The CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange OKX, Star Xu, made statements regarding the platform’s account closure policy. Xu announced that OKX would block accounts associated with sanctioned exchanges or decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
“No Amnesty for Accounts Violating Rules” Message
Xu’s statement on account closures specifically targets sanctioned entities like Tornado Cash and the Russian exchange Garantex. Xu noted that transactions with such entities could trigger the platform’s compliance risk control mechanisms, leading to account closures.
The statements came in response to a post by a user named Satoshi Friends on the X platform. Satoshi Friends warned followers against using OKX, claiming that users in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) could have their accounts suddenly blocked and funds frozen.
Following these posts, Xu stated that Satoshi Friends had conducted several large transactions linked to sanctioned exchanges or DeFi protocols, leading OKX to terminate the user’s services.
Lost All References
Satoshi Friends expressed that with the account block, they lost all the references accumulated over the years. They also warned that influencers recommending OKX could be at financial and reputational risk. Xu responded to these claims by stating that the user was allowed to withdraw their “clean funds” but attempting to open a new account and transfer data from the old one was seen as an attempt to bypass compliance policies.
Xu’s statements once again highlighted the risks of using controversial protocols like Tornado Cash, clearly stating that accounts linked to such entities would be entirely blocked from the platform. For those unaware, Tornado Cash is known as a mixer that makes tracking cryptocurrency movements difficult, and thus is considered problematic or illegal by regulators.
