BitMart's founder calls the withdrawal claims a hack. He didn't say when users get paid.

BitMart founder Sheldon Lee has responded to mounting complaints that customers can't withdraw from the winding-down exchange by disputing the messenger rather than the message: the post making the allegations, published on BitMart's own Chinese-language X account, came from a hacked account, he said, and its contents are "fabricated rumors."

The disputed post, reported by CoinDesk on Aug. 17, called on Lee and business partner Yi Li to open BitMart's books — wallets, assets, liabilities and usable reserves — to independent verification, and gave Lee until Aug. 19 to respond. "To this day, a bunch of users still can't withdraw their own money, and a bunch of employees haven't even received their last month's salary," it read, per CoinDesk's quotation. If no verifiable answer arrives by the deadline, the unidentified poster said they would hand data, fund leads and evidence to law enforcement, regulators and media.

Lee's reply, as quoted by CoinDesk, addressed none of the withdrawal questions. "We have collected full evidence of the content on X, all of which is fabricated rumors," he said, adding that BitMart would file a police report and send a lawyer's letter to X demanding technical and data forensics. On unpaid staff, the founder of the Cayman Islands-registered exchange said employee assets "are not prioritized over client assets, everyone is a client, and there are no privileges" — a statement that does not deny the non-payment.

BitMart announced last month that it was winding down, with Aug. 26 as its final trading day. CoinDesk reports that many users say withdrawals remain blocked since that July 26 announcement. An X user posting as BeardStaff said their assets have been frozen since that date and that a dedicated VIP manager removed them from a Telegram group the day withdrawals stalled: "Where is my $10 million?" Onchain investigator ZachXBT was blunter: "If you actually have the liquidity, then simply return the funds to everyone instead of posting vague statements."

Separately, Roshan Dharia, CEO of distressed investment firm Echo Base, told CoinDesk via Telegram that his firm offered BitMart a funded restructuring package — debtor-in-possession financing plus equity at emergence, underwritten by Echo Base as a claimholder — and got no reply.

Key facts

• Final trading day: Aug. 26, 2026; wind-down announced last month (CoinDesk).
• Deadline in the disputed X post for Lee to respond: Aug. 19 (CoinDesk).
• Lee's position: account hacked, claims "fabricated rumors," police report and lawyer's letter to X planned (CoinDesk).
• Largest single self-reported loss: ~$10 million, per X user BeardStaff — unverified (CoinDesk).
• Echo Base restructuring offer: DIP financing plus equity at emergence, no response received, per CEO Roshan Dharia (CoinDesk interview).
• Number of affected users, total blocked balances, and reserve figures: not disclosed.

The real-world read

Lee's answer is a category swap. The question was when customers get their money; the answer is about account security. And the hack claim cuts against him either way — an exchange still holding customer funds admitting its official channel was compromised is not reassuring.

The pay-attention detail is what isn't said. There is no proof-of-reserves, no wallet addresses, no count of stuck users, no total. A firm winding down solvently publishes a withdrawal schedule; BitMart has published a legal threat.

Discount Echo Base's framing accordingly. Dharia's line — "there is no version of this that ends well without going to court" — is analysis from a distressed investor who is also a self-declared claimholder pitching itself as the funded sponsor of that court process. It may well be right. It is also his sales pitch.

Note too that the $10 million figure is one anonymous account's self-report, uncorroborated, and that this is single-outlet reporting so far.

Opinion, and whose

• ZachXBT (onchain investigator): if BitMart has the liquidity, it should return funds rather than post statements.
• Roshan Dharia (Echo Base): a custodial book this size can't be resolved consensually because the retail claimant base is too dispersed; the board's only choice is whether it enters court with a funded plan or is dragged there by claimants. Interested party.
• Sheldon Lee (BitMart): the allegations are fabricated; employees hold no priority over customers.

Sources

• CoinDesk, "BitMart founder dismisses calls for audit as users report blocked funds, unpaid employees," Aug. 17, 2026 — the sole account here. It quotes the disputed X post and Lee's reply directly, posts from users BeardStaff and @chicha_liam and from ZachXBT, and its own Telegram interview with Echo Base CEO Roshan Dharia. No sponsored or promotional material was involved; Echo Base's comments are those of a would-be restructuring sponsor and should be read as such.

Not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold anything.