OKEx Founder ‘Star’ Xu Named as Key Holder in Police Custody: Report

• In a report on Friday, Caixin said it spoke to two individuals close to OKEx who indicated that Mingxing "Star" Xu, had been taken by police at least a week ago and hasn't been seen since.
• The report isn't clear exactly where this occurred, however OKEx has a headquarters in Hong Kong, while being officially based in Malta.
• The report also doesn't indicate why police are holding Xu.
• The news comes soon after CoinDesk reported earlier on Friday that OKEx has suspended cryptocurrency withdrawals citing the absence of an unnamed holder of the exchange’s private keys.
• While the notice did say the individual is "cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations,” OKEx CEO and co-founder Jay Hao said on Weibo that the issue is over a personal matter and wouldn't affect the business.
• Xu was held by police as part of a fraud investigation back in 2018, but was not arrested.
• As the news broke, cryptocurrency prices took a dive, with bitcoin dropping around 3% in half an hour.

Also read: OKEx Suspends Withdrawals, Says Key Holder Not Available Due to Cooperation With Investigation