Crypto trading and lending firm BlockFills has temporarily suspended customer deposits and withdrawals on its platform, citing recent market volatility and financial conditions. The Chicago-based company, which is backed by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and CME Group's venture arm, took the action last week to protect clients and the firm itself.
A BlockFills spokesperson stated, "In light of recent market and financial conditions, and to further the protection of clients and the firm, BlockFills took the action last week of temporarily suspending client deposits and withdrawals." The firm, which projects handling approximately $60 billion in transactions and facilitated over $61 billion in trading volume last year, serves more than 2,000 institutional clients globally, including crypto hedge funds and asset managers.
While withdrawals are halted, the company confirmed that clients can still open and close positions in spot and derivatives trading under certain conditions. Management is actively working with investors and clients to resolve the liquidity issue, holding information sessions with senior leadership.
This move coincides with a sharp correction in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin's price recently fell below $65,000, marking a nearly 28% decline over the past 30 days and a drop of more than 47% from its all-time high of approximately $126,080 reached in October of last year. Other major assets like Ethereum and XRP have seen even steeper declines of nearly 39% and 35%, respectively, over the same period.
The situation draws direct parallels to the "crypto winter" of 2022, when rising U.S. interest rates triggered a liquidity crisis. Several lending platforms, including Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis, halted withdrawals, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the FTX exchange. BlockFills' current suspension raises concerns about potential contagion within the institutional crypto lending sector.
