BitMart Founder Calls Aug. 19 Fund-Disclosure Deadline “Fabricated,” Users Still Blocked

BitMart’s Chinese-language X account gave founders Sheldon Lee and Yi Li until August 19 to publicly disclose the exchange’s wallets, assets, liabilities and usable reserves, only for Lee to dismiss the demand as “fabricated rumors” spread by a hacked account. The dispute lands eight days before BitMart’s scheduled final trading day of August 26, with users still reporting blocked withdrawals and some employees saying they have not been paid their July salaries.

A deadline, a denial, and no numbers

The post, published August 17 on BitMart’s own Chinese-language account, said the situation “isn’t some business dispute that can just be brushed off with a single ‘ceasing operations’ statement.” It called for verifiable proof of wallets, assets, liabilities and reserves, an explanation of who restricted withdrawals and when, and a detailed repayment plan for affected users.

The account also raised, without proof, allegations that accounts linked to Yi Li had held tens of millions of dollars and recorded batch withdrawals. The post itself cautioned that these claims were unverified and that potentially criminal conduct should not be alleged before evidence is complete, while still demanding an accounting of the source and destination of any such funds.

Lee’s response sidestepped the specific demands. He said the exchange had “collected full evidence” showing the account had been compromised and was not being operated by current employees, effectively rejecting the deadline rather than answering it.

Withdrawals still frozen, employees still unpaid

Regardless of who controls the account, the underlying complaints persist: users say they cannot access their own funds, and staff say last month’s salaries and owed compensation have not been paid. BitMart announced last month that it was winding down operations, setting August 26 as its final day of trading.

Onchain investigator ZachXBT is among those pressing BitMart to either restore withdrawals or submit to an independent third-party audit — a request that has not been met with any public commitment from management.

A restructuring offer left on the table

Distressed-asset firm Echo Base said it had proposed a funded restructuring package to BitMart but received no response from the exchange. Echo Base warned that, absent such a deal, the dispute is unlikely to be resolved without a formal court process to address the volume of outstanding customer claims.

For holders with balances still on BitMart, the gap between the platform’s public messaging and the account’s demand for hard numbers is the crux of the problem: no wallet addresses, reserve figures or liability totals have been published by either side, leaving users to weigh a wind-down statement against unresolved withdrawal freezes just days before trading is due to stop entirely.

Read more: BitMart Sets Aug. 19 Deadline for Founder to Disclose Wallets, Xia Calls It Fake

Sources

• cryptopotato.com
• coindesk.com