Technically it means that a crypto exchange or lender has gated customers from being able to get their money or digital tokens back – typically because there’s just not enough assets on hand to meet redemption requests. The likely upshot, though, is that the business is unlikely to recover easily from the destruction. In many cases, a bankruptcy filing is the next step.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/11/23/ftx-contagion-revives-dreaded-2022-crypto-knell-the-withdrawal-halt/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=headlines