In January 2020, The ACX Exchange was met with an issue whereby users are unable to withdraw their assets due to ACX undergoing an auditing process with its hot and cold wallet. The notice regarding the audit has left many users confused, resulting in many users taking it upon themselves to get to the bottom of the situation. Many users had reached out to the social media pages and chats of the exchange while some had even gone to the actual address of the company only to find it empty. Due to the lack of response, they had concluded that this was an exit scam covered up by the excuse of an audit process. As a result, Mr Sam Lee, the founder of Blockchain Global, the investor of behind the ACX Exchange was targeted. In response to the allegations and accusations targeted towards him, he said: “I’ve been closely associated with supporting the entire ecosystem through the not-for-profit blockchain centre which ACX was a major sponsor of.”

Regarding this, Mr Sam Lee has stated: “We as an investment company (Blockchain Global) has put out a statement in March but no further action has been taken by the community. I am in the process of finding customers of ACX who are owed money to go who through the legal process and wind up the company up, my offer still stands with the commitment to fund the legal fees involved and pursue those responsible.”. The statement released by Blockchain Global can be found here: https://blockchainglobal.com/19-03-20_statement-regarding-acx/  . The statement was aimed at clarifying the facts regarding ACX and the association Blockchain Global has with the company, as well as the advice and solutions Blockchain Global offers to ACX’s customers.

Many users have also associated the issue about ACX with Hyperfund, a US based company founded in 2013 due to Mr Sam Lee’s position as the founder of Blockchain Global and the co-founder of Blockchain Centre, claiming that the audit process is somehow related to Hyperfund. On the contrary, both Hyperfund and ACX are not related as Mr Sam Lee as states that they are just the investors behind ACX. He further added that “Blockchain Global is a leading investment bank in the industry. Blockchain Centre is the not for profit in 14 different countries that drives the regulatory and education dialog on blockchain technology. Both Blockchain Global and Blockchain Centre work hand in hand, as you cannot invest in blockchain if blockchain isn’t regulated. Both projects are not related, but they are forcing a “guilty by association” formula which is false and damaging”.

Mr Sam Lee has stated that: “I have lost personal money that are still on the exchange and want this dealt with so that the right people can go to Jail.” Questions remain as to who the actual perpetrators in the ACX incident are and how would it be solved.