OKex, a digital currency exchange, suspends withdrawals due to the loss of contact with multiple private key holders

On October 16, the leading digital currency exchange OKex issued an announcement announcing the suspension of currency withdrawals.

The announcement stated that some of the private key holders at OKex are cooperating with the public security authorities in the investigation and are currently out of contact, making it impossible to complete the authorization. In order to maximize the interests of customers and provide the longest service to customers, OKex decided to suspend user withdrawals at 11:00 this morning.

According to official data from OKex, the total number of OKB users worldwide has reached millions, with users distributed in 153 different countries and regions around the world. The suspension of withdrawals will affect all holders on the platform, and the amount of funds may exceed billions of US dollars.

In addition, the announcement also emphasized that other functions of OKEx are normal and the security of user assets is not affected. When the person in charge of the private key can complete the authorization, OKEx will restore the withdrawal function as soon as possible.

However, the news still caused panic among platform users. Affected by the news, OKEx platform currency OKB fell rapidly, falling below the 5 USDT mark in the short term, and the 24-hour decline once exceeded 17%. The decline has narrowed at present; in addition, the OKEx USDT over-the-counter transaction price also fell to 6.6 yuan.

In response, OKEx CEO Jay Hao said on a public platform: "Please rest assured that the company, business, and platform operations are not affected. This is a personal issue of the private key manager. Withdrawals are temporarily suspended. We will announce the follow-up arrangements as soon as possible. Please refer to the announcement information for the final decision."

It is understood that OKex has publicly disclosed its Bitcoin cold wallet technology solution. This solution is a multi-signature solution, that is, all cold wallet Bitcoins are stored in multiple private keys, and each private key requires two people's dual authorization to open; the dual authorization of the private key has a foreign backup, even if a natural disaster occurs, the coins will not be lost; one of the private keys is authorized to be stored in a bank safe, even if the holder is kidnapped, he cannot be forced to obtain the Bitcoin.

It is not clear how many multiple signatures the OKex private key has, but many industry insiders have analyzed that the private key could not complete the full authorization this time, and it is likely that not only one person is unable to move, but multiple people may have "lost contact."

Another industry insider directly revealed to Interface News that three people were involved in this matter, and it was suspected that it involved OTC (over-the-counter) money laundering, or indirectly caused user funds to flow out of centralized exchanges.