A Brazilian crypto company named Bluebenx had recently halted withdrawals on its platform but has now changed the reason behind its decision to do so.
Previously, the crypto exchange had sent its customers an email in which it had cited a vicious hack as the reason that had prompted it to halt withdrawals.
However, now the company is claiming that it was liquidity problems that had pushed it into doing so, which had occurred because it was a victim of a listing scam.
Story changes
The Brazilian crypto investment company changed the version of its story about the liquidity problems it has been facing recently, after announcing its decision to halt withdrawals in the previous week.
The first explanation that Bluebenx had offered its clients for blocking access to withdrawals was because it had allegedly been a victim of an aggressive hack.
Therefore, it said that it had decided to halt withdrawals as part of its security protocol in order to deal with the consequences of the hack.
But, the company now appears to have backpedaled and is offering a completely different explanation for its decision to stop withdrawals.
New story
According to the Bluebenx crypto trading platform, the reason for halting withdrawals was a listing scam, which involved the company getting in touch with another platform and paying it to list its own currency called BENX.
The company disclosed that the total payment demanded the listing opportunity included 25 million Benx and $200,000.
This payment was to be made to a third party that was acquainted with a listing exchange that has not been named.
However, the third party had allegedly scammed Bluebenx and taken its funds. In addition, the 25 million BENX that had been paid to the scammer had been exchanged into USDT.
This was done via the exchange’s liquidity pools, which means that the stablecoin does not have any more liquidity.
The company clarified that out of its 25,000 customers, only 2,500 had suffered and they had a recovery plan that would allow these customers to redeem their apps from next year onwards.
Massive layoffs
On the same date that the said incident had occurred, Bluebenx had also laid off a huge part of its staff and this had increased suspicion even more.
Many customers had thought that Bluebenx was just another Ponzi scheme. However, the company offered another explanation for the layoffs.
It said that it had fired off its employees as part of its safety measures, as it wanted to keep access to its accounts limited.
Therefore, it said that it had fired those suppliers and employees who had privileged access. But, it did not disclose the number of employees that had been laid off.
But, Bluebenx did report that for now there were just 11 people who were still part of its payroll. In addition, it had also left its headquarters as well as other assets.
This had been done to fulfill its contractual obligations to its clients. But, the change in stories is undoubtedly still a big concern for investors.
