Singapore-based crypto exchange Zipmex said on Thursday night Hong Kong time (HKT) it will prolong its customer withdrawal freeze until Friday, “to prevent any technical issues,” while it did not specify a time.

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Fast facts

• Zipmex did not say when its withdrawal function would resume on Friday, while as of 9:25 a.m. HKT, screenshots from its Telegram group showed that withdrawal was still unavailable.

• Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) questioned the exchange on Thursday to clarify its amount of customer assets under management and details of how deposited funds were used.

• Zipmex had announced on Thursday that it would lift the withdrawal freeze at 7 p.m. HKT that day.

• Zipmex paused withdrawals on Wednesday “until further notice” and blamed the “financial difficulties of our key business partners” caused by volatile markets.

• Zipmex said in an announcement sent to a Telegram group that they have US$48 million in exposure to crypto lender Babel Finance and US$5 million exposure to Celsius, while multiple media outlets citing industry sources said that it lost around US$100 million that it lent to Babel Finance.

• Crypto unicorn Babel Finance suspended withdrawals in June, while Celsius, one of the biggest crypto lenders, filed for bankruptcy a week ago.

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