{"id":205953,"date":"2019-01-02T03:30:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T08:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/news\/hitbtc-slammed-by-trace-mayer-john-mcafee-over-account-freezes-day-before-proof-of-keys\/205953"},"modified":"2021-08-09T11:12:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T15:12:10","slug":"hitbtc-slammed-by-trace-mayer-john-mcafee-over-account-freezes-day-before-proof-of-keys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/news\/hitbtc-slammed-by-trace-mayer-john-mcafee-over-account-freezes-day-before-proof-of-keys","title":{"rendered":"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"proof<\/div>\n

Some of cryptocurrency\u2019s best-known names have joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after it began halting withdrawals days before a significant event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Mayer: \u2018Beware\u2019 HitBTC<\/h2>\n

Trace Mayer, organizer of Proof of Keys<\/a>, which calls for cryptocurrency owners to remove their holdings from third-party exchanges on January 3, condemned HitBTC for the move, reports of which began<\/a> December 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas (HitBTC) failed Proof Of Keys? I do not have an account. Asked a friend to initiate a withdrawal. BEWARE!\u201d he tweeted Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cResult: \u2018Withdrawals are temporarily disabled on your account.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Has @hitbtc<\/a> failed #ProofOfKeys<\/a>? I do not have an account. Asked a friend to initiate a withdrawal. BEWARE! \"?\"<\/p>\n

Result: “Withdrawals are temporarily disabled on your account.”https:\/\/t.co\/J3HMHKA1ah<\/a>@maxkeiser<\/a> @ToneVays<\/a> @theonevortex<\/a> @SatoshiLite<\/a> @Excellion<\/a> @CaitlinLong_<\/a> @nvk<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wsXKiOlEJF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Trace Mayer [Jan\/3\u279e\u20bf\"?\"\u220e] (@TraceMayer) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other figures soon joined him, among them John McAfee, who reiterated his distrust of the exchange which he \u201cwarned\u201d of earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t sign up. Don\u2019t use it. Withdtaw (sic) your funds,\u201d he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was trashed for calling out HitBT (sic) as a corrupt cimpany (sic). Tough shit. You had six months warning from me to withdraw your funds. Do not ask me to help you now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Red Flags And Silence<\/h2>\n

Executives from HitBTC have so far failed to respond to any accusations, while it appears no other major exchange has copied its behavior.<\/p>\n

Proof of Keys, announced by Mayer last month, aims to increase cryptocurrency investors\u2019 proficiency in understanding decentralized networks, principally Bitcoin. By taking control of private keys and not relying on third parties to hold them, Mayer argues investors will help educate others, thus aiding adoption.<\/p>\n

HitBTC meanwhile has faced much controversy<\/a> in its six-year history, this often revolving around the offering of dubious<\/a> futures contracts and tokens, along with opaque operating practices.<\/p>\n

On Twitter, both Mayer\u2019s and McAfee\u2019s tweets saw multiple accusations of corruption and \u201cscam\u201d practices on the part of the company, but not everyone appeared convinced.<\/p>\n

The Crypto Dog<\/a>, an account mostly offering trading advice, suggested the timing was more coincidental than targeted at Proof of Keys, but that it provided a \u201cnarrative\u201d by which to expose HitBTC\u2019s other transgressions.<\/p>\n

Others were more damning. Bitfi, the curious company endorsed by McAfee which in September U-turned<\/a> on its claim it had created an \u201cunhackable\u201d wallet, said HitBTC had \u201cblown its cover\u201d and suggested it was insolvent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not like fractional reserve banking; this is just stealing your money,\u201d executives commented<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do you think about HitBTC\u2019s withdrawal freeze? Let us know in the comments below!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Images courtesy of Shutterstock<\/em><\/p>\n

The post HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys<\/a> appeared first on Bitcoinist.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of cryptocurrency\u2019s best-known names have joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after it began halting withdrawals days before a significant event. […]<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1372,"featured_media":205956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more-crypto-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys - InsideBitcoins.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"InsideBitcoins.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Esther Kim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Esther Kim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Esther Kim\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e3c563e939855a216c6a0feabb9778cb\"},\"headline\":\"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\"},\"wordCount\":479,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"More Crypto News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\",\"name\":\"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys - InsideBitcoins.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/\",\"name\":\"InsideBitcoins.com\",\"description\":\"Search & Compare Brokers within Crypto, Forex & Stocks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"InsideBitcoins\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/insidebitcoins.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/insidebitcoins.svg\",\"width\":195,\"height\":32,\"caption\":\"InsideBitcoins\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e3c563e939855a216c6a0feabb9778cb\",\"name\":\"Esther Kim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3724205e39c722b37fcd3513e4b88fe5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3724205e39c722b37fcd3513e4b88fe5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Esther Kim\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/author\/esther-kim\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys - InsideBitcoins.com","description":"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys","og_description":"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.","og_site_name":"InsideBitcoins.com","article_published_time":"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Esther Kim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Esther Kim","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953"},"author":{"name":"Esther Kim","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e3c563e939855a216c6a0feabb9778cb"},"headline":"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys","datePublished":"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953"},"wordCount":479,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg","articleSection":["More Crypto News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953","url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953","name":"HitBTC Slammed by Trace Mayer, John McAfee Over Account Freezes Day Before Proof Of Keys - InsideBitcoins.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-02T08:30:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-09T15:12:10+00:00","description":"Trace Mayer has joined public calls for exchange HitBTC to explain itself after halting withdrawals days before a significant event.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1250321788-640x400-1.jpg","width":640,"height":400},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/","name":"InsideBitcoins.com","description":"Search & Compare Brokers within Crypto, Forex & Stocks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#organization","name":"InsideBitcoins","url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/insidebitcoins.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/insidebitcoins.svg","width":195,"height":32,"caption":"InsideBitcoins"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e3c563e939855a216c6a0feabb9778cb","name":"Esther Kim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3724205e39c722b37fcd3513e4b88fe5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3724205e39c722b37fcd3513e4b88fe5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Esther Kim"},"url":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/author\/esther-kim"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}