BitMart users have accused founder Sheldon Xia of blocking them on X after they requested access to roughly 800,000 ATEG tokens and other funds held on the exchange during its wind-down.
Summary
- ATEG representatives say 800,000 project tokens and an unspecified USDC balance remain inaccessible on BitMart.
- Users allege Sheldon Xia blocked their accounts after public requests for access to funds.
- BitMart’s proposed recovery options remain subject to approvals, with no withdrawal date in its roadmap.
- Researchers traced a separate $391,000 drain across three networks from wallets mostly linked to BitMart.
Aliyu Almustapha, who signed an earlier appeal as ATEG Capital’s chief financial officer, said in a Nov. 4 post that Xia blocked him after he publicly requested the return of project assets. He said the tokens remain inaccessible alongside USDC, without specifying the stablecoin balance.
His post included screenshots displaying notices that Xia’s account had blocked users, together with an exchange balance screen. Almustapha described another customer’s unresolved holdings as approximately 391,000 USDT, while the embedded balance image displayed 391,003.61 USD.
ATEG Capital asks BitMart to return project tokens
The latest complaint followed appeals on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, when ATEG representatives requested the return of tokens they described as legitimate project holdings.
In the Nov. 3 appeal, Almustapha said ATEG had listed on BitMart on June 10, 2026, and continued developing its ecosystem despite the exchange’s operational problems. He requested a review of the outstanding balance, an update on the assets, and a practical process and timeline for returning them.
“These are legitimate project holdings, not promotional allocations or requests for preferential treatment,” he wrote.
Mohamed Higazie, identified as ATEG’s founder, separately asked Xia to release the tokens while allowing the exchange more time to resolve its USDC obligations.
“We ask you to return our tokens. You can keep the USDC until you have resolved your problems,” Higazie wrote on Nov. 2.
The founder said the project had only recently begun working with BitMart. Other X users subsequently urged Xia to engage with ATEG, with one threatening public discussions and reports to authorities over the unresolved dispute.
BitMart’s proposed recovery plan gives no withdrawal date
BitMart’s published restructuring roadmap proposes converting outstanding account balances into dollar-denominated claims. Valuations would use weighted average token prices from July 26 to a record time, with adjudication handled by a court-appointed officer.
The proposal offers three choices: an upfront proportional distribution from liquid assets, a Restitution Token tied to recoveries of hacked funds, or a Continuum Token backed by investments, asset disposals, and potential profits if the business restarts.
November is scheduled for revisions following stakeholder feedback. Management targets court applications in December 2026 or January 2027, with account adjudication subject to court approval and local rules.
The document does not set a withdrawal date. Its proposed election deadline would fall shortly after the plan receives the approvals required for implementation.
BitMart appointed Alvarez & Marsal to review its finances and withdrawal arrangements on Sept. 9, after trading stopped on Aug. 26.
The feedback portal does not release customer funds
A user engagement portal launched in September accepts withdrawal questions and restructuring feedback, but BitMart says submitting a ticket does not change an account’s status or process an individual withdrawal.
Its portal instructions require users to select “User Engagement Portal,” enter their email and verify the submission through an emailed link. Other issue types go through ordinary customer support.
The exchange asks for one ticket per issue and says it may not answer every submission individually.
A separate U.S. user notice had instructed affected customers to close positions and withdraw remaining assets by Aug. 8 at 23:59 UTC. BitMart said later restrictions could apply and withdrawals might require identity, source-of-funds or wallet ownership checks.
Researchers trace $391,000 from BitMart-linked wallets
The complaints followed a separate security breach that Xia acknowledged on Nov. 3. As crypto.news previously reported, he confirmed the security breach occurred the previous day and described its security team as severely understaffed.
Bitquery’s investigation estimated that $391,000 was taken across Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism from wallets mostly associated with BitMart. Researchers said the first transfers began 53 minutes before the main Mercado Bitcoin drain and reached the same attacker address.
The firm labels the Arbitrum and Optimism wallets as BitMart hot wallets. Its identification of the Base wallet rests on earlier transfers involving a wallet listed in BitMart’s proof of reserves.
On Base, Bitquery recorded another round of transfers at 20:20 UTC on Nov. 2, when 80 tokens left the wallet in six minutes. Between 20:19 and 20:44 UTC, roughly 1,400 deposit addresses sent small amounts of ETH to the attacker.
