The cryptocurrency exchange BKEX has frozen customer withdrawals on its platform to cooperate with a police investigation into alleged money laundering involving its users' funds. On Monday, the exchange said it decided to halt withdrawals in order to aid authorities in collecting evidence.
“The team will actively work with the relevant authorities to resolve the current issues faced to ensure that the rights of our users are protected to the greatest extent possible,” BKEX said in a statement on its blog.
The exchange assured that it will “do its best to restore the normal operation of the exchange.” Via the platform, BKEX offers crypto, derivatives and margin trading features to its users.
According to CoinMarketCap, BKEX was founded in June 2018 and boasts over 8 million users from in excess of 100 countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America, among others.
Authorities Dismiss Case against Nexo
In a separate development, Bulgarian authorities in January raided the local offices of the cryptocurrency lending firm, Nexo. Finance Magnates reported that prosecutors launched an international operation to investigate the exchange for allegedly committing financial crimes, failing with its anti-money laundering (AML) processes and allowing transactions that violate the international sanctions against Russia.
Siika Mileva, Bulgaria's Prosecutor General, via a spokesperson, alleged that one of the company's clients is a person linked to financial terrorism. However, the Sofia City Court found no evidence to support the accusations, Free Europe reported.
On top of that, Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) noted that Nexo is not licensed to operate in the country and does not offer its services within the territory. In addition, the National Revenue Agency said it does not have evidence of terrorism financing and organized crime group activities or party financing by Nexo, according to local media Bulgaria On Air.
At the time, Nexo in a Twitter post accused the prosecutors of adopting “the kick first, ask questions later approach." The crypto lender noted that the firm “never compromises” with its “very stringent” AML and know-your-customer policies.
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