AscendEX Exchange Shuts Down — User Funds Now in Question

Crypto exchange AscendEX fully halted trading, deposits, staking, and swaps starting July 1, 2026 — the company only announced this on July 6, citing non-compliance with MiCA and a failed strategic liquidity deal, The Block reports.

Even before the official announcement, analyst ZachXBT had warned he was seeing multiple reports of withdrawals delayed for days or weeks, and his review of the exchange's hot wallets showed nearly empty reserves of major assets — ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL, Protos notes.

What this means in practice: all withdrawals are now handled manually, with no guaranteed timeline or final amount — meaning users may not get back their full on-exchange balance. We've already covered how MiCA reshaped how P2P platforms operate in Europe; AscendEX is one of the first major exchanges to shut down entirely rather than comply with the new rules.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.