The founder of the OKEx cryptocurrency exchange, Minxin "Star" Xu, today broke his silence after a month-long absence, writes Bloomberg. Xu said he was working with Chinese police as part of a merger investigation conducted by his company, OK Group, several years ago.
According to Xu, the subject of the investment was involved in a "complex" legal dispute, but he is not guilty of anything. The OKEx founder did not go into details of the case.
"The authorities have clarified the problem and proved my innocence," he wrote in a WeChat message. – In the next few days, I will call everyone who supported OK Group to Express my gratitude. "
it is not clear what kind of case Xu is talking about. Last year, OKG was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange through a takeover of an already registered company.
Yesterday, OKEx announced that it is preparing to resume withdrawals by November 27. The exchange froze outgoing transactions on October 16, explaining that one of the holders of its private key was unavailable due to an ongoing investigation. Although the company does not say this directly, sources in the Chinese media claim that Xu is the holder of the private key. In addition, the time of his absence coincides with the period when OKEx clients could not extract cryptocurrency from the exchange.
"The problem that forced OKEx to deploy these emergency security measures has been resolved. All user assets can be withdrawn without restriction after the withdrawal is resumed, " the company writes.
Xu opened the OKCoin exchange, the predecessor of OKEx, in 2013 and subsequently turned his attention to blockchain initiatives within the OK Group. Initially, the exchange operated from China, but against the background of the restrictive policy of local authorities, it moved to Malta. OKEx claims that the founder is currently not directly related to it.
Shares of OKG Technology Holdings Ltd. rose 23% after Xu's announcement today. The native OKEx token (OKB) is also growing. In recent days, its price has increased by 25% to $6.