For nearly a week, uncertainty as to why OKEx suddenly suspended its cryptocurrency withdrawals on Oct. 16 has lingered on. The ongoing suspension has been puzzling to many, but the exchange’s representatives maintain that the move was solely because one of the company’s private key holders has been cooperating with a Chinese public security bureau. With one of OKEx’s three keyholders now in question, the exchange’s multisignature authorization process cannot be fulfilled, thus locking up its withdrawal function.
Following reports of OKEx founder Mingxing Xu being under investigation by Chinese authorities, the price of Bitcoin subsequently dropped by around 3% within the span of less than half an hour. Not only that, but OKEx’s native crypto offering — the OKB token — has also been on the slide, with the currency’s value dropping by around 25% since the incident came to light.