AscendEX exchange shuts down due to MiCA and liquidity problems

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AscendEX exchange shuts down

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Eugene Komchuk

57 min ago

AscendEX exchange shuts down due to MiCA and liquidity problems — Another crypto company is shutting down.

Cryptocurrency exchange AscendEX announced that it has ceased operations as of July 1. The company attributed the decision to regulatory pressure and financial difficulties.

In an official notice, the platform said that several factors had affected its operations. Among them was the entry into force of the European Union’s MiCA regulation on July 1. AscendEX does not have the necessary authorization to operate under these rules. In addition, the exchange faced financial and operational problems.

The company also warned that users may not be able to recover the full amount of crypto assets they held on the platform.

“We relied on an agreed strategic transaction that was supposed to provide liquidity to grow the platform, but the counterparty failed to meet its obligations. Broader conditions in the crypto market created additional pressure,” AscendEX said.

The exchange added that it is now assessing the company’s financial position and considering possible options for account holders.

Access to accounts is now restricted and available only for limited user offboarding procedures. Automated withdrawals have been paused. All withdrawal requests are subject to manual review, so their processing may take longer.

“Today, we cannot provide assurances regarding timing or amounts. No account holder or group of account holders is receiving priority outside the documented review process,” the notice said.

Liquidity problems

Last month, onchain investigator ZachXBT said he had noticed numerous complaints about delayed withdrawals from AscendEX. According to him, users had been waiting for their requests to be processed for several days or weeks.

ZachXBT also said that an analysis of the platform’s hot wallets showed almost empty reserves of major assets, including ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL. In follow-up messages, he recommended that users contact law enforcement agencies and regulators to hold the platform accountable.

More about AscendEX

AscendEX is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2018 under the name BitMax. The platform was founded by Wall Street veterans, and the exchange positioned itself as a global venue for trading digital assets. It offered spot, margin, and futures trading, as well as passive income products, including staking and Earn services. According to the platform itself, users had access to more than 200 blockchain projects and trading pairs.

AscendEX operated in the international market and was focused primarily on active traders, not just retail crypto buyers. What set it apart from many smaller exchanges was its focus on derivatives, margin trading, copy trading, and access to a wide range of altcoins. At the same time, the platform did not have authorization under the European MiCA regulation, which fully entered into force on July 1, 2026, and this became one of the factors behind the shutdown of its operations.

Notably, until recently, AscendEX had been actively listing various tokens.

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