Deposit withdrawals from the cryptocurrency exchange remain unavailable while its cold and hot wallet balances are almost empty.

Two Bitfinex cold wallets have less than 3 BTC in total and its hot wallet’s balance stands at zero.

The exchange’s new multisignature wallet created in January 2017 is still credited with about 73,000 BTC. However, comparing to the typical 24-hours trading volume on Bitfinex (43,500 BTC or $60.9 million), it does not seem too much.

From 11 April, the balance on the multisignature wallet has dropped by around 40.5%, from 122,700 to 73,000 BTC.

For the first time, the news about problems Bitfinex had with banks serving ing its wired transactions appeared late in March. Some customers complained about delays in receiving US dollar withdrawals from the exchange. On 31 March, Wells Fargo stopped processing outbound USD wires to Bitfinex customers. On 17 April, the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange suspended incoming wire deposits in fiat because Taiwan banks had refused to process transfers.

Currently, the only way to get money out of Bitfinex accounts is to convert it to cryptocurrencies and transfer to external wallets. The bitcoin price on Bitfinex is fluctuating around $1,322 while other cryptocurrency platforms have it higher at about $1,325.

One of the reasons Taiwan banks denied service to the exchange was the tightening of banking regulation in the country. In turn, it was caused by the new US regulatory requirements for fighting money laundering. Thai banks dealing with US dollars via US clearing companies are being forced to meet new requirements.

In its latest statement on 20 April, Bitfinex reassured customers that it is solvent and is doing its best to get back to normal operations.

“We are developing alternative channels to address these delays, but this takes time. We appreciate the patience and loyalty demonstrated by our customers and the community in this matter.”

Elena Platonova