 |
Photo courtesy of Dunamu |
[Alpha Biz= Ellie Kim] A surge in arbitrage trading following a new listing has triggered large-scale withdrawal delays at Bithumb, raising concerns over exchange operations and investor protection.
According to industry sources on February 17, the delays occurred after Upbit listed the SOON token on its Korean won market at 2:30 p.m., prompting a spike in demand for cross-exchange arbitrage.
Following the announcement, trading volume for SOON on Bithumb surged sharply—from around 10 million tokens under normal conditions to over 117 million tokens—while the price jumped approximately 84% compared to the previous day. Investors rushed to transfer assets to other exchanges to capitalize on price differences, resulting in a backlog of withdrawal requests.
However, the delays do not appear to be caused by network issues. On-chain data from the Solana network indicates normal operations, with some wallets processing multi-million-dollar transfers of SOON tokens without disruption.
This discrepancy—where network activity remains stable but user withdrawals are delayed—has fueled speculation among market participants that exchanges may be intentionally slowing withdrawals to prevent liquidity outflows.
Critics argue that restricting asset transfers during periods of high trading volume could force users to continue trading within the platform, potentially increasing fee revenue for the exchange.
The incident has intensified debate over transparency in exchange withdrawal management and the need for stronger investor protection mechanisms in the cryptocurrency market.
Alphabiz Ellie Kim 인턴기자(press@alphabiz.co.kr)
