FTX market aftershock reportedly causes Genesis Block to cease trading in Hong Kong - Enancial

The Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange says the market turmoil from the FTX fallout is the final cause of ceasing operations following a year of winding down services.

In the wake of the recent FTX scandal, another crypto business is feeling the market effects. Genesis Block, a frontrunner for providing cryptocurrency retail services in Hong Kong, announced it will cease trading and shutter operations, according to reports.

According to an email sent out to its customers by the compliance department, the company said that starting Dec. 10, it will be closing down its over-the-counter (OTC) online trading portal.

Wincent Hung, CEO of the company, told Reuters that the company has ceased trading as counterparties continue to shutter in light of the FTX fallout, and no one can tell who is next.

“So we would rather close out all our positions to regain some of our liquidity.”

The company’s website is still active, and there are even help messages for customers interested in OTC trading. However, according to the email, the company is asking its customers to withdraw their remaining funds and is no longer accepting new customers.

Genesis Block is not related to the separate crypto company Genesis, which provides institutional cryptocurrency trading services. That Genesis has also been affected by the FTX fallout, tweeting that $175 million of its funds are locked up in the defunct exchange.

Sources close to the company said Genesis Block began winding down services earlier this year and cut ties with FTX prior to the fallout. Additionally, the company used to operate one of the most robust Bitcoin ATM networks in the region, with 29 locations in Hong Kong, which it sold to a third party.

Cointelegraph reached out to Genesis Block for further comment on the situation.

Genesis is one of several companies in the space feeling serious repercussions of the ongoing saga of the fallen exchange.

Like the above mentioned Genesis, Huobi Global said it too has inaccessible funds held up in FTX. The company said it has $18.1 million worth of deposits frozen, of which $13.2 million are client deposits.

The situation surrounding the FTX fallout, affected businesses and repercussions for its former CEO Sam Bankman Fried is still currently unfolding.