BitMart was founded by Sheldon Xia in 2017 and faced a theft incident in December 2021, where approximately $196 million was stolen from hot wallets. Attackers emptied Ethereum and BSC hot wallets using stolen private keys, then exchanged through 1inch and mixed with Tornado Cash. The platform promised full compensation from its own funds, but users continued to report that some tokens, especially for SafeMoon holders, remained unpaid for months.

On the eve of the shutdown, global CEO Nenter Chow was informed of his termination on July 24 and immediately entered the resignation process, being completely unaware of the shutdown decision until the announcement was made public. The platform's wallet assets continued to see net outflows, with the BMX token dropping over 81% in a week, from about $0.31 to around $0.057, indicating that internal resources are shifting from expansion to a contraction and liquidation path.

Similar patterns were observed when BitMEX announced its permanent closure, as well as during 2022 when several centralized exchanges faced liquidity pressures leading to withdrawal queues and increased reviews. BitMart is currently in a transitional phase from a trading platform to an orderly exit, with compliance reviews becoming a bottleneck for withdrawals.

This incident essentially represents a capital exit under the restructuring of the industry chain: when operational conditions and market environments no longer support continuous investment, the platform retains assets and transfers risks by extending reviews and controlling withdrawal paces, with the mechanism relying on the liquidity switch rights granted by centralized custody itself.

ABAB News · Cognitive Law

Custody is a switch; exit relies on pace.
Full compensation promised; realization depends on time lag.
When exchanges exit, large amounts are frozen first.