BitMart users and employees have publicly demanded that founder Sheldon Lee and Yi Li answer for frozen customer funds and unpaid wages by August 19, 2026. The statement, published on August 17, accuses the exchange of leaving both groups without a clear accounting as it winds down.

According to the statement, a large number of users still cannot withdraw their own money, and a group of employees have not received their most recent month of salary or the compensation owed to them. The group rejected the framing of the situation as an ordinary business matter, stating that "this isn't some business dispute that can just be brushed off with a single 'ceasing operations' statement."

The statement also spelled out what is at stake for the people affected. For many everyday users, the funds locked in BitMart might represent a lifetime's savings, or even accumulations of over a decade. For rank and file employees, what is owed to them is rent, household expenses, or next month's living costs.

The Six Demands

The ultimatum lists specific items rather than a general call for transparency. Signatories want a full disclosure of wallets, assets, liabilities, and usable reserves. They want an explanation for the withdrawal restrictions currently in place. They want an investigation into affiliated accounts and the sources of funds moving through them.

Beyond that, they are asking for a detailed repayment plan including timelines and recovery estimates, confirmation of an independent third party audit, and clarification on the status of employee salaries and compensation.

The statement also raised allegations about accounts connected to Yi Li said to hold tens of millions of dollars, with batch withdrawal records attached. Those claims have not been verified.

If BitMart does not respond adequately by the deadline, the signatories said they would submit available materials, transaction leads, and other evidence to law enforcement agencies, regulators, lawyers, and media organisations.

How the Wind Down Unfolded

BitMart announced the orderly cessation of operations on July 26, 2026, halting new registrations, deposits, and new orders at 01:30 UTC. The exchange cited operating conditions, the market environment, and future strategy without naming a specific financial trigger, and said customers would be able to withdraw funds throughout the shutdown process.

The published schedule runs in stages. All trading services end on August 26, 2026 at 01:00 UTC, and the platform formally ceases operations on January 31, 2027.

Withdrawal activity in the days following the announcement did not match what a functioning wind down would look like. Lookonchain recorded only 58 wallets withdrawing approximately 805,000 USD over a 24 hour period after the announcement, with an eight hour stretch showing zero withdrawals processed at all. Onchain Lens detected no Bitcoin, stablecoin, or altcoin withdrawals above 25,000 USD during its own 24 hour monitoring window. Nansen tracked significant ETH and stablecoin transfers moving out before the closure was announced, leaving tracked wallets with limited liquid reserves.

BitMart has said it is running manual reviews covering KYC data, login devices, IP addresses, destination wallets, source of funds, trading history, sanctions screening, and Travel Rule compliance, without publishing a maximum processing time. Paxi Network, one of the projects affected, publicly demanded release of its funds, stating that "these funds do not belong to BitMart."

Restrictions were not new in 2026. In May, BitMart acknowledged that some users faced withdrawal limits across 239 linked accounts flagged for subsidy exploitation. The exchange committed at that time to publishing a proof of reserves statement after completing security reviews, and has not disclosed specific reserve figures.

The platform also carries a prior incident on its record. A security breach in December 2021 resulted in the theft of 196 million USD in crypto assets.

What This Means for Web3 Gaming

No game is directly involved here, but the exposure runs through a channel most players use without thinking about it. Centralised exchanges are where gaming tokens get converted into something spendable, where guild treasuries park operating funds, and where tournament organisers hold prize money between events.

BitMart listed a wide range of smaller cap tokens, including many gaming assets that never reached the largest venues. For projects in that tier, a single exchange can represent a substantial share of available liquidity, and an unplanned shutdown removes both a trading venue and, in some cases, funds the project itself held on the platform. Paxi Network's public demand is one example of a project rather than an individual caught in the freeze.

The practical lesson for players and guilds is the one this industry keeps relearning. Assets held on an exchange are a claim against that exchange rather than property under your control, and an account balance is only as reliable as the operator behind it. Self custody removes that counterparty entirely, at the cost of putting security responsibility on the holder.

For guild treasuries and tournament organisers specifically, the risk is concentrated rather than distributed. A guild that keeps its operating funds on one venue can lose the ability to pay scholars or settle prizes overnight, regardless of how well the underlying game is doing. Spreading holdings across custody methods and venues is slower and more annoying to manage, and it is the difference between an inconvenience and a shutdown.