By Evan Spicer
Director of Cryptocurrency Investigations
MyChargeBack
HotBit, which describes itself as “The World’s Leading Cryptocurrency Platform,” has had its assets frozen amid a criminal investigation into alleged illegal activities connected to a former employee.
Although the reason for freezing HotBit accounts is different from other crypto platforms such as Celsius and Coinflex (theirs were directly related to the crypto crash earlier in the year), the effect is still the same – customers are, at least for the time being, unable to access the funds in their accounts.
HotBit Management Insists Accounts Will Be Unfrozen, but When?
HotBit, which boasts of signing up 700,000 customers from across the globe, has been forced to suspend service because of ongoing investigations into suspected criminal activity done by an ex-employee in a management position.
HotBit management released a statement:
“We regret to inform you that HotBit will have to suspend trading, deposit, withdrawal and funding functions. The exact time of resumption cannot be determined at the moment.”
The employee in question left the company in April. The alleged illegal activities took place in the context of a company project. HotBit management was subpoenaed by authorities in July and by August, assets were frozen with the deepening of the investigation.
HotBit management is fully participating in the investigation and insists that all client accounts are safe and that all funds will be available to customers as soon as the investigation and the proceedings are completed.
HotBit claims to be registered in Hong Kong and Estonia and most of its staff are from China, Taiwan and the United States.
Should HotBit Users Be Worried?
With cryptocurrencies, the one thing you can be certain of is uncertainty. Some people love the risks involved in high-stakes trading – that may be one reason they are attracted to cryptocurrencies. However, the volatility of these digital currencies meant huge losses with the crypto crash in the spring of 2022.
In the aftermath of the crypto crash, many crypto platforms lost money. There were suspicions that they didn’t have sufficient market capitalization to fund clients’ withdrawals, and a number of these crypto platforms froze client accounts. There is little wonder these exchanges were suspected of insolvency or worse.
HotBit, however, doesn’t seem to have taken the action of freezing client accounts as a result of losing money in the crypto crash, but because of the ongoing criminal investigation into the behavior of one employee.
If this is indeed the case, clients may have a good chance of getting their funds back when the investigation is over. However, there may be more to the story than this, and as with other crypto platforms, there may be a degree of uncertainty about what is actually going on.
If you have an account with HotBit, it’s important to know that there are experts that will take your case and help you track down your funds.
MyChargeBack Will Investigate Your Crypto Case
If you have lost money on the blockchain through unregulated brokers, bitcoin wallet hacking or fake merchants, talk to the MyChargeBack team. Our crypto investigations will provide evidence to bolster your claim.
MyChargeBack has developed working relationships with law enforcement agencies worldwide, have extensive knowledge and experience with crypto tracking and can improve your prospects of getting your funds back.
