BitMart withdrawals remain in limbo as exchange hands control to financial adviser, third-party operator

BitMart appointed restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal as its financial adviser and has announced that it will hand oversight to an independent third party.

Meanwhile, millions of exchange users remain unable to withdraw funds.

What is Alvarez & Marsal doing for BitMart?

BitMart has clarified that the restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) will work alongside its lawyers to review the company’s finances, sort through stakeholder questions and study how the exchange can resume user withdrawals in an orderly way.

The firm’s job, per the notice, is to weigh the options and help shape a near-term plan of action.

In the announcement, BitMart said all information on withdrawals, assets and next steps has to be approved by an independent adviser before they go public, which is why it hired A&M in the first place.

The exchange also named White & Case as its restructuring legal counsel in an earlier notice.

BitMart’s immediate actions will include building a dedicated feedback website as a single channel for users to submit views on the action plan. The company has also promised to publish the link within five working days.

Within three weeks, it said, it will roll out the feedback mechanism and the specifics of its plan.

The second commitment is that it will soon appoint an independent third party to supervise how the company runs and how it holds assets during this stretch in order to protect user interests.

Is BitMart still going to shut down?

The adviser appointment is the update BitMart said it would deliver no later than September 9, after it said in an earlier notice that it was considering a possible restructuring instead of the full shutdown it announced on July 26.

BitMart’s restructuring would include a phased, partial resumption of business paired with asset distributions to creditors.

Cryptopolitan reported that the earlier announcement that the company would wind down operations was due to operating conditions, the wider market and its strategic direction. The company stopped new account creation, deposits and fresh orders the same day, causing its BMX token to fall by about 60% within a day.

Prior to the restructuring talks, trading was supposed to end August 26, with full closure planned for January 31, 2027.

There is also some uncertainty about BitMart’s solvency. Cryptopolitan, citing CoinMarketCap, reported BitMart self-reporting roughly $5.36 million in reserves, most of it in BMX, against daily trading volume near $272.6 million.

The exchange promised a proof-of-reserves report back on May 23, but has yet to publish one. Founder Sheldon Xia said on August 8 the exchange had not run off with funds, but offered no figures.

BitMart’s gradual process is playing out against outside pressure. On September 3, Cryptopolitan reported that Echo Base, a firm specializing in distressed situations, had formed an ad hoc committee of affected customers and retained two law firms, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor and Ashbury Legal.