BitMart Users Demand Answers Over Withdrawal Issues, Unpaid Salaries Ahead of August 19 Deadline

BitMart users and employees have asked for an explanation from the company concerning its assets, as well as the restrictions on withdrawing money from the crypto exchange by August 19th, amidst concerns over customer funds and employee payments. In a public statement posted on X, which was addressed to Sheldon Lee, the founder of BitMart, and Yi Li, it was stated that a lot of people were still having trouble withdrawing their funds, as well as that some employees were not paid for the last month.

Users Seek Third-Party Verification of Exchange Reserves and Liabilities

The statement required that BitMart should give verifiable information about its wallets, holdings, liabilities, and reserves, which could be used to settle withdrawal requests. It also required the exchange to allow third-party examination of the amounts rather than depending on internal statements from the organisation. In a translated version of the statement, the group called on BitMart to “disclose the wallets,” “disclose the assets,” “disclose the liabilities,” and “disclose the actual usable reserves.”

These requests were made just weeks after BitMart revealed that it was going to shut down its trading platform after operating for nine years. BitMart announced that it will end registration, deposits, and trading activities but allow users to withdraw their funds on July 26. According to BitMart, all of its trading operations were scheduled to end on August 26 before the company closed its operations on January 31, 2027. The company cited its operational status, market conditions, and plans for its decision to close without specifying a single incident that led to such a decision.

In addition, BitMart made a request for the investigation of accounts, subsidiaries, trusts, and any other arrangement that could have managed funds related to users. Li Yi was directly asked to reveal the source and owner of the funds kept in the accounts related to her. In the open letter, it was mentioned that unverified materials suggested that Li's accounts were managing funds in the tens of millions of dollars, and there were withdrawal records in batches.

An open letter specified August 19 as the date when BitMart has to disclose its remaining asset information and give its plan on how to repay its customers. According to the plan, BitMart has to disclose the value of its remaining assets and liabilities, calculate how much customers can be repaid, and in what order they will be repaid. Moreover, users asked for dates of the start and completion of the repayment, information about the party overseeing the procedure, and assurance that BitMart will undergo a third-party audit.