AscendEX Withdrawal Issues Signal Liquidity Crisis Amid Struggles of Small Exchanges
AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) has been reported to experience massive withdrawal anomalies, with user withdrawals stuck in "Initiating" status without on-chain hashes, suggesting potential liquidity depletion. The platform suffered a $78 million hack by Lazarus group in 2021 and has long lacked proof of reserves and third-party audits. This incident highlights the existential challenges faced by small and mid-sized crypto exchanges under tightening regulation and market concentration.


