Renowned on-chain detective ZachXBT has taken an unprecedented step by publishing the personal phone number and Venmo account details of AscendEX co-founder George (Jin) Cao. This decision came amid a flood of user complaints that the platform has been delaying or outright failing to process withdrawals for weeks, while continuing to accept deposits. The situation appears highly alarming and resembles classic signs of impending insolvency.
Systemic Failure or Hidden Liquidity Issues?
The first warnings about issues at AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) appeared in ZachXBT's Telegram channel as early as June 26. After examining the exchange's hot wallets via Arkham and TRM services, the analyst concluded that the platform's reserves are critically depleted in key assets, including ETH, USDT, and SOL. This directly points to serious liquidity problems. Notably, in the nine days following his initial post, the exchange has not published a single message on X (Twitter), and user withdrawals remain unprocessed.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that in December 2021, AscendEX was already hacked by the North Korean Lazarus group, which stole $78 million. The current silence from management and lack of communication with clients only adds fuel to the fire.
Community Reaction and Call to Action
The disclosure of Cao's contacts was a direct response to the desperate pleas of one affected user, whose withdrawal in KAS tokens was stuck without a transaction ID or any progress. ZachXBT explained that he provided this data so the user would have a direct way to contact the exchange's head and attempt to resolve the issue.
In the comments on ZachXBT's post, other users began mass-requesting new investigations into other platforms. The analyst himself recommended that victims not count on voluntary refunds and immediately document all evidence to file complaints with law enforcement and regulators in their respective countries. As of publication, AscendEX has not officially commented on the situation.
Expert opinion: AscendEX's silence and refusal to process withdrawals while simultaneously accepting deposits is a classic red flag. Users should act quickly: gather evidence, contact the police and regulatory authorities. In the current climate, hoping for a refund without external intervention is extremely risky. This incident once again underscores that holding significant sums on centralized exchanges carries a high level of counterparty risk.