Singapore-based Zipmex suspends customer withdrawals due to volatile market

On Wednesday, the Singaporean exchange Zipmex announced it was halting customer withdrawals of funds due to volatile market conditions. The firm bills itself as Asia's leading digital assets exchange, based mainly in Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand.

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Due to a combination of circumstances beyond our control, including volatile market conditions and the resulting financial difficulties of our key business partners, we will be pausing withdrawals until further notice, according to Zipmex.

One of the biggest factors was financial contagion due to its exposure to Babel Finance and Celsius Network, a beleaguered criptocurrency lender that is undergoing financial restructuring after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Customer security was the number one priority for the company, and it was stated that trading on its platform would be disabled until further notice. In the last 24 hours, CoinMarketCap logged $6.9 million worth of trading volume on the platform.

The move surprised industry players as the firm had expansion plans for its Southeast Asian market and even planned to add Vietnam to its list of countries. In March, Zipmex had raised $52 million in Series B funding.

Zipmex is a key player in Southeast Asia's crypto landscape, representing almost one-quarter of Thailand's total revenue in the cripto market, serving almost 1.7 million investors.

A partnership with Polygon Studios was expected to lure in more new customers, and the company recently waded into the Asian metaverse.

Customers who deposit funds can get up to 10% in rewards each year, with the company offering 10% returns on USDC stablecoins and 6% onBitcoin.