Zipmex Seeks $50M After Crypto Withdrawal Freeze: Report

The Asia-focused cryptocurrency exchange that froze some withdrawals last week said it is in discussions to sell all or part of itself after lending money to troubled crypto firms – Babel Finance and Celsius Network Ltd.

Celsius and Babel Finance are among several cryptocurrency players that have run into trouble in recent months.

On Twitter on Sunday, Zipmex said one of “various interested parties” it has been in talks with has “offered terms” in a settlement agreement, without identifying the entity.

The fundraising target roughly represents Zipmex’s combined exposures to Babel and Celsius, which stand at $48 million and $5 million, respectively.

Zipmex was derailed by a series of defaults that have rippled through the highly interconnected crypto lending and borrowing market following a $2 trillion digital asset rout.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy earlier in July and Babel has contacted restructuring advisers.

Thailand is investigating potential losses for users of Zipmex

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission said today it is working with law enforcement to look into potential losses among the public after Zipmex temporarily suspended withdrawals last week.

The SEC said in a statement that it asked affected users of Zipmex to submit information via an online forum about how they had been affected by the problems on the platform.

The announcement comes as crypto trading in Thailand has slowed and after Thai lender SCB X Pcl said it is extending the due diligence period for its $537 million acquisition of Thai crypto exchange Butkub.

Zipmex operates in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. It holds a digital asset trading license from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand, according to its website.

In Singapore, the exchange has an exempt permit from payment service providers, rather than a full license under the central bank’s new regime for crypto-asset firms.

Among the products is ZipUp+, an account that offers as high as 10% returns on deposits of tokens such as Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin. Withdrawals from that product are still frozen.

“We have been engaged with the SEC and other government agencies to provide them with all necessary documents,” a Zipmex spokesperson said.

Zipmex has a digital asset exchange and a digital asset brokerage license, the SEC website shows. Over the weekend, the company said in a Facebook post that it was investigating a deal with an “interested party.”

Zipmex is the latest to run into financial difficulties after a sharp selloff in markets that began in May with the collapse of two linked tokens, Luna and TerraUSD.

With agency input

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