OKEx plans to prevent future withdrawal suspensions

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OKEx CEO Jay Hao recently hosted an AMA via telegram for users who had any questions or concerns regarding OKEx’s 42-day suspension of its unrestricted withdrawal feature. During the AMA, Hao revealed that OKEx plans to make changes to its infrastructure to avoid any future suspension of the withdrawal feature.

When asked, “What are your thoughts on this incident, and how do you think OKEx should proceed from here to boost the crypto trading community’s confidence in the platform?” 

Hao responded, 

I think that the incident highlighted several very important points. It exposed some weaknesses in our internal processes, which we are now steadfast in correcting. However, it also highlighted the strength of our infrastructure and security — in that we were able to safeguard all user assets, as well as continue to maintain operations on all other functions of the exchange.

“We apologize for any and all inconveniences, and we will strive to improve internal processes as soon as possible to prevent similar situations from happening in the future,” OKEx went on to say in an official announcement.

So what actually happened?

Throughout the AMA, many questions that Hao answered started with some variation of the question, “what happened?” Hao refused to answer that portion of the question when he provided his answers–but he did it in a very professional way. 

It is rumored, or rather, well known, that OKEx had to suspend its withdrawal feature for 42 days because one of its private key holders was under investigation by police. The day that withdrawals stopped on OKEx, it was revealed that OKEx founder and private key holder Mingxing “Star” Xu was taken into police custody for an investigation that is allegedly unrelated to OKEx operations. 

The day that OKEx announced that withdrawals would reopen, it was revealed that Star Xu had been released from police custody. Although the OKEx exchange chose not to say which of their private key holders was in custody for an investigation, it is no coincidence that Star Xu being taken into and released from custody aligned with OKEx suspending and reactivating withdrawals.