AscendEx Announced Shutdown, User Withdrawals Face Uncertainty

OdailyOdaily reports that crypto exchange AscendEx has announced it will cease operations starting July 1, 2026. In a statement released on July 6, AscendEx cited the failure to obtain an EU MiCA license and "a previously agreed strategic transaction falling through due to the counterparty's failure to perform" as reasons for the closure.

On-chain data shows that addresses marked as belonging to AscendEx currently hold approximately $13.5 million in crypto assets. Of this amount, over $12 million is in UNITE and the platform's native token ASD, with very limited reserves of major large-cap tokens. Earlier, on June 20, AscendEx's reserve assets had suddenly decreased by more than $240 million.

Furthermore, on-chain investigator ZachXBT had previously warned users to pay attention to withdrawal issues on AscendEx. On July 2, he stated that withdrawal requests remained unprocessed while the deposit function was still active, advising users to report the situation to law enforcement agencies in their respective countries. (Protos)