquidated down 720k bitcoins. They have about 350.0 (three hundred fifty) bitcoins remaining.
— CryptoMedication (@ProofofResearch) May 18, 2019
The account then goes ahead to post screenshots of a few users on both Telegram and Reddit who have complained about unusual difficulty with regard to withdrawing their crypto funds, for a few weeks.
2/ Users on Telegram and Reddit have had trouble receiving *crypto* (not fiat) withdrawals for some weeks now. Complaints have amassed through Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram. The @hitbtc is ‘banned’ for some reason. pic.twitter.com/8o5FErTawY
— CryptoMedication (@ProofofResearch) May 18, 2019
On the third tweet, the account quoted another thread from Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) on March 28. The popular Bitcoin developer also posted a thread which began with a complaint, accusing HitBTC of theft.
Luke Dashjr said:
“Looks like @hitbtc have decided to go full scammer, and are stealing balances of users (including me). Luke further accused the exchange of “locking accounts and making unreasonable demands for private information, which many can’t provide even if they wanted to. And when you don’t/can’t comply, they just keep your bitcoins instead of closing your account and sending them to you.”
ProofofResearch, however, noted that Luke’s problem had been solved but the fact that there was a problem like this in the first place gives a lot of credence to the HitBTC story.
3/ The most infamous withdrawal issue with @hitbtc came in the form of @LukeDashjr making his qualms about the exchange known a month or two ago.
This was eventually resolved though (probably because he’s Luke Dash) https://t.co/GnDEbgqzTw
— CryptoMedication (@ProofofResearch) May 18, 2019
Is HitBTC Really Insolvent?
According to the thread, HitBTC’s main wallet shows that 723,339 BTC was received by the exchange but 719,920 Bitcoins were also sent out. At this time, HitBTC has not disclosed any information about whether they really only have 350 bitcoins and are actually insolvent.