BitMart faces audit pressure as withdrawal complaints mount before final trading day

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BitMart faces audit pressure

Highlights

BitMart faces mounting user complaints as customers report frozen withdrawals and demand an independent audit ahead of the final trading day on Aug. 26.
Founder Sheldon Lee disputes allegations of blocked withdrawals and unpaid July salaries, claiming a hacked X account, but avoids direct response on proof-of-reserves demands.
Echo Base offers BitMart a restructuring package with debtor-in-possession financing, but BitMart has not responded, increasing legal and regulatory risks if no update emerges by Aug. 19.

Shutdown timeline and disputed allegations

As first reported by CoinDesk, the dispute intensifies after a post from BitMart's Chinese-language X account accuses founder Sheldon Lee and business partner Yi Li of failing to address blocked customer withdrawals and unpaid July salaries for some employees. The post, which Lee says comes from a hacked account, calls for the exchange to disclose wallets, assets, liabilities and usable reserves for independent verification, and sets an Aug. 19 deadline for a response.

BitMart said last month that it is winding down operations and that Aug. 26 will be its final trading day. Even so, multiple users say they still cannot access their funds, raising fresh questions over the exchange's liquidity and the handling of client assets during the shutdown process.

Lee does not directly answer demands for an independent audit in his response on X. Instead, he says the company has collected evidence showing the posts are fabricated and plans to file a police report and send a lawyer's letter to X seeking technical and data forensics.

On the issue of unpaid staff, Lee says employee assets are not prioritized over client assets and that everyone is treated as a client without privileges. That response does not appear to satisfy critics, who continue pressing the company to explain when customer withdrawals will resume.

Restructuring pressure and wider market implications

User complaints on X continue to focus on access to funds rather than the hacked-account explanation. One user, BeardStaff, says assets have been inaccessible since the July 26 announcement and alleges a VIP manager removed them from Telegram when withdrawals stalled, while another user says the central question remains when customers will be able to withdraw their money.

Onchain investigator ZachXBT also challenges BitMart's position, saying that if the exchange has the liquidity it should simply return funds instead of issuing vague statements. The criticism adds to calls for verifiable proof of reserves and liabilities, a recurring demand in the crypto sector when exchanges face operational stress.

Roshan Dharia, chief executive of distressed investment firm Echo Base, tells CoinDesk that his firm has offered BitMart a funded restructuring package that includes debtor-in-possession financing and equity at emergence, underwritten by Echo Base as a claimholder. He says BitMart has not responded and warns that a custodial business with a broad retail user base is unlikely to be resolved consensually without a court-led process.

If no verifiable response is received by Aug. 19, the unidentified X poster says they will send available data, fund leads and evidence to law enforcement, regulators, lawyers and media outlets worldwide. That leaves BitMart facing mounting legal, regulatory and reputational risks in the final days before its planned end to trading.

We previously reported on the U.S. Treasury’s proposed rule to implement the GENIUS Act, laying out definitions and timelines for when payment stablecoin issuers and digital asset service providers would need licenses to operate in the U.S. The proposal would restrict stablecoin issuance beginning in 2027 and tighten what platforms can offer to U.S. users from 2028, aiming to bring clearer compliance standards and oversight to key parts of the crypto market.

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