CEO of Beaxy Disappears As the Exchange Struggles to Remain Solvent

BeInCrypto reported in August of a major exploit on Beaxy which resulted in an artificial 40% crash on the XRP/BTC trading pair. The hacker got away with about 43.6 BTC and 111,000 XRP. By all accounts, it seemed to be caused by incompetence and negligence — as the exchange failed to properly install the wallet as per Ripple’s own instructions. Beaxy was the only exchange affected by the exploit. However, the controversy didn’t stop there. A week later, it started to become clear that the exploit likely left Beaxy insolvent. The attacker was able to make 35 withdrawals in total. As investigative crypto-journalist John Galt writes in his piece Beaxy — Incompetent. In Denial. Insolvent?, the exchange’s cold wallets have plummeted in their holdings since. However, it seems that the plot is thickening now with rumors circulating regarding the CEO’s disappearance. If true, this may officially mark the end of this short-lived exchange.

Beaxy CEO’s Disappearance

In smaller chatrooms, rumors have been spreading of Beaxy CEO, Artak Hamazaspyan, disappearing. The CEO has not tweeted anything since Sept 14. As Whic Maternode (@WhichMasternode) asks:

@just_artak Are you alive? Beaxy family wonders. @BeaxyExchange #BXY

— Which Engin (@WhichEngin) October 2, 2019

  The story is still developing, but Hamazaspyan would be smart to rear his head and comment on his alleged disappearance. Given that Beaxy is in such serious peril, this has all the makings of yet another exchange shutting down due to insolvency. If true, we could see Beaxy close its doors in the not-so-distant future.

BXY Token Plummets

Of course, Beaxy’s own exchange token BXY has also crashed as a result. Currently, BXY is down some 50% in just a week’s time. Volume has plummeted to an anemic $22,000 at the time of writing. Keep in mind, in total the exchange has just $39,011 in volume (~4.72 BTC). As Charles (@CharlesTheETH) writes on Twitter, he managed to turn $20k into $3k as a result of Beaxy. The tweet, intended as a joke, has no follow-up.

How I turned $20k into $3k with Beaxy, a thread

(1/43)

— CryptoCharles (@CryptoCharles__) October 1, 2019

Beaxy made a name of itself on Crypto Twitter due to the exchange’s referral program which is still being shilled online but less frequently now due to the drama. Once seen as a possible competitor to Binance amid the U.S. ban, it seems that we can finally put that possibility to rest. Do you agree that Beaxy is likely insolvent? What happened to its CEO? Let us know your thoughts or any updates on this story in the comments below. [Update Oct. 3, 2019, 13:10 UTC: After this article was published, CEO Artak Hamazaspyan’s Twitter account replied to a random user to affirm that he is ‘here’ and he was gone due to a ‘family emergency.’ It is his first tweet since Sept 14th. The controversy over Beaxy is still withstanding, however.]