Raged AAX Users storm Lagos Office After Withdrawals Halted 

• AAX halted customer withdrawals bringing difficulties at the Lagos office in Nigeria. 
• President resigned amid the troubled situation.
• Let’s know what the regulatory body SiBAN noted about the matter.

   AAX users are worried, and angry

Hong Kong based exchange AAX’s (Atom Asset Exchange) office in Lagos, Nigeria faced massive opposition, with its customers raging in anger at the Company’s office in Lagos due to the sudden halt in withdrawals from the exchange from November 13. 

Users of AAX in Nigeria, desperate to withdraw their hard-earned money, beat up staff and others at the office. Also, the users addressed that the crypto exchange has further disconnected from the company’s email systems since the failure of processing withdrawals.

According to The Coin Republic, AAX has deleted its Facebook accounts and official YouTube channel. The crypto exchange said that they have scheduled a system upgrade which will further protect users from any malicious attacks. The resumption of withdrawals may put the crypto exchange at a risk of capital deficit.

AAX has an estimated 2 million users globally. The drama started after the exchange admitted to a glitch in its system upgrade as a “failure of our third-party partner, some users’ balance data were found abnormally recorded in our system.” From their side, they continued claiming withdrawal suspension as a process “to avoid fraud and exploitation.”

AAX further tried to reassure its users and the crypto community that this has no connection with the FTX collapse. However, according to the official website, its notification pop-up says- 

“The current system upgrade requires our third-party to proofread and restore all users’ asset data. Due to the current market situation (representing FTX crash), the integration is taking longer than usual and is now in the queue to be completed within 7-10 days.”

What Happened Next?

On November 28, Ben Caselin, Ex-Vice President for Global Marketing and Communications at Crypto Exchange, resigned from his post. He confirmed his resignation via Twitter- 

“Dear all, it’s true I have resigned from AAX. I did fight for the community but none of the initiatives we came up with were accepted. Any role I had left for communication became hollow.”

CoinGecko stated that Crypto Exchange had a trading volume of almost $2 billion in October. FTX bankruptcy led to the contagion effect spreading to many, including Galaxy Digitals, BlockFi, etc. 

A Public Notice issued by the regulatory body, Nigerian Blockchain technology Association Stakeholders (SiBAN), signed by its President, Senator Ihelyen stated- 

“ Therefore, we appeal to and discourage any dissatisfied or angry user or investor from harassing or victimizing the AAX Country Manager (Nigeria), other local staff members, and AAX ambassadors nationwide. These persons are also facing the same situation as disgruntled users and investors are. At the time of writing this notice, we are aware that communication between these persons and AAX headquarters has been equally strained at this time. We therefore appeal for understanding and patience from all Nigerian AAX users.”

Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.

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