Blockages, bots, and a shadow owner: what is happening with the MEXC exchange

The MEXC cryptocurrency exchange found itself at the center of a major scandal that began with a regular post on X. GetBlock AML Research has published a detailed overview of the situation surrounding MEXC.

An anonymous account on X under the nickname @Mystral_777 stirred up the crypto community by publishing a long series of posts (thread) with accusations against the MEXC crypto exchange. The posts covered a lot of ground: from frozen payments totaling about $10 million and extortion of listing fees, to accusations of inappropriate behavior by management and hints of leaked videos and “anchor” payments to cover up the scandal.

Important: the thread contains screenshots, private messages, and direct accusations, but none of these claims have yet been independently confirmed — neither by law enforcement agencies, regulators, nor verified publications.

What exactly does Mystral write?

According to @Mystral_777, many projects, such as CateCoin, paid over $60 000 to list their tokens on MEXC, and then allegedly faced demands for additional payments. Teams that refused to pay, he said, never saw their tokens launch on the exchange.

Source: X.com

Mystral’s accusations regarding the CateCoin situation

Mystral also stated that the exchange froze more than $10 million in user funds and simply closed support requests without explanation. In the thread and related posts, users share their experiences:

• The @Tradecelb account wrote that it had lost $18 500 USDT.
• User @nitwitkook claims that $14 000 was frozen, and only after public outcry did the exchange return $3000, with the remaining funds still unrecovered.
• On Reddit, one person reported that $30 000 in USDT and ETH had been debited from their account via the exchange’s internal wallets — even though two-factor authentication was not enabled on the account and customer support did not respond.

Accusations of trade manipulation and retaliatory blockages

Mystral and other users claim that MEXC trades against its own customers: allegedly, the exchange opens short positions (shorts) just before organizing sharp price crashes for small tokens, which leads to mass liquidations. After such events, they say, the exchange blocks withdrawals to retain funds.

Source: X.com

Mystral’s accusations of trading manipulation by MEXC

Users with different accounts confirm this version:

• @van00sa wrote that MEXC simultaneously “dumped” tokens and opened shorts on them, and then froze funds to compensate for its losses.
• The accounts CryptoVikings, MDXCrypto, and @OxNnachet accused the platform of quietly profiting from customer trades and blocking access when traders start to make large profits.

One of the screenshots in the Mystral thread reads:

“If you lose money, they keep it. If you win big, they lock your funds and accuse you of fraud.”

Allegations of social media activity manipulation and compromising materials

Mystral also provided screenshots which, according to him, show the use of bot services to inflate likes, comments, and followers — allegedly 40–50% of all activity around MEXC is fake and controlled through bot panels.

In addition, he published excerpts from WhatsApp correspondence in which an informant allegedly claims that the X-account of MEXC CEO Cecilia Hsueh was hacked and that “weird” videos involving other top managers were allegedly found on her phone. A video was posted in the thread, and Mystral wrote that the woman in the video was Cecilia.

Transparency requirements and “shadow owner”

Major accounts, including @zachxbt, demanded that MEXC disclose the owners and structure of the company. ZachXBT publicly asked the question:

“Why does MEXC hide its beneficial owner from the public?”

The posts mention a person named “Tony,” who is referred to as the “shadow owner,” raising additional questions about the transparency of the business.

Official response from MEXC (partial acknowledgment of problems)

About an hour after the thread went viral, Cecilia Hsueh herself wrote on X: “We f**ked up. We apologize to @TheWhiteWhaleV2, and his money is already released.” She admitted that she had made a mistake in communication and that since joining the company (two months ago), she had been trying to change internal processes.

Source: X.com

Statement by MEXC representative Cecilia Hsueh

Her key statements:

• The exchange grew very quickly, and the risk, operations, and PR teams could not keep up with the scale.
• There were mistakes in communication and operations.
• The company is not financially insolvent — the problems are operational in nature.

She did not respond to allegations of harassment, video leaks, or theft of money from internal wallets. Later, it emphasized that there is a difference between risk control issues and the threat of bankruptcy, and that “MEXC’s financials are solid.”

The community is not inclined to trust the exchange’s word

Many users remained dissatisfied and skeptical of the apology. A trader with the nickname CryptoVikings wrote:

“If it took this much for an influencer to get funds back, what hope does a regular user have? There are 1,000+ cases like this.”

When Cecilia promised to return the funds, CryptoVikings asked, “Why now? Why did it take months of backlash for you to act?” There was no response.

New major case: $3,3 million frozen

After that, another post appeared online from trader @maxleebtc, who showed screenshots: he has had 3 300 000 USDT blocked in his account for 20 days, and all withdrawal attempts are marked as “Withdrawal Failed.”

Source: X.com

Trader maxleebtc’s accusations against the exchange

Initially, customer support claimed that this was a technical glitch, then began to write that the account was showing “abnormal profits.”

What other posts and complaints say

In addition to the above stories, users from various accounts reported similar cases: frozen funds, lack of response from technical support, partial refunds only after public scandals, and suspicions of internal theft through “internal wallets” without two-factor protection.

How this could end

The scandal is currently being actively discussed. If the allegations are confirmed, MEXC could face serious consequences: loss of customer trust, legal and regulatory investigations, and possible payments to victims. But so far, there is no official evidence — the investigation is being conducted mainly by the internet community and bloggers.

Users are demanding:

• full transparency regarding customer funds;
• explanations for freezes and support procedures;
• disclosure of information about the real owners of the company;
• quick refunds to all victims.