Echo Base has helped establish a committee representing BitMart customers whose assets remain frozen on the exchange, while legal advisers assess possible routes to recovery, including the prospect of an unfunded bankruptcy filing.
The digital-asset stabilisation firm said on 2 September that the ad hoc committee represented an increasing proportion of customer assets trapped on BitMart. The group has retained legal counsel to examine its options as uncertainty continues over the future of the exchange and the funds held by users.
Echo Base said the committee was formed after BitMart failed “to respond to a funded bankruptcy restructuring proposal” submitted on 6 August. The firm had offered up to $10m to sponsor a pre-negotiated bankruptcy filing, but said BitMart’s lack of response left it with no alternative but to help organise claimholders.
BitMart is also facing allegations that it withheld customer funds without a legal basis. Echo Base said one of its affiliates had made a formal demand after the exchange failed to carry out a withdrawal instruction submitted shortly before the announcement that it would stop operating.
“On August 8, 2026, an Echo Base affiliate delivered a formal demand concerning Bitmart’s failure to execute a withdrawal instruction submitted on July 24, 2026, approximately 31 hours before Bitmart announced that it would cease operations. The demand documented 15 separate attempts to contact Bitmart regarding the withdrawal,” Echo Base said in the statement.
Other BitMart users have made similar allegations. Some have instructed Sonn Law Group to investigate possible claims and recovery strategies for customers with at least $500,000 trapped on the exchange.
BitMart announced a phased shutdown of its global trading platform as it began winding down operations. The process is expected to halt deposits and trading services.
In its latest statement, posted on X on 21 August, BitMart said it was preparing a possible restructuring plan as an alternative to a complete wind-down. It said the proposal could allow a “phased resumption of certain operations”, subject to legal, financial, operational and regulatory assessments.
BitMart added that advisers were helping develop a roadmap and promised another update by 9 September at the latest. However, the exchange has not posted on X since that statement. The lack of further information has increased speculation among users that their funds could be missing or may have been misappropriated.
Roshan Dharia, chief executive of Echo Base, said the committee was still willing to work constructively with BitMart, but warned that the options available would become more limited if the process continued to stall.
“Administering a book this size takes years, and Bitmart has publicly committed to a process it cannot staff past January. We have the capital, infrastructure and expertise to run a compliant and orderly run-off. Every week this goes unanswered, the version that remains available narrows. Our proposal has been outstanding since August 6,” Dharia said.
Echo Base said its proposed restructuring remains available, but that BitMart’s silence had made it increasingly difficult to establish a workable recovery process for affected customers.
