BitMart chief executive Sheldon Lee dismissed accusations circulating on X as fabricated rumors on Monday, hours after a public campaign gave him until August 19 to explain where customer money went.
BitMart announced an orderly wind-down of its trading platform in July. Many users still report blocked withdrawals, and former employees say last months salaries remain unpaid.
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Why BitMart Users Want Proof of Reserves
A Chinese-language account posting as BitMart 币市 published a five-point accountability demand on Monday. It asks Lee and business partner Yi Li to disclose wallets, assets, liabilities, and usable reserves that a third party can verify.
The account also questions who ordered the withdrawal limits. Moreover, it asks when management first knew the platform could no longer process requests normally.
Strain showed up on-chain almost immediately. Ethereum withdrawals surged to a 2026 high within days of the notice, while BMX crashed 46% as the announcement landed.
The July 26 notice stopped deposits and new Bitmart registrations at once. It also switched futures accounts to reduce-only mode, which lets traders close positions but not open fresh ones.
Staff pay sits at the center of the complaint. Rank-and-file employees never decided how company funds were managed, the account argues, so they should not absorb the cost of that decision.
“Let the fund flows be traced clearly. Let users know where their money is. Let employees get back the pay they deserve.”
BitMart said on X
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Legal Threats Replace a Repayment Plan
Lee skipped the demands point by point. Instead, he said the company had gathered evidence and would file a police report and send a lawyers letter to X requesting technical forensics.
Sheldon. Source: X
He added that employee assets carry no priority over client assets. Meanwhile, the reply offered no reserve figures, no liability total, and no repayment timeline.
The campaign wants a repayment plan with an order of priority, a start date, and an independent audit. So far, BitMart has published none of that.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT pushed back within minutes.
“If you actually have the liquidity then simply return the funds to everyone instead of posting vague statements？”
via ZachXBT
The official notice sets August 26 as the final trading day and the recommended cutoff for withdrawal requests. Login access runs until January 31, 2027.
BitMart is one of several venues to exit this year. Analysts read closures as a healthy reset, though staff cuts at Luno pointed to wider stress. European regulators, meanwhile, opened a custody review under MiCA after an earlier exchange collapse.
Wednesdays deadline now sets the next test. Verifiable reserve data would answer the question quickly, while another statement without numbers likely will not.