BitForex to Open for Withdrawals Following Chinese Police Investigation

• BitForex will come back online to process withdrawals.

• The exchange’s team were detained and investigated by police in China on Feb. 23.

• All operations and services will cease after withdrawals take place.

Cryptocurrency exchange BitForex said it will open for withdrawals following a five-month outage spurred by an investigation by the Jiangsu Province police in China.

The exchange said in an X post that trading and deposits will remain suspended, but that withdrawals will be open for clients that complete know-your-customer (KYC) verification.

BitForex went offline on Feb. 23 after experiencing a $57 million outflow. User withdrawals and access to the site was blocked, leading to a warning by Hong Kong’s regulator for securities and futures markets (SFC).

“On February 23, 2024, the Bitforex team was detained and investigated by the Jiangsu Province police in China,” the post read. “This unexpected event caused the platform to become inaccessible, and users were unable to withdraw asset on that day.”

BitForex said that after returning assets to users it will cease all operations and undergo a “comprehensive rectification.”