IDAX CEO Vanishes, Exchange’s Cold Wallet Blocked

Over the past week, China’s government has been tying the rope around crypto-related businesses even tighter. Several crypto exchanges shut down operations in order to preserve their clients from the regulatory havoc. One of the most prominent crypto exchanges in china - IDAX, closed operations in China on November 24th, and shortly after - IDAX’s CEO went missing, with the team unable to contact him.

The first thing the IDAX team did is to block access to the cold wallet in order to prevent users’ crypto assets from being exploited. As per the IDAX announcement, the name and exact location of the CEO are still a mystery. “IDAX Global is trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. We are working on an emergency action plan about service operations restoration, but until then, we suggest not to use our services”, the IDAX announcement reads.

The crypto community received yet another hit to its security reputation, shortly after South Korean crypto exchange UpBit was hacked with hackers stealing $324,000 in Ethereum tokens.

Some big players in the crypto community quickly managed to accuse IDAX’s CEO of stealing the private keys, despite no clear indications of this. Others, however, are more likely to think this is yet another hacker attack, rather than “exit scam.”

The rumors about IDAX’s CEO running away with the exchange’s cold wallet private keys are mostly fueled by the case with Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.

Gerald Cotten, CEO of QuadrigaCX, passed away on December 9th, 2018, taking the private keys for the exchange’s cold wallet with him.