Users trying to access the site are met with a page that says: "Sorry, you have been blocked."
Last year BitForex was flagged by Japanese regulators for operating without a license.

Cryptocurrency exchange BitForex has gone offline after $57 million was reportedly withdrawn from the exchange's hot wallets on Feb. 23.

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT said that withdrawals have stopped processing and the BitForex team is unresponsive to user requests.

When trying to access the BitForex website, users are met with a page that says: "Sorry, you have been blocked."

BitForex owns 18% of the total supply of tellor (TRB), worth $54 million. It remains unclear whether a hacker has infiltrated BitForex's hot wallets or whether the team has voluntarily halted withdrawals.

In January former CEO Jason Luo said he would be stepping down after six years at the company, according to a blog post.

The official BitForex account on X has not posted any updates since Feb. 21.

In 2019, a Chainalysis report claimed that BitForex could have been faking trading volume. Last year it was flagged by Japanese regulators for operating without a license.

Bitforex Exchange Hack

Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight joined CoinDesk as a news reporter in April 2022. Before joining CoinDesk, Knight was the Chief Reporter at Coin Rivet for three years. Having graduated with a journalism degree from Birmingham City University, Knight went on to work at various sports publications before diving into the world of Bitcoin in 2014. He does not have any crypto holdings.