FTX has blocked all non-fiat customer withdrawals, a support staff confirmed on Tuesday afternoon on the company’s official Telegram channel. The employee said that any transfers besides fiat were halted, underscoring the worsening condition of the crypto exchange, which previously still handled withdrawals.
Many FTX clients wrote on Telegram that they had waited hours to withdraw their funds. “It’s been a full 11 hours since I’ve requested my withdrawal,” one customer wrote.
Just hours earlier, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted that FTX had reached a non-binding agreement to be acquired by crypto exchange rival, Binance. Bankman-Fried tweeted that “all assets will be covered 1:1.”
“It may take a bit to settle etc. — we apologize for that,” added Bankman-Fried.
2) Our teams are working on clearing out the withdrawal backlog as is. This will clear out liquidity crunches; all assets will be covered 1:1. This is one of the main reasons we’ve asked Binance to come in. It may take a bit to settle etc. — we apologize for that.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 8, 2022
It appears that users can still withdraw their assets to fiat, but if they do so, the funds could take up to five business days to settle.
Reuters stated that FTX had withdrawals totalling $6 billion over the previous several days, citing an internal communication issued by Bankman-Fried to firm employees.
An employee of FTX’s Telegram Support chat service informed furious customers: “no eta for now, sorry.”
