BitMart’s official Chinese X account was suspected to be taken over by an employee who used the platform to release a lengthy public accountability statement directed at founder Sheldon Xia and his partner, Lin. The statement demanded answers by August 19 over users’ restricted withdrawals, the location and status of customer funds, related fund movements, unpaid employee compensation, and a repayment plan. However, BitMart’s founder Sheldon Xia later confirmed that the X account was hacked and the post was not made by a current employee.
Employee Demands BitMart Disclose User Funds and Withdrawal Constraints
The post called on BitMart’s authority to publicly explain where user funds were present and urged the officials to provide verifiable evidence of the platform’s assets and liabilities. It demanded revelation of wallets, assets, liabilities, and usable reserves, rather than depending on verbal assurances or generic statements.
The employee also questioned why large numbers of users were unable to withdraw their funds in a usual manner. The statement asked who authorizes the withdrawal constraints, when the decision was made, and when authorities first became aware that normal withdrawals were not feasible.
It further questioned whether users were still pushed to deposit funds, trade, or sustain assets on the platform after management became aware of the withdrawal issue. The post also called for an investigation into funds that were reportedly connected to BitMart through affiliated accounts, companies, trusts, and other arrangements. It said any funds originating from user assets should be traced, regardless of whether they were moved between accounts, organizations, or owners.
Questions were also directed at Li Yi concerning reported materials that allegedly point to BitMart-linked accounts holding tens of millions of dollars in assets and record of batch withdrawals.
The statement acknowledged that the context required verification and did not establish an unauthorized act. Instead, it asked that Li Yi provide suitable evidence explaining whether such accounts cease to exist, whose assets they contain, where the money came from, and where the withdrawals are sent.
The post also raised questions about luxury purchases displayed by Li Yi on social media while highlighting that such spending itself does not emphasize wrongdoing. The statement argued that if questions have arisen regarding the source of the funds should be clarified through appropriate evidence.
BitMart Faces August 19 Deadline Amidst Rising Pressure
The public demand comes after BitMart announced on July 26 that it would stop its operations, with trading planned to halt on August 26. Founder Sheldon Xia responded publicly on August 8, stating that users’ funds had not been inappropriately used. The situation had already drawn complaints from 27 large account holders who altogether alleged that more than $3.7 million in assets had been trapped on that platform.
Against this backdrop, the latest statement demanded that the employees get their outstanding salaries and full compensation. It states that rank-and-file employees did not make decisions regarding organization fund management or the shutdown timing, and hence they should not bear the consequences of those decisions.
The statement’s most specific demand is an executable user payment plan by August 19. It asked the authority to disclose the remaining assets, liabilities, expected recovery for users, repayment order, start and completion dates, oversight arrangements, and consent to undergo independent third-party audits.
It also stated that if BitMart management fails to provide a reliable, accountable, and verifiable at least payment plan by the deadline, the statement’s authors will provide available documents, fundraising leads, and related evidence to law enforcement agencies, governance bodies, and media organizations in different jurisdictions.
The statement also called on major crypto exchanges, industry figures, developers, researchers, and media organizations to follow the situation and help facilitate an accountable investigation.
Sheldon Responds to Fund Access Concerns
However, Sheldon commented on the same post and stated that the claims mentioned in the X post are nothing but rumours and planned to file a police report and send a lawyer’s letter to X seeking technical and data forensics. To this, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT commented on Sheldon’s response and questioned as to why the company had not simply returned the funds if it had sufficient liquidity, arguing that the situation had left users without access to their funds and lacked transparency.
Sheldon later clarified that traces had been confirmed and that the Chinese official account involved had been hacked, with the posts, not made by a current employee.
GoogleNews