A crypto influencer was demanding the return of $3 million that had been frozen by the MEXC cryptocurrency exchange platform since last July. Four months later—and in the face of a very active campaign on social media—the exchange has just made amends by returning the funds.
Crypto influencer has $3 million confiscated by MEXC
Some crypto misadventures sometimes resemble iconic myths such as David and Goliath. Except that in this case, the shepherd’s son who was the hero of this battle had access to social media and was a recognized influencer with his account, The White Whale.
This position has allowed him to wage a veritable crusade against the cryptocurrency exchange platform MEXC, the giant Goliath in this case, since last August. The issue? The blocking of $3 million following the suspension of his account.
According to the exchange, the reason given involved the placement of two orders in the same second. This activity was deemed too fast, indicating the use of an automated trading tool that is clearly prohibited on the platform. In any case, it was reason enough to confiscate the $3 million held in his account. But The White Whale is not going to leave it at that, and at the end of August, a $2 million reward will be up for grabs. This is an opportunity to present the influencer’s point of view in the face of a procedure that is considered unacceptable and totally arbitrary.
This money came from my hard-earned savings, and every dollar I earned on the platform involved clean, legitimate, skill-based trading. My only conceivable crime? I was too profitable. I consistently beat their external market makers—the firms they quietly partner with to be the counterparty to trades.
The White Whale
“We screwed up”
An adventure that could have ended there, simply waiting for the fire to die down on social media. But that was without counting on the recent arrival of crypto investigator ZachXBT in this case, who came to the aid of this trader accused of all kinds of wrongdoing by MEXC in order to justify its actions, even though the company does not respect its commitments in return (such as respecting private data).
The intervention was clearly beneficial, as the very next day, MEXC’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Cecilia Hsueh, published a mea culpa on the X network in which she bluntly admitted that the exchange had “screwed up” in this case, following what was presented as very rapid growth.
We screwed up. We apologize to The White Whale, and his funds have already been released. He can claim them at any time. I communicated poorly with him. I got carried away by my emotions, and I shouldn’t have.
Cecilia Hsueh
Some observers point more specifically to a significant increase in fund withdrawals by users of this exchange since the case came to light as the real motivation, as well as the fact that nothing would have happened if the victim had fewer followers on the X network. Food for thought…
