Cryptocurrency exchange MEXC unfroze approximately $3.1 million in assets belonging to prominent trader TheWhiteWhaleV2 on October 31, 2025, following intense community pressure and a rare public apology from Chief Strategy Officer Cecilia Hsueh. The dispute began months earlier when MEXC froze the trader's account, alleging the use of automated bots to generate "illicit profits," a claim TheWhiteWhaleV2 denied by providing evidence of manual trading.
Tensions escalated on October 29 when MEXC demanded a public confession of wrongdoing before releasing the funds, which the trader refused, calling it defamatory. The situation reached a crisis point on October 31 when on-chain investigator Zachxbt questioned MEXC's opaque ownership structure, specifically mentioning a mysterious figure named "Tony" from internal Telegram channels. This sparked mass withdrawals, with users reporting indefinite account freezes on social media.
In response, Cecilia Hsueh issued a blunt apology: "We fucked up. I take full responsibility… The funds are released." She acknowledged emotional missteps and promised reforms to risk control and communications teams. TheWhiteWhaleV2 confirmed access to his funds and announced plans to airdrop 100% of the recovered assets to his NFT community and select nonprofits.
During the crisis, MEXC's 24-hour trading volume dropped from approximately $6 billion to below $5 billion, a decline of over 15%, as users rushed to withdraw funds, according to CoinGecko data. The incident highlights persistent issues in centralized exchanges, where high-profile traders can exert pressure through public scrutiny, while smaller users remain vulnerable to opaque enforcement.
Amid growing distrust, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Hyperliquid (HYPE) are gaining traction. DEXs do not require KYC, allow users to transfer funds at will, and everything is verifiable on-chain. The DEX-CEX ratio in spot volume climbed to nearly 30% in June 2025, indicating decentralized platforms are accounting for a significant portion of trading volumes, a trend that has remained above 10% since 2024 and continues to rise.
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